Who is really Caribbean green and why does it matter anyway?

Being Green in the Caribbean Matters

The Caribbean – a place where our environment is everything. Historically, our economies were built on an environment which allowed sugar cane and many other types of crops to thrive. Even now, most of our economies depend on a healthy tropical ecosystem to lure tourists, create unique products and feed our populations. The state of our economies depends on the state of our environment.

How so?

For example (on an extreme level), if there is an oil spill in the region, we know we would see a dip in tourist arrivals and we would compromise our fish stocks. We might even see delays in everything that we import.

On another extreme level, look at how ignoring mosquito breeding grounds influences the reputation of our islands as safe havens for sun, sand, sea and music.

As islands, our garbage can not go far without affecting us – a plastic bag blowing in front of your moving car; flooded areas due to blocked drains and floating Styrofoam containers in the ocean.

When we consider not only the more densely populated islands but how tourist arrivals and large cruise ships add to our collective ecological footprint, the importance of reducing pollution and preventing waste accumulation shouldn’t be up for debate.

So….about that economy

The main question most of us have is …”How are we going to do any better, where is the money going to come from to install the new technology, retrofit the polluting public transport, improve our waste management and increase awareness about our responsibility as Caribbean people to actively respect our environment?

The answer is that we are already doing better and the money is going to come from us. Addressing environmental issues does not have to impede our businesses or come from some magical pot of money outside of the region. Actually addressing environmental issues can catalyze not only our businesses but reduce future healthcare and infrastructural repair costs.

What can you do?

As consumers we can simply shift how and with whom we spend our money in order to push businesses towards solving rather than creating environmental issues.

As businesses we can invest in developing solutions for everyday problems faced in the Caribbean.

Don’t we know our problems the best?

The best way to create solutions is to consider the root and context of our problems.

The good news is that there are already 21 businesses in Barbados which are doing that. These businesses have been green business certified by the Future Centre Trust/Inter-American Development Bank Multilateral Investment Fund.

Ignore other false claims, these businesses are the only green businesses in the Caribbean - which have been certified by a Caribbean-based third party.

We at Better Caribbean see the Green Business Barbados program as complimentary to our program. We therefore present a 3 part series of articles about these businesses.

For more information on the Green Business Barbados Program you can view their website – www.greenbusinessbarbados.com

Or you can contact The Future Centre Trust – www.futurecentretrust.org

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Why I am writing this? I am an environmental scientist by training and a solution artist in practice. By trade, my currency is facilitating active learning in anyway possible.....

~ Ariana Marshall Ph.D.

Better Caribbean Program Director