Editor
St. Thomas Source
Dear Editor:
For a few minutes forget about retroactive wages, payless pay days, mandatory automobile insurance, and all the other politicized troubles. Without clean drinking water, fairly unpolluted air and unsoiled land we cannot exist. Unless we take a more preventative and protective stance regarding our environment, our children's children are doomed.
While I agree we have serious immediate issues facing us in these our Virgin Islands, we first need to set our priorities. One of our most serious concerns is the direct impact our disposable society is having on our environment.
Recently, the government has raised the fine for littering from $250 to $1000 and the signage in most areas are in both English and Spanish, but where are the enforcers? No matter how high the fees are raised and fines imposed, the basic problem will still exist, finite landmass. We now must pay for the usage of the landfill, yet we still haven't had any mass information about recycling, composting and alternative energy sources. However, using all
available media, newspapers, radio and television there is no reason why each
family could not actively participate in reducing the amount of garbage it creates. In Seattle, Washington, $1 million was spent educating a community of 500,000 on the benefits of recycling.
How much if any is being spent here?
Technically, a land fill should consist of non-reusable items and hazardous materials. Our landfill contains, all types of paper, cans, bottles, old cars, sofas, food, refrigerators, I could go on all day. Most of this stuff can be recycled, but we must be educated in sorting out glass, paper and plastic products, and also encourage the development and usage of recycling centers. We need to get into the habit of reusing plastic and paper bags.
If each family took cloth shopping bags to the supermarket, imagine how much plastic that would eliminate.
Garbage pickups should be scheduled and garbage that isn't sorted a fine should be levied. Water jugs can be taken to reputable water sellers and be refilled. Discarded food should be put in a compost heap since composting creates rich soil.
The government is in fiscal crisis, but if we could find a company willing to barge all our old, cars, refrigerators to a recycling center, for a share of the profits of course, everyone wins. There are solutions to our problems but we must be creative in our problem solving.
We all have to take responsibility for creating unnecessary burden on our finite mandamuses. We are quick to wonder if we will profit from the EPA's fines leveled against Royal Caribbean, but we don't seem to realize that we too have contributed to the poisoning of our air, land and water.
Caroline Browne