TCI: International Coastal Clean-Up 2018 To Be The Biggest Yet!

#Providenciales, September 6, 2018 – Turks and Caicos – Saturday, September 22 marks International Coastal Clean-up Day and the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) is looking to continue its tradition of getting the whole country involved in cleaning up the coastlines of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

This year, in an effort to encourage even more people to go out into their communities and help with the clean-up efforts, the DECR has teamed up with the Turks & Caicos Tourist Board, the Turks & Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association (TCHTA) and the Turks & Caicos National Trust!

“In 2016, 237 individuals collected over 455 bags of trash nation-wide.  Unfortunately, last year’s efforts were thwarted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, but this year we hope to not only gain increased support for the clean-up campaign, but make it the biggest clean-up effort the TCI has ever seen!”, said Amy Avenant, Environmental Outreach Coordinator for the DECR.

The main goal of this initiative is to encourage people to go out into their communities, across the TCI, and remove litter found along the shoreline, underwater, or in bushes in order to help create healthy waters for everyone, including the wildlife that calls these coasts home.

Hon. Ralph Higgs expressed his support of this event, stating; “The Ministry and its departments are happy to be partnering with our communities and business sector in observance of International Coastal Cleanup Day.  This international event is significant in bringing awareness to the importance of our coasts and keeping it free of waste and debris.  The Ministry remains committed to supporting and promoting initiatives that reduce waste and promote sustainable use of our natural resources.”

Speaking on the involvement of the Tourist Board, Mr. Ramon Andrews, Director of the Turks & Caicos Tourist Board said; “The Turks and Caicos Tourist Board is once again delighted to join our partners in observing International Coastal Clean-up Day.  With the community’s support and involvement, we can take action to address the issue of pollution throughout our islands.  This initiative is not only important to preserve our tourism product and to safeguard its sustainability, but also to ensure that as residents we are able to live in a clean environment and be accountable for maintaining its cleanliness.

This initiative will be ongoing and the public can look forward to Tourism Environmental Awareness Month in November, when the Tourist Board will be focusing our efforts on educating the public on the drawbacks of single use plastics and driving home the message that each of us have a personal responsibility to enhance and protect our number one industry, tourism.”

You, your school, your business, and/or your organization can get involved by getting a group together and spending an hour out of your day cleaning up a beach, bushy area, path, road, or sea-bed in your local area.  You can also join one of the many organized groups, as any of the locations listed below.

Show you care for the TCI’s natural environment by getting involved in International Coastal Clean-up Day!  Together we can fight for trash-free seas, on Saturday, September 22. It doesn’t matter where you are, just grab a bag and collect that litter!

DECR has registered this event with the Ocean Conservancy – Ocean Conservancy works to keep the ocean healthy, to keep us healthy.  http://www.oceanconservancy.org/

Release: TCIG