How we partying? About this waste. Problem # 1.

***Update*** Friday April 22, 2016*** Black Pearl Cruises Barbados has now banned all confetti on cruises. They agreed - using confetti whether biodegradable or not - is a waste, mess and environmental hazard. Confetti is banned in their contracts now so you've been warned. We will write about this again or inform them if we see this confetti folly on their cruises.

Do we see our shoes anymore?

Peruse the websites of the many photographers who snap our Caribbean outdoor parties and tell me this - are you seeing our shoes in the pictures? I mean are you seeing our bottom halves, in fact before you say "yes plenty and nice ones too", I mean specifically from our knees down to the shoes which most of us spend so much money on?

My answer is - not as much as we used to before. Yes, our faces and top halves are quite attractive for photographers, but is that the only reason we no longer see shoes in pictures? Ok yes, we see shoes in pictures taken at the beginning of the party or cruise when everyone and the venue is fresh and clean. However, what happens after that?

There is NO way you can tell me that photographers just happen to avoid taking pictures which show how disgusting our outdoor parties and events can look. This avoidance has to be intentional.

Contradiction

For me, partying became a real contradicting and career conflicting activity about 3 years ago.

There I was, trying to convince businesses to join the Green Business Barbados program and at the same time working with businesses on managing their waste, recycling and demonstrate that they practice the good green gospel they were claiming.

I admit I had a bit of paranoia. While at parties I thought – What if someone snaps a picture of me wherever I am, where oblivious to me there is a pile of bottles or garbage at my feet? Not only is that nasty but it would make me seem hypocritical. It would seem as though I turned a blind eye to the nastiness around me just so that I could have "fun". It is almost as though I would be giving certain businesses a pass while trying to petition others to make a change.

Why should some businesses have that privilege of not being accountable? Anyway, this has been my thought process and now I'm hoping to progress some action to address these glaring party issues we seem to be avoiding in order to enjoy ourselves.

Problem #1 - Waste.

I've spoken to bartenders and people who clean up after outdoor events. It seems as though there is an idea out there that we don't need to consider how many garbage bins are set up in a venue once there are people employed to clean up the venue afterwards.

This mentality that there will be people there to clean up after you, reinforces the societal foolishness we see on an everyday basis where there are people who do not take personal responsibility for their own waste. Their excuse is that their irresponsibility gives someone a job to do. This…is…pure…foolishness.

If we all became super responsible with our waste, then we will allow people who clean up our mess to do jobs where they can be more creative – maybe create some wealth from garbage/recyclables which are better separated and less contaminated.

Worst Case Scenarios

The scale, location and type of outdoor party ofcourse influences how big of an issue accumulating garbage is.

In terms of scale location/type -

The worst case scenarios….....

- Party cruises which allow consumers to bring their own drinks/cups without requiring them to bring bags to hold their garbage. This is direct water pollution - the wind blows, the sea receives your mess and turtles/fish eat, then starve or accumulate toxins as a result of your plastic cups/bottles.

- Events/ parties where small disposable plastic cups are used and where NO garbage containers can be found. We are all not patient enough to hold onto our garbage until we find that one bin.

The best case scenarios.......

- Large events where patrons must bring plastic bags along with their coolers to remove all of the

waste they generate. These large events have labelled and covered garbage containers and if there are covered containers for recyclable collection, the opening is small enough to prevent garbage contamination.

**It is a plus if someone comes around only to collect recyclables, because people tend to then hoard their recyclables so as to prevent anyone else from benefiting from their waste. This results in better personal waste management for selfish purposes but hey it works – we saw it

at Soca Royale 2014.

- All-inclusive parties where no plastic/disposable cups are used and the ambience sets the tone that garbage nastiness from patrons will not be tolerated.

- Parties which provide a branded reusable cup for patrons and incentivize the use of the cup (e.g. 2 for 1 drinks)

Perhaps because liquor is involved at events, inebriated patrons may not notice the nasty garbage when it piles up at their feet.

Crop Over

My first Crop over where I didn’t drink a lick of liquor almost turned me off from Crop Over all together.

Not only does the garbage on Kadooment Day pile up within seconds, but people also actually pull out their worse wasteful behavior. I’ve heard people tell visitors to just throw the bottle on the road, someone will clean up after.

I have seen people pelt bottles at other people, then there is all of the flinging way of costumes and food waste – makes for a delicious soup of ish which backs up our Sanitation Service Authority for days after.

This really looks bad and we need to open up our eyes to this nastiness. Garbage feeds rats and breeds mosquitoes obviously, but then think of the concentration of people on the island for Crop Over, any other newly flown in viruses, sicknesses etc. are going to spread more quickly and our nasty habits only make that worse. Who wants to get sick at Crop Over time?

There's More.....

It’s not just Crop Over, I’ve been to events at large venues like the Concourse grounds – and patrons were literally ploughing the garbage at their feet towards the end. So nasty.

I’ve been in parties where patrons buy and tote their bottles of liquor but there aren’t any garbage containers so then they just leave a glass bottle in the middle of the party – who cares if it breaks.

On party cruises we have issues too. I actually have avoided going on one because I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape if it got too messy. I would have to ride out that with that garbage for 4 hours. Nah.

I tried a cruise recently though, it was a cooler cruise (where people bring their own drinks). No glass bottles the organizers said, but yet I saw the glass bottles. I saw the plastic bags and cups blowing over the side of the railing. I saw no one try to stop it. I saw the plastic cups pile up around my feet.

I saw the confetti go straight into the water all for the sake of a pretty photo opportunity (BTW why are y’all wasting money on confetti, there are alternatives to getting a pretty photo that will cost you and our environment (by way of dioxins/PCBs) less)****. Who wants to eat fish or contaminate the water with harmful dyes from the paper confetti or the toxins in plastic confetti?

From what I understand, because the cruise I was on was so packed, less of the garbage went over board because people blocked the wind from blowing the garbage off – so that’s a positive but geez. What happens on a cruise where the ship is half packed and the same amount of drinks/cups etc. are brought on board?

The Main Problem : Efficiency

The main problem with waste for our outdoor parties is that we do not have enough garbage containers/bags which are brightly labelled nor are they incorporated in the arrangements or “themes” for parties. More resources are spent paying someone to clean up after us than on making the venue efficient. An efficient venue can employ the same amount of people, they would just do different jobs.

Another issue is that the management of venues/boats need to make clear what they will not stand for…not just for the sake of the sustainability of their venue but the environment which makes their venue valuable (whether it’s the ocean, plush green grass or the general island character which feeds both local and overseas party appetites).

Promoters and organizers of events - please monitor your event pictures very closely, if I find a picture of some wasteful nastiness at your event before you do I will use it ….constructive criticism.

I actually planned to write about all three problems but this is more than enough for one blog!!

We will tackle Problem # 2 – Well-Being, next.

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*** This issue of the confetti has been raised this week 3.24.2016 and we thank anyone who has petitioned for a change or educated the public on the type of confetti used on their cruises. We were lit up by this concern and so we pushed to finish this blog asap after public concern was raised.

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Why am I 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