A cleaner, greener BCC

IT STARTED off as a class assignment but turned into an environmental consultancy, of sorts, the recommendations of which were accepted by the Barbados Community College (BCC) and resulted in a vector control officer being hired.

As was the case with previous classes, environmental chemistry tutor Dr. Sonia Peter assigned her two classes of 16 each a project to design a programme that would effectively enhance the environmental awareness of the tertiary institution. The students went to work, first finding out what the pressing environment problems were through literature searches and interviews with a wide cross-section of people. They also sifted through garbage, characterising it to find out how much could be recycled, reused, and composted.

They made four recommendations.

No. 1 was education. To support this was a range of multi-media materials including a website explaining air pollution, a board game, a model of a town showing the impact of pollution, a photo essay, and a video which showed the magnitude of the garbage problem in gullies around the island and also right at home at the college. The results also showed that the nearly three-quarters of BCC students who knew about environmental issues got the information through radio and television. Only ten per cent got information through the newspapers.

Secondly, they recommended a garbage management programme including composting and increasing the number of garbage cans in strategic locations. They also recommended an Adopt-a-Can programme where businesses could donate garbage cans to the college.

Thirdly, they recommended that environmental studies be included on the curriculum.

Fourthly, conduct a one-day Greening BCC project where students and staff would join forces to clean up the compound so as to get an appreciation of the problem.

Peter said the results were shared with the deputy principal who immediately sprung into action.

"I don't know if it can all be attributed to the project but the college has created a post of vector control officer and the Division of Health, working with the Environmental Health Division of the Ministry of Health, has designed a programme for the college," she said.

Not only was the entire exercise absolute fun, but it was also educational. When they started the students knew very little about the environment but now, six months later, they are the foremost environmental advocates at the college.

"I chose to research composting, a subject on which I knew very little. I found it so interesting that now I have compost bins at home," said Jeanine Morris.

Brian Holder, who was one of the students who sifted through everybody's garbage, said he had become very aware of the environment.

 "It makes me feel so guilty if I drop anything. I also learnt about mulching and about how to deal with organic waste," Holder said.

The work of the 2001 Environmental Chemistry should be on display at the Green Expo at the end of the month.

Litterbugs slapped with fines

GUYANA - The campaign against litterbugs continued in Guyana with the City Constabulary successfully prosecuting four persons and garnering about GUY$28 000 in fines. Chief Magistrate Paul Fung-A-Fat imposed a penalty of GUY$7 000 each on Toolsie Ram, Steve Richards, Sharma Rattan and Ricardo Nazeer after they all admitted littering Georgetown. Sergeant Gerald Brown, prosecuting, stated that between February 21 and 24, the transgressors were caught throwing fruit skins, paper and plastic bags and  straws on the city streets. They were arrested and charged.
(Stabroek Newspaper)

Shocking cancer news

LONDON - High voltage power cables have been officially linked to cancer for the first time. A study shows that children living near them run a small but significant increased risk of falling victim to the disease. Sir Richard Doll, the epidemiologist who discovered the link between smoking and lung cancer in the 1960s, will this week warn that children living near electricity power lines are at an increased risk from leukaemia. He is also expected to say that there may be a link with adult cancers but that this is unproven. His work was commissioned by the National Radiological Protection Board, the government's radiation watchdog. Doll is chairman of its Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation. He has spent months analysing the results of studies on cancer among people living near power cables.  It is the first time a British government body has accepted the link between cancer and power lines. (Sunday Times)