Tomorrow is National Service Day in Belize
September 19th is National Service Day in Belize. It is a day commemorated to honor George Price, the father of modern Belize, after his passing, at age 92, in 2011.
Before I get onto what seems like a high horse, I’ll be honest. I didn’t even know we have a national service day until this year! (Thank you, San Pedro Town Council.) It’s such a fantastic idea. To put ME ME ME aside for maybe an hour and do something lovely for our island.
So here is what I’m thinking for me. But first, here is the event organized by the San Pedro Town Council for you to join – if this is your area or it’s not. Such a great idea.
I’m going to stay a bit closer to home and pick up trash on the road. Our road north has gotten…pretty bad. Trash thrown by carts, dumped by trucks, thrown into the bush from households and just tossed aside by the many many construction projects. (This is 2024 – we don’t need to fill lots with trash!)
Additionally, the roadside dumping of sargassum from resorts and homes has left scattered trash (that washes in from the sea) along our roads.
Trash draws in more trash. Garbage begets garbage. If I see that a construction site or golf cart rental spot has thrown their empty cement bags in the bushes, I might as well throw my kitchen trash there…right? I mean…it’s a trash heap. Why not?
As we move into tourism season (only a few months away!) and try to put our best face forward to the world, I will try to spend an hour or two tomorrow picking up some roadside trash. (I say “try” because it’s incredibly hot this time of year!) Jeff will too…though shhhh…I haven’t mentioned this to him yet.
Grab a small to-go bag or a kitchen bag and head outside. On the roadside by you – or a spot you pass every day making you crazy (we all have those spots!) – or the beach.
Please take a picture for me so I can share and inspire – if you are up for it.
Are we going to get all the trash? Probably not. Do we need the help of government – both local and national? Heck yeah.
We – Diane Campbell, Catherine Paz and me – are working to organize a larger initiative and we need all the help we can get! I’ll be posting more on the North Ambergris Alliance in the coming weeks and months.
Here is my first draft of a “Mission Statement”. Any and all suggestions appreciated!
Businesses and residents of North Ambergris Caye, let’s foster a beautiful and sustainable island by inspiring and empowering each other to actively participate in preserving and enhancing its natural beauty. Our collective efforts, which must include lobbying and partnering with our elected officials, can create a safe, clean, and inviting environment while also significantly benefiting our vital tourism industry.
A bit of a word salad 🙂 but somewhere to start.
There are probably hundreds of ways to do service, to give back. Have a Happy National Service Eve everyone!
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Contests can motivate people to collect trash. Have local businesses donate prizes. Edible prizes yum , get school science and engineering people involved to create inventions from trash or to collect trash.
Great idea! Getting school children involved at an early age will help to form their future behavior toward the importance of preserving the environment, marine life, beaches, and pride of community.
An ongoing contest throughout the school year between the various classrooms and even other schools would be motivating. Local vendors could sponsor a month of the year offering a prize and/or a party day for the winning class.
There could also be a local vendor contest with monthly competition between Front, Middle, Back, Back and Back Streets. This would incentivize businesses to work together to make their streets beautiful.
Local vendors could take turns and sponsor a cookout (food, beer, sodas, desserts, etc.) for the employees of their street who work there.
Perhaps, a plaque in a central location listing the “Beautification Award Recipients.
My two cents! 🙂
Great ideas, we have been going there for several years. Built a house. Love the people. Biggest problem is where to put the trash. Where do you put the trash if you are at Secret Beach ? I drive around with trash to find an empty can on the side of the road. Better than the ditch. Got yelled at because I put trash in a can. Is there a trash company? Or dump? Public cans well marked? Would love to know. Awareness for everyone, locals and tourists.
You either need to pay a guy for private pick up or disposal or bring it to the dump. Those are your options. Which is crazy. I guess ask your neighbors? But this is a HUGE issue we hope to take on. We need somewhere for people to legally bring their trash that isn’t 3 miles south of town.
Great great ideas.
Put up some battery-operated trail cams to find out who is dumping and make them clean it up.
Beautiful island.
The thing is…I don’t think it’s illegal! Just disgusting.
Find a way to get tourists involved! We have been there yearly for 3 years. We love your country and would volunteer a few hours of our next vacation to keep your home beautiful.
We’d love to do that…or at least repeat visitors who are looking to help! Thanks for the suggesiton.
Good afternoon.
Driving up and down Ambergris Caye I have seen areas off the road that seem to be dumps or an attempt at recycling. We hope to be living in Punta Azul North next year. Are there places to deposit trash? Looking forward to doing our part of keeping Ambergris clean every day.
Trash has always been a problem on the island. It is my understanding that we can hire a private collection service (much too expensive for the average resident) or use the public plastic barrels that are sparsely located primarily in town. It is also my understanding that the island’s trash is put on a barge and sent to the mainland. This expensive method probably is a disincentive for the local government to implement more collection of trash. The island really needs a comprehensive trash collection plan that is user friendly and encourages everyone to dispose of their trash in a responsible manner. Perhaps transfer stations where people could take their trash and it is separated into recyclables, compostables and just trash. Dumpsters on site and proper trucks to transport would create an economy of scale to reduce costs. Construction and commercial trash is another issue.
We absolutely need a complete overhaul. For our trash – we pay a guy in town who brings it to the dump. We have no pick up 8 miles north. I agree – it’s gotta come from the top. There are all these huge plans for the island…airports, parks, kiosks…but the basics need to be taken care of first!
Until all of that happens (and I don’t see it happening soon) – we’ve got to do something. Or at least I need to feel like I’m doing something!
Get trail cam pictures of the construction guys dumping. Find out who their customers are. Find an environmental club and say let’s get together to stop this dumping. Get the picture evidence and approach the customer with the club. See how fast that construction dumping stops. The contractor won’t want to be known as an environmental polluter. The guy who hired the contractor won’t want to be involved with that either. Thats his debris.
The small garbage blowing out of a golf cart. Sure, volunteer have a Saturday clean up. Thats easy to fix. Make some friends on a Saturday.