Newspaper Conservation Articles
Filed with the newest ones on top
Mays Roadtown Managers newsletter has an interesting article on reusing bags.
An exciting new partnership between the public and private sector aims to reduce the number of plastic bags being used by Virgin Islanders and thus eliminate their appearance on the Territory’s streets and public spaces. This unique collaboration between the Office of the City Manager, First Bank, One Mart, Rite Way, Bobby’s and the Conservation and Fisheries Department was announced yesterday, 2nd June and will launch on Friday, 6th June, the day after World Environment Day.
To assure the success of this initiative, we’ve asked several local celebrities to join the effort to limit the use of plastic bags by serving as baggers between the hours of 3:00pm and 6:00pm. Some of the participating celebrities include Ouida, Hon. Irene Penn-O’Neal, Hon. Andrew Fahie, DJ Bertrum, Lelani Stevens, Dr., the Hon. Vincent Scatliffe, Hon. Vernon Malone, Fr. Ronald Branche, Hon. Dancia Penn, Archie Christian, Tamara Gill, Lorna Smith, Elton Georges, Richard ‘Storm’ Wright and Edju En Ka. Each “celebrity bagger” has agreed to serve at their station for a minimum of one hour and will promote the environmental and other benefits of using the re-usable bags each time clients shop. To encourage the use of the bags, the participating supermarkets will offer clients a discount of ten cents each time they return to shop with their bag. The receipt showing their discount will certify their eligibility to enter the quarterly drawings for fabulous prizes which will be held by the supermarkets.
Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. Unfortunately, plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest them. In addition, the bags wrap around living corals quickly "suffocating" and killing them according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. None of the plastic bags in the Virgin Islands are recycled. Worldwide only one percent of the billions of bags used annually are recycled.
Tanzania has been the most aggressive African country in the fight against the plastic bag blight. In 2006 Vice-President Ali Mohamed Shein declared a total ban on plastic bags. Kenya and Uganda are implementing less severe restrictions, prohibiting thinner plastic bags and imposing levies on thicker ones. According to the BBC, Kenya's partial ban went into effect on June 14, 2007, and Uganda followed on July 1.
The Republic of Ireland was consuming 1.2 billion plastic shopping bags per year before introducing the PlasTax. Since the tax of about $.15 per bag was introduced in March 2002, consumption has plummeted 90%. To complete the win-win cycle, the $9.6 million raised from the tax in the first year is put into a "green fund" to further benefit the environment
The Beach that Turned back the local tide
May 25th. PDF article on the impact of Global Warming on the Virgin Islands.
Trellis Bay, Beef Island and the few remaining Lignum Vitae Trees. Letter to end editor Feb, 2008. Follow link to read letter
Damage to Coral Reefs threaten tourism. Original article is linked here in the USA Today, Oct 30th, 2006.
Tourists spend billions of dollars each year on hotels and tours to experience the marine habitats in areas including the Caribbean, Australia and the Pacific islands.
But that money could dry up, as record amounts of coral have died off in the Caribbean and Pacific from pollution, overfishing and rising sea temperatures since the late 1990s, according to scientists at the biannual meeting of the multinational Coral Reef Task Force.
"You cannot separate the environment and the economy. They are one," said Billy Causey, a regional director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine sanctuaries.
Studies show greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels are increasing the ocean's acidity, making it harder for coral to grow and reproduce.
Nearly 500 million people depend on coral reefs for tourism income and coastal protection, and about 30 million of those rely on coral reefs for their food, according to a 2004 report on the status of coral reefs worldwide commissioned by the Australian government.
"The people who wash the bed linens in the hotels are starting to realize their life depends on the health of the coral reefs," said Andrew Skeat, executive director of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Tourism is the fastest growing major industry in the world, and ecotourism accounts for 20% of the worldwide market, according to the Australian report.
In the Florida Keys, millions of tourists spend $1.2 billion annually to see or catch fish and other undersea life, Causey said at the meeting in St. Thomas, where nearly 200 researchers from the Caribbean, Florida and U.S. Pacific islands gathered.
"Some of our reefs receive more dives than anywhere in the world," he said. "In South Florida, the environment and the economy are inextricably linked. You cannot separate the two."
Causey encouraged officials in Florida to ban fishing in broad swaths of water, a move he said would help coral grow.
Australia's government has banned fishing along a third of the Great Barrier Reef, which generates $3.9 billion in annual tourism revenue. The measure has helped the world's largest reef bounce back from abnormally warm seas in 1998 and 2002, when more then half the reef was damaged and 5% died, Skeat said.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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