Nov. 5, 2007 — Think outside the bin, urged Bermuda resident Allen Hunt at Monday's opening reception of the 13th annual ReCaribe 2007, a wider Caribbean waste-management conference running through Thursday at the V.I. Environmental Resource Station on St. John.
"If we don't, we're going to be stuck in the bin," he said at Monday's opening reception, held at Concordia Eco-tents and Condominiums pavilion.
Hunt, who serves as president of the Clean Islands International board of directors, has long worked in the waste-management field. Clean Islands manages VIERS for the University of the Virgin Islands.
The event brings together 42 people from 16 Caribbean countries, the U.S. mainland and Canada. Most are waste-management professionals.
The Region Two administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Alan Steinberg, served as keynote speaker. Even the simplest and most individual measures can make a difference in the long run, he said.
Although the EPA has faced challenges when it came to the territory's landfills, progress was being made thanks to efforts of the V.I. Waste Management Authority, Steinberg said.
May Adams Cornwall, who serves as the authority's director, said the territory's challenges when it comes to waste management are the same as those on other Caribbean islands.
"We have one contiguous environment in the Caribbean," she said. "We have shared responsibilities and shared benefits."
In mentioning the authority's unveiling of its schedule of waste-management fees to be applied to goods coming into the territory, Cornwall said recent public meetings pointed out that residents are concerned that the fees do not encourage recycling. However, she said the fees would pay for programs to divert waste out of the landfill. The authority budgeted $1.5 million for recycling efforts, she said.
Guadeloupe has a plastics recycling facility that might be available to the Virgin Islands, Cornwall noted.
The best example of people making a different came with recycling, Steinberg said.
"It can create economic opportunities," he said.
Stanley Selengut, who owns the Concordia Eco-Camps and Condominiums, showed off decorative pieces made of glass that started their life as Heineken beer and Arizona iced tea bottles.
"What you're all about is close to my heart," he said, referring to the recycling discussions.
Before the reception began, St. John Administrator Leona Smith said the island has plenty of waste-management problems. Haulers must truck the island's garbage to St. Thomas, she said.
"And we have a bunch of abandoned vehicles," Smith said. "We must get those cars off the island."
Smith also said that St. John faces even more waste-management issues as the island's development continues at a rapid pace.
"All those developments have sewer and water issues," she said.
Steinberg presented the EPA's Environmental Quality Awards, announced in the spring, to several winners: Clean Islands International; the Coral Bay Community Council and its president, Sharon Coldren; Emmeline Simmonds, who serves as an authority program manager; and St. John resident Barry Devine. He is the chief scientist at UVI's Conservation Data Center and often speaks out on environmental concerns.
Quantum Sail Design Group of St. Thomas also received an award for its participation in the V.I. Energy Office rebate program and for owner Arun Keshap's development of an off-the-grid eco-cabin. Keshap accepted his award at the EPA's Earth Day Celebration in New York.
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