Plastic Free Cayman show East End some love

A partnership of people who care about Cayman’s environment headed to East End this Valentine’s Day for a clean-up of the Lover’s Wall location, and once again, hospital waste was found among the debris collected.

The team behind Plastic Free Cayman partnered with Jeep345, the Cayman Island Cadet Corps, CaymanEco and Protect Our Future, for the clean-up, bright and early on Sunday morning, with Plastic Free Cayman clean-up coordinator Carina Ecclefield leading the team of environmentalists. In all, more than 100 volunteers show up to remove over 1,350 pounds of trash from the shore line.

Organisers said that most of the debris collected was plastic and microplastics. It was even discovered that the smaller blowholes continually release bits of plastic with each cycle. The area was cleaned two years ago, but the general area seems to be getting worse with each passing year, they confirmed. In addition, one syringe and vial of blood were also collected and directly delivered to Health City for proper disposal, with the notification of the Department of Health Regulatory Services. Organisers said this discovery of hospital waste was becoming a more regular occurrence. They also noted a large amount of bottlecaps that littered the shores, suggesting that many of the bottles were probably sitting at the bottom of the sea.

Ms Ecclefield said that they were happy to have such a large turnout of volunteers, ready to clean up the island, calling the quantity of bottle caps and plastics found “overwhelming”. Thankfully, she said, with volunteers from all ages and backgrounds, they managed to do some serious good for the island.

“Thank you so much to Island Supply, A.L. Thompson, Stoak'd, and Island Waste Carriers for your continued support,” she said. “Also thank you to the Cayman Islands Cadet Corps, Jeep345, CaymanEco, Protect Our Future, Lucky Slice and many more volunteer groups and individuals. Follow Plastic Free Cayman on Facebook or Instagram to hear about our March clean-up.”

Plastic Free Cayman founder Claire Hughes said she continues to push for a national clean-up campaign and plastic ban policy similar to what has been seen on other Caribbean islands.

“Sadly, with Parliament dissolved, more time will be wasted in addressing this issue,” she said. “We continue to press the government to take direct action regarding single use plastics.”