TCI News
Greening TCI Month: Keeping the TCI Beautiful by Nature
The ‘We say NO to straws’ campaign, launched on Earth Day, saw a total of 17 hotel and / or restaurant establishments pledge to not use plastic drinking straws in their drinks. The annual TCI Shines clean-up campaign, hosted by the Turks & Caicos Hotel & Tourism Association (TCHTA), gave the community an opportunity to commemorate Earth Day and keep our islands clean.
The DECR have also run a number of school competitions, themed around environmental stewardship and our islands’ biodiversity, engaged with schools through tree plantings and presentations and educated the community at large through an extensive social media campaign.
Most notably, the DECR hosted the first, annual Turtle Olympics, in the Nation’s capital, on 19 May in honour of World Turtle Day. Young people from across the island joined in fun, educational activities to learn about marine conservation and how we can protect our sea turtles and the other marine creatures we share our environment with. Prizes included re-usable straws, cutlery and bags, sponsored by the Turks & Caicos Reef Fund, to make sure that the boys and girls of Grand Turk can do their part in keeping our oceans plastic free!
Similarly, the DECR hosted a ‘Read with Us’ event at Primary schools across Providenciales, on Wednesday 23 May, in an effort to create awareness about plastic in our oceans and its harmful impact to us and our environment.
The DECR would like to thank the following establishments for their support in the ‘NO to straws’ campaign:
| · The Landing Bar & Kitchen | · Asu on the Beach |
| · Retreat Kitchen Vegetarian Café & Juice bar | · Ocean Club Resorts |
| · Da Conch Shack & Rum Bar | · Neptune Villas, Las Brisas Restaurant & Bar |
| · Mis Amigos | · Cocovan |
| · The Palms, Turks & Caicos | · Seasalt Personal Chef Services |
| · Pelican Bay Restaurant & Bar | · West Bay Club, Turks & Caicos |
| · Pavilion at the Somerset | · Zest!, and Stelle at the Ganzevoort |
| · Lupo Restaurant | · Turks & Caicos Collection |
Let everyday be Earth Day and become a steward to your natural environment: appropriately dispose of your garbage, make use of re-usable containers, shopping bags, straws and cutlery and help keep our islands Beautiful by Nature! In the words of John F Kennedy: “One man can make a difference, and everyone should try”.
Release: TCIG