February 2012
Energy efficient lifestyles needed to develop ‘greener’ T&T
Submitted by Cleaning Up the Mess on Fri, 2012-02-24 11:08This is the second of a two-part series on incentives geared towards reducing greenhouse gases in T&T, collectively written by six students of the University of the West Indies— MATHEW EDWARDS, SALEEM ABDUL AZIZ, MARSILIO MOHAMMED, KEENAN RAMNATH, DARREL LUTCHMAN, AVINDA BHAIROSINGH and FARIA RAMJOHN.
According to the results of a study conducted by a group of Environmental Economics students on which this article is based, the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Trinidad and Tobago was found to not surprisingly be the industrial sector.
Transport is listed as the second highest contributor with domestic and agricultural sources being third.
In terms of industrial activity, market-based incentives such as tradable permits on pollution and taxing are necessary in making a step in the direction of more environmentally sound operations.
Levying taxes on activities such as polluting, could result in a paradigm shift where unfavourable items and activities would hold a charge as opposed to activities regarded as positive for society such as savings being tax free.
Incentives to lower pollution can still benefit economy
Submitted by Cleaning Up the Mess on Thu, 2012-02-16 06:35This is the first of a two-part series on incentives geared towards reducing greenhouse gases in T&T, jointly written by six students of the University of the West Indies—Mathew Edwards, Saleem Abdul Aziz, Marsilio Mohammed, Keenan Ramnath, Darrel Lutchman, Avinda Bhairosingh and Faria Ramjohn.
“It is often been said that our quest for wealth has time and again generated much of the pollution that plagues our society and contributes to general degradation of our natural environment. “Living in a way that is less damaging to the Earth is not easy, but it is vital, because pollution is pervasive and often life-threatening,” says Dr Azad Mohammed, UWI lecturer and eco-toxicologist. Necessity is the mother of all inventions. This popular quote, originating from Plato, a renowned Greek philosopher, can be applied to the global crisis with which we are confronted today.
Oysters can be a health hazard
Submitted by Cleaning Up the Mess on Thu, 2012-02-09 12:59Street food like oysters are an integral part of life in T&T and more so with Carnival in the air. In this guest column, Daana Kanhai MPhil student of Environmental Biology from UWI warns us of the risks associated with raw oyster consumption.
“Environmental contamination resulting from human activities is an issue which is of prime concern for the scientific community because of the potential impacts on human health and the overall well being of ecosystems. Yet, to certain members of the public, this issue often remains an abstract concept until it becomes glaringly apparent that human health is being threatened. Here, I use the example of the mangrove oyster to illustrate how environmental contaminants in Trinidad can be a serious issue which has the potential to adversely and directly affect human health.
