The Green Consortium — a group of St George’s University (SGU) students, faculty and staff dedicated to environmental sustainability, is partnering with about 14 local entities including homes, churches, supermarkets, vendors, and institutions to assist the Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority (GSWMA) in its waste management initiatives.
The entities include: Grand Anse Playgroup, Grenada Sickle Cell Association, Bel Air Home, Island Water World, Woodlands Recycling Center and the St George’s Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Household goods, furniture, glass jars, bottles and items that would otherwise be sent to Grenada’s lone landfill, can now be reused or recycled for use in entrepreneurial and cottage industry initiatives, through the local entities and the consortium — essentially turning trash into cash.
“We aim to create awareness and accessibility in terms of environmental issues on campus, and throughout Grenada,” said Ashley Marshall, a veterinary medical representative on the consortium. “In addition to having a resource available for persons to know where they can take reusable items; on campus, we are working on diverting the paper waste to a place where it can be shredded and sent to chicken farms.”
“We have a huge impact on the earth, and a lot of people don’t take accountability and responsibility for that,” she added. “If people are aware then they have more power and urgency to act on what they know. If we collectively give people the tools and knowledge then they can positively impact this beautiful island.”
A list of the reusable items and the various places accepting them can be found at http://etalk.sgu.edu/Contribute/sgubulletin/documents/DonatingRecycling_updatedJan2014.pdf
