The Central Caribbean Marine Institute has a close working relationship with KPMG, who are long term sponsors of its Ocean Literacy programme and CCMI recently helped the company to co-ordinate its Make a Difference Day. The MADD day is an annual initiative conducted by 150 KPMG offices around the world, all carried out in order to help their own particular communities.
On a Friday in October about 50 KPMG volunteers met up on a stretch of beach within the Barkers National Park. Over three hours the hardworking and enthusiastic volunteers ,guided by a representative from the Department of the Environment, moved nearly a hundred black trash bags off the beach. All sorts of rubbish was found, amongst which were bottles of all shapes and sizes, plastic bags and enough foot wear to shoe a millipede!
Not all of the intrepid accountants were land based – a team of divers headed out to conduct a survey and clearance of rubbish from the reefs between the beach and the barrier reef. Tanks, safety floats and string bags were kindly supplied by Divetech at Cobalt Coast.
At the end of the afternoon the Department of Environmental Health was ready with a garbage truck to cart away the results of the cleanup. It was a truly successful and rewarding task with more than 90 black bags of rubbish cleared from the beautiful shore line.
In the underwater world there are many examples of symbiotic relationships and that is a behaviour that CCMI is trying to emulate. This beach clean-up is exactly what CCMI is trying to achieve, the co-ordination of local organisations to work together for the enrichment of the community.
CCMI would like to thank KPMG, the DOE, Divetech and the DEH for being involved and for making a huge difference.
Perhaps as the New Year starts you could be inspired by the initiative at Barkers to take part in some mini beach clean ups of your own? It’s a good way to get some post-Christmas exercise too! Keep a clean-up kit in your car or by the front door so that if you’re a regular beach walker you can join the effort to unclog our Islands’ beaches of all the trash that flows in every day. You will only need rubbish bags and a pair of good sturdy gloves – plus a good heart!
You never know what you might find on the beaches and you will be amazed at the difference that you can make. Happy New Year and happy beach combing!
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