By Shauna Jemmott

AIMING to maintain a healthy environment and reduce spending on its Solid Waste Management (SWM) programme, the Georgetown City Council (M&CC) is now engaging schools in the proper management of solid waste.Public Relations Officer (PRO) of M&CC, Debra Lewis, told the Guyana Chronicle in a recent interview that the council has already introduced a programme titled ‘3Rs’ in primary schools in Georgetown, teaching pupils to ‘reduce, recycle and reuse’ solid waste.

“If they understand how to manage solid waste at the school level, or even at the level of the household, the council will have less refuse to collect. This achievement will cause our solid waste bill to be significantly reduced, and we will also have a healthy environment,” Lewis posited.

She said three colour-coded bins have already been placed in the compounds of St. Sidwell’s and St. Pius Primary schools in Georgetown. These schools have already benefited from the programme, and the council will continue that pattern at other schools.

Meanwhile, the programme will continue in the South Georgetown area before it is expanded; and according to Lewis, the council is willing to extend its wings countrywide if the need arises.

COLOUR-CODED BINS
Each bin has a different colour, coded according to the category of waste. One is specifically placed to store plastic bottles, one for paper, and the other for food materials. The M&CC will do a second phase of the SWM programme which will educate and involve the schoolchildren in composting and using composting as fertilizers for kitchen gardens.

Students are also being taught to shop wisely, avoiding the use of Styrofoam boxes and plastic bags; and they have received gifts of environmentally friendly shopping bags donated by ‘Survival’ and ‘Bounty’ supermarkets.

Lewis said the programme will go to greater levels after Guyana’s major Jubilee celebrations this month, with the involvement of secondary schools in debating and essay competitions, with solid waste management being their main focus.

There will also be ‘Best Kept School’ and ‘Most Improved School’ competitions, as schools strive to create an environmentally friendly atmosphere – planting trees, disposing of garbage correctly, and maintaining drains.

Visual aids will also be posted in classrooms, in keeping with the M&CC’s policy on reducing, recycling and reusing as a means of properly managing solid waste. Lectures and school inspections will also be carried out, and the private sector will be involved in sponsorship of prizes to be awarded to the tidy schools.

The programme is being managed by the council’s Solid Waste Management, Health Education, and Public Relations departments.