ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION - WATER BOTTLES

The Lions Club of Cayman Brac has always emphasized the importance of protecting the environment, undertaking projects geared at educating the community about environmental hazards and encouraging environmentally friendly habits.  This year, the club decided to deviate from the usual beach clean-up and instead, made environmental awareness presentations at all of the schools on the island. At the infants and primary level the students were shown videos and a PowerPoint presentation which encouraged them to ‘Reduce, Reuse & Recycle’. The presentation and discussions which followed also emphasized the importance of everyone playing a part in protecting the environment.

The presentation at the Layman E. Scott Senior High school (formerly Cayman Brac High), also emphasized the importance of everyone taking steps to reduce the negative impact of pollution on the environment. However, at the High school level, there was a focus on the negative impact of single use water bottles on the environment.

Through the presentations made by the Lions, students and teachers were informed of the following facts:

1)       Water bottles create a lot of trash. According to a small scale research undertaken by the Club, approximately 20,000 eight ounce bottles are bought every week on Cayman Brac. “There are no provisions for recycling these bottles so they just pile up at the dump”, stated environmental chair, Lion Fazileta Yusuf.

2)       The plastic from the bottles do not biodegrade but photo degrade into tiny particles that stays in the environment for thousands of years, seeping into the soil, ponds and the ocean and may be ingested by marine life.

3)       Bottled water is no safer than tap water in most countries.

4)       Plastic bottles pose a health risk. The chemicals from the plastic seep into the water over a period of time and heat speeds up the rate at which these chemicals seep into the water.

According to club sources, “the students and staff at the high school were encouraged to reduce or refuse the use of these water bottles and carry reusable water bottles instead”.

The presentation was followed up less than a week later with a challenge to the high school population; they were challenged to boycott bottled water for one day, April 19^th. On that day the students and staff were asked to bring their reusable water bottles to school and were provided with chilled filtered water. Approximately 50 reusable water bottles were also distributed. Lion Fazileta Yusuf, environmental chair, stated that, “the challenge was well received and a large percentage of the students and almost all of the staff refrained from buying bottled water during the day and used the water provided.  This also sparked an interest in many individuals thinking of reducing the use of the single water bottles as a life-style change”.

“The aim of the project was to send the message that we all need to recognize the profound impact that our activities have on the environment”, said Lion Fazileta. She further reiterated that, “as citizens of the world, it is our responsibility to protect the environment that we live in and that each of us no matter how small we may think it is, could play an important role in this protection”.    To see ‘The Story of Bottled Water Video’ presented at the High school, visit the youtube link  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0. The club would like to express thanks to the Cayman Islands Diabetes Association-Sister Islands Chapter , Cayman National Bank and the National Trust-Cayman Brac for donating reusable water bottles. They are also grateful to Joe Musuneci for donating 40 gallons of filtered water from Filter Fountain. The Lions club of Cayman Brac continues to fulfill the mission of Lions International in serving the community of Cayman Brac.  For more information about the club’s service activities, email us at cblions@candw.ky.