Before Guardian Media Ltd embarks on this particular series on plastic recycling in these ongoing environmental guest columns it is worth repeating the premise upon which this page began in 2010.

T&T is among the most polluted small island states in the world. We dump more than 50 million plastic bottles into our dumps and one million glass bottles every month.
Plastic, when exposed to heat creates among the deadliest toxins known to man and as such we look forward to the Beverage Bill being laid in Parliament by Dr Roodal Moonilal, Housing and Environment Minister (now Minister Ganga Singh under Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources).

Doctors suspect it is related to the rising rates of cancer. We also do not recycle ewaste—computers when damaged or dismantled produce hazardous toxins.
Starting this week, in the first of a series on recycling, columnist GERARD CHARLES, marketing manager of Resin Converters Limited, makes a case for recycling plastics.

This is the third in Guardian Media ongoing series on the environment by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) addressing the vital issue of the authority’s Water Pollution Rules.

What is a Water Pollution Permit (WPP)?
A Water Pollution Permit (WPP) is the primary mechanism used to control and manage the release of water pollutants from point source discharges. These permits define for the holder:
• the discharge limits, authorised discharge points and a timeline for achieving compliance
• The monitoring, recording and reporting requirements
• compliance responsibilities
• special conditions and studies to be implemented
 

Essentially a WPP is a licence for a facility to discharge certain types of water pollutants, at certain concentrations, from authorised discharge points, into a receiving water body, under controlled conditions. The main objective of the permit is to control and reduce the volume and concentration of effluent to meet the permissible levels established in the Second Schedule of the WPR.

This is the second part of the Guardian Media ongoing series on the environment by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) addressing the vital issue of the authority’s Water Pollution Rules (WPR).

When your business activity or project discharges any type of effluent, the country’s vital water systems are placed in danger. A clean water supply is therefore necessary and with the WPR, the EMA will continue to monitor the water systems in T&T. As such, once a business discharges any type of effluent from a point source, it must register as a source of water pollutants and when notified, apply for a water pollution permit (WPP).
 

What is a Source Registration (SR)
Source Registration (SR) is the process whereby a business activity or project is determined to be a source of water pollutants by referencing the first schedule of the WPR. The first schedule is a list of substances and parameters that have been determined to be water pollutants specific to T&T (visit ema.co.tt to see the list for the first schedule).

This is the first in Guardian Media’s on-going series on the environment by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) addressing the vital issue of the authority’s Water Pollution Rules. The EMA is committed to promoting sustainable water practices which will help ensure citizens of T&T continue to enjoy the benefits of clean and safe water.
 

Water Pollution Rules
The EMA has been implementing the WPR since 2007. The main purpose of the WPR is to encourage local industries to reduce the levels of water pollutants in their effluent (point-source discharges—discrete openings such as pipe, ditch, canal, etc), thereby improving the overall quality of our inland and coastal water resources. The WPR applies to activities which could negatively affect inland surface water, groundwater, rivers and beaches, coastal and marine environments and environmentally sensitive areas.

A key challenge facing the international community, as well as local institutions and farming communities, is to ensure food security for present and future generations, while protecting the natural resource base on which they depend. Over the past 50-60 years, the focus of agricultural development and research has mainly been on maximising yields, coupled with increasing specialisation of production and ever larger farm sizes.

Although yields have increased substantially, contributing to raising total production, farmers and the environment have had to pay the price for keeping up with this development. During the last two decades, many farmers have chosen to make the transition to practices that are more environmentally sound and that have the potential to contribute to the long-term sustainability of agriculture.

In this week’s Cleaning Up The Mess ongoing guest series examining environmental issues, we start a two-part series by Omardath Maharaj BSc, MSc, who gives us an update on agricultural diversity taking place nationwide. He is adviser to Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj.
 

The 50th anniversary of our Independence earlier this year brought many discourses and reminders about the natural diversity and unique blend of human and physical resources, which constitute this fragrant twin-island state. Like good germ plasma, the socio-cultural traits of our nation are worth protecting, not only to keep the aroma of life, but also to instill a sense of belonging and context for future generations. The conversational historians reminisced on the village life, the way we used to be, the things we used to do, while the capitalists asked “how much are you willing to pay to relive these experiences?”

This week’s Cleaning Up The Mess, the Guardian Media ongoing guest series examining environmental issues in T&T, is the first of a two-part series by Caribozone, a T&T-based company that has developed a water purification solution for homes and businesses, using ozone technology.
 

Although ozone technology has been used for drinking water disinfection and purification for more than 100 years, most people are not aware of it. According to an Inter-governmental panel on climate change in 2008, more than 30 countries use ozone systems to disinfect and purify drinking water. Ozone technology is also widely used in the bottled water industry.

Dr Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde has warned climactic change would significantly affect agricultural production as well as cause a reduction in potable water, an increase in the spread of the vector population and a rise in the incidence of water-borne diseases in flooded areas. Whenever there is flooding the Ministry of Health warns citizens to boil drinking water, even if it comes out of the taps.

This week in Cleaning Up The Mess guest series examining environmental issues in T&T, The Global Environment Facility (GEP) tells us how this year with its support, the number of poached hawksbill turtles was reduced by approximately 90 per cent. With the efforts of North East Sea Turtles (NEST) a Charlotteville based organisation comprising of both locals and foreigners in North East Tobago.

The serene scene at Man–O–War Bay beachfront in Charlotteville embodies Paradise and has a calming effect on the weary soul. The pace is slower in this peaceful, picture perfect fishing village. During the months of March to October, however, there is a flurry of activity.