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The Island of Waste August 7, 2006

How is it that we; taking into account the fact that we live in a remote Island with very little space, produce more garbage per person than the average US citizen (The US being notorious for producing waste in comparison to other countries). This has been true for quite a few years now. It seems that my generation and this new generation have become notorious for just throwing things away, to the point where my grandparents generation are probably turning in their graves. Bermuda has, in the last 30 years, quickly turned from a “waste nothing” society to a “disposable” society. Even water is being wasted, which was a golden rule with the older generations. “Don’t waste the water!”, would be constantly drilled into my head every time I went to my Grandparents house and even looked at a faucet.

I have to say that I’m in total agreement with David Burch as he’s apparently taken on the initiative when it comes to waste management. From waste management to mandatory recycling, I have to say that I’m completely behind him on this. Bermuda needs to manage it’s waste better, and that starts with creating less of it, and utilising new ways to use waste products.

I’m not going to even get started with people who litter, although if you catch someone doing so, send me a picture of them, I’ll happily shame them here…

One thing that I read this morning on CNN was that a hotel in South Africa was composting all of it’s organic waste via a large field full of earthworms. These earthworms consume organic waste at a surprising rate and thus cuts down on 70% of the total waste created by this hotel. Something like this could be easily done here, and in turn Government could sell off the bi product, a rich all natural fertilizer, to the gardeners here.

But when we talk about waste, it’s not just trash we’re talking about. Water, our most valuable commodity, is in short supply and our demand for it is increasing. Reverse osmosis plants is truly the key for Bermuda. This being said, there are a few personal reverse osmosis plants available for the household, each producing a thousand or more gallons a day for the single home. If the people who lived on the water were to invest in some of these units, it would greatly releave our water supply. While some hotels have plants like this, it should be law that all hotels on the water have a reverse osmosis system built in. This way our water reserves will be there when we really need them.

Electricity is also being wasted, with the unfortunate by product of pollution to boot. The Bermuda Sun has a bit in their opinion section where a reader has some good ideas to cut down on the electricity bill. Today I’ll be purchasing CFL bulbs and phasing out the old ones as they burn out, as well as lowering the thermostat on the water heaters. The only side effect is a lower electricity bill after all. If people were to do this, in conjunction with Belco’s underwater turbine initiative, then Bermuda’s dependency on fossil fuels will be lower. Less pollution, less waste.

There are a lot of ways Bermuda can handle it’s waste better, quite a few are a natural solution, which benefits everyone. What are some other ideas out there to minimise Bermuda’s waste?

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