Beginning this weekend, every second Saturday of each month will be plastic bag-free days in the Cayman Islands.

Last year, local supermarkets replaced their nondegradable plastic shopping bags with biodegradable alternatives and started charging 5 cents per shopping bags in a bid to cut down on the number of bags ending up in Cayman’s landfill.

That first phase of the Cayman BECOME campaign brought an initial reduction of as much as 80 per cent in the number of plastic bags sold in supermarkets. Prior to that, an estimated 12 million plastic bags were being disposed of every year in Grand Cayman.

Now the Corporate Green Team Network is embarking on the next phase to cut down on the amount of plastic finding its way to Mount Trashmore.

Starting this Saturday, 10 December, on every second Saturday of every month, supermarkets will not hand out any plastic shopping bags, in a bid to encourage shoppers to either bring their own bags from home or purchase environmentally-friendly, re-usable bags.

“We are confident that this next step will be supported by shoppers who recognise the importance of protecting the environment for current and future generations,” said Network member Wendy Williams.

The Corporate Green Team was formed in June 2009 as a partnership between Deloitte and the Sustainable Development Unit of the Department of Environment to promote awareness and implementation of environmental projects and sustainability initiatives in the Cayman Islands.

The plastic bag reduction campaign was its first project and since then, the Network has also started an aluminium can recycling programme following the idea of a KPMG network member. Three condo developments – George Town Villas, Emerald Beach Club and Cayman Crossing – have installed recycling bins for aluminium cans with local company Recycling Services, which collects the cans and sends them off island for recycling.

For more information on these projects, the Corporate Green Team Network, Cayman BECOME or what to expect from the latest campaign, email info@caymanbecome.ky