Getting youth involved in removing plastic litter from Caribbean beaches

Innovative cleaning approaches are needed as plastic waste continues to negatively impact marine and local ecosystems. One effective way to tackle this issue is to involve local populations by incentivising plastic recovery in return for monetary compensation and other rewards.

As part of the EU-funded In-No-Plastic project, close to 100 volunteers collected trash from Mullet Bay Beach in Philipsburg, the capital of Sint Maarten. The clean-up effort was a complete success, with nearly 890 kg of litter gathered. It took place in June in honour of World Ocean Day celebrated on 8 June.

Organised by local non-profit organisation Nature Foundation St. Maarten and a large beverage distributor, volunteers were treated to free beer, water and pizza. Three cases of beer were also given out as a prize. A four-member group won for collecting 193.7 kg of litter.“This clean-up was a huge success!” comments In-No-Plastic project coordinator Alice Manley in a news item posted on ‘The Daily Herald’. “We were amazed with the support from our community, seeing many new and known faces, and their efforts in collecting as much trash as possible. Many individuals at the clean-up expressed their concerns with how much trash they found, and that they would like to do more for our island.”

Most of the volunteers were under the age of 18. The majority found out about such clean-up activities during presentations given at their schools or from free educational events by Nature Foundation, which collaborates closely with project partner Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance. “We are grateful that our education efforts are showing a positive impact in St. Maarten’s youth!” adds Manley.

On 15 July, Nature Foundation organised another clean-up at Belair Beach in Philipsburg with members of the Faraja Center at the Mental Health Foundation. Just over 160 kg of litter was collected. It also provided an opportunity to discuss issues about marine litter and plastic pollution.Project partners submitted a policy brief titled ‘8 Regulatory Changes that can Make Marine Litter Removal and Reintroduction in the Economy Viable at a Large Scale’ at the 2022 UN Ocean Conference held from 27 June to 1 July in Lisbon, Portugal. The document’s aims, amongst others, are to include plastic pollution limitations in existing regulations and to establish compulsory monitoring.

The 3-year In-No-Plastic (Innovative approaches towards prevention, removal and reuse of marine plastic litter) brings together 17 partners and 10 countries in Europe and the Caribbean to remove plastics at different areas in both. It ends in September 2023.

For more information, please see:

In-No-Plastic project website