# Negril.com Message Board Forums > Negril Message Board >  Litter in Negril

## Stoners6

I was very impressed last February with the general cleaniness of the Negril road and sidewalk areas over previous years. Right now things have regressed big time. I'm wondering if the litter is only dealt with during high season, and other than collecting my own many bags worth, how a tourist can influence this?  Thoughts?

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## JamaicanCurrys

Is there an election coming up

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## JamaicanCurrys

Hey stoners6

Its sad to see people polluting the beautiful country but JA has come a long way from my first visit in 1974. The best thing we can do is lead by example...

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## Rob

Leading by example definitely helps, but the main reason for the improvements seen over the years is the child education. For us baby boomers and older GenX'ers remember the North American education program? Give a hoot, don't pollute!

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## sunray

I would be happy to see a deposit on all beverage containers, since it does not appear that there is a political will or means to implement recycling programs.  I think would put a huge dent in the plastic that is littered, burned, dumped.

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## Rob

Here is a short list of recycling centres:

Recycling Partners of Jamaica- Main Depot (Plastics) 
Telephone: (876) 948-7381 or 1-888-429-5738
Address: 22a Lyndhurst Road, Kingston

Recycling Partners of Jamaica-Martins Hill Disposal Site (Plastics) 
Telephone: (876) 948-7381 or 1-888-429-5738
Address: Grove Place, Manchester

Jamaica Environment Trust Recycling Depot (Plastics: PET1 & HDPE2) 
Telephone: (876) 906-9385
Address: 123 Constant Spring Road, Unit 5, Kingston 8

INET Jamaica Limited (Used car batteries, electronics) 
Telephone: (876) 382-6729
Address:87-91 First Street, Newport West, Kingston

Tribune Recycling (Plastic bottles, newspaper, cardboard)
Telephone: (876) 667-1188/470-7590
Address:37 Victoria Avenue, Kingston

Hear the Childrens Cry (Paper, cardboard, newspaper, magazine, books) 
Telephone: (876) 929-0431/822-0413
Address: 21-25 Hanover Street, Kingston
Jamaica Recyclers  Kingston (Plastics, cardboard, paper) 
Telephone: (876) 758-8700
Address: 164 Spanish Town Road, Kingston 11

Central Recycling Jamaica (Plastics)
Telephone :Frown: 876) 866-8144/440-6555
Address: Kingsland Spur Tree, Mandeville

Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Newspapers) 
Telephone: (876) 929-0320
Address: 10 Winchester Road, Kingston 10

Garbage Disposal & Sanitation Services (Glass bottles)
Telephone: (876) 757-4377
Address: 223 Marcus Garvey Drive, Kingston 11

Cartridge World (Printer/Toner cartridges) 
Telephone: (876) 960-6733
Address: Shop 11 Southdale Plaza, Kingston 10

Printware Online Jamaica Ltd (Printer/Toner cartridges)
Telephone: (876) 960-4785
Address: Unit 18, 85 Hagley Park Road, Kingston 10

Caribbean Recycling Company Ltd (Used car batteries, lead) 
Telephone: (876) 382-6729
Address:87-91 First Street, Newport West, Kingston

Cartridge Collection Limited (Printer/Toner Cartridges)
Telephone: (876) 387-2230
Address: Mannings Hill Road

Recycling Partners of Jamaica (Plastics)
Telephone: (876) 850-6800/948-7381/948-2874 or 1-888-429-5738
Address: Whitehall, Negril

Recycling Partners of Jamaica (Plastics)
Telephone: (876) 370-7362 or 1-888-429-5738
Address: Greenwood, Montego Bay

http://wisynco.com/recycling-partners-of-jamaica/

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## Slightly Stoopid

Or - how about a charge for plastic bags 
It'll cost ya 5 cents per here ..
Sorry, to hear that this problem - hasn't improved 
always been a MAJOR peeve of mine -
Generational - or NOT 
- clean the place UP !!!  -

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## Slightly Stoopid

https://negril.com/forum/showthread....ghlight=litter

Punch in the word litter into the search box - top right corner - 
This has been an ongoing issue - 
FOREVER .. 
when the tourist don't come anymore..because the island is a garbage dump
 - maybe a solution will come ..
those black grocery bags #1 - Styrofoam takeout containers #2 - plastic water bottles & straws #3 
take your pick - at least 70% of the litter are 1 of these 3 - 
you rarely see a red stripe bottle - 
WHY - because it's worth something  - & yes, I've seen it for the last almost 30 years

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## Blueallah

A friend of mine went to Africa and toured several places. One of the countries (Rwanda?Uganda? don't exactly recall) has a policy that every person, even the top politician, gives a set amount of hours each month to picking up trash. She said it was a super effective in both reducing what was tossed out and getting it all picked up. Great social policy/tradition IMO. FWIW I think Jamaica has gotten cleaner over the years I've visited.

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## JohnNYC

> Leading by example definitely helps, but the main reason for the improvements seen over the years is the child education. For us baby boomers and older GenX'ers remember the North American education program? Give a hoot, don't pollute!


      Not to date myself, but I also remember the one with the Indian Cheif with litter at his feet, and  tears in his eyes

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## captaind

> Not to date myself, but I also remember the one with the Indian Cheif with litter at his feet, and  tears in his eyes


His name was Iron Eyes Cody..........However, he was a native born Sicilian 

On zion hill we do our best to reduce the plastic...

Our drinking water is "Catherine's Peek" in a large dispenser that is refillable. We carry cloth bags for shopping.

We don't buy 12 or 16 oz drinks in plastic.

One thing is we like "box food" a couple of times a week. Hard to get it without the "box"

Jamaica is aware of the issue and we're working on it

Cap

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## TAH

Several other islands in the region have banned plastic bags. It requires a little forethought if you need to make a supply run, but it is having an immediate impact, and has been mostly positively received.

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## sunray

Is there any way for a visitor to Negril to recycle their empty containers?

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## Rob

> Is there any way for a visitor to Negril to recycle their empty containers?


What kind of empty containers?

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## Rob

> Several other islands in the region have banned plastic bags. It requires a little forethought if you need to make a supply run, but it is having an immediate impact, and has been mostly positively received.


The government has been working on it...

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/n...n-plastic-bags

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## conway scott



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## sunray

> What kind of empty containers?


food and juice cans
drink boxes, tetra paks
plastic soft drink bottles
plastic cups
empty shampoo, personal hygeine containers
plastic shopping bags
glass jars
cardboard, box board
aluminum foil
food packaging.....

If there are viable means for visitors to recycle, I am certain the vast majority, myself included, would be happy to do their part.
And it is good to know that Jamaica does have businesses that recycle things such as car batteries and toner cartridges, the more the better. The low value or negative value items are more problematic.
Recycling bins placed along the sidewalk and beach in Negril would be awesome!  An opportunity for the Negril Chamber of Commerce and other stakeholders to be a leader in sustainable Jamaican tourism.

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## Irine

The island is small, too small to accommodate garbage from the tourist industry, let alone their own garbage. I personally feel countries that make money off exporting goods to a country that can't recycle the containers should take the containers back (plastic bottles, glass, cardboard etc). It should be their environmental duty to keep this plastic and glass off the ground and especially out of the ocean's if they are going to make billions of dollars selling it.

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## Rob

> food and juice cans
> drink boxes, tetra paks
> plastic soft drink bottles
> plastic cups
> empty shampoo, personal hygeine containers
> plastic shopping bags
> glass jars
> cardboard, box board
> aluminum foil
> ...


While being a "feel good" thing to do, recycling is often not what people think it is. An entire recycling bin full of plastic could be contaminated by a single person throwing a used styrofoam box lunch in with the other recyclables.

The Negril Recycling Centre, before it caught fire this past summer had to face that issue daily. The resorts would send the recyclables there first, where it was sorted and then sold to China in bulk and transported by cargo ship for processing.

Until very recently, all North American recycling was handled the same way.

"Viable means" for recycling, that is and has always been the issue world wide. From the most recent research article I could find, "...it would be hard to declare plastic recycling as anything approaching a success from an environmental perspective, with less than 10% of generation from the U.S. ..."

https://www.thebalance.com/plastic-r...igures-2877886

With all the efforts and strides made in the USA, 90% of the plastic is still not recycled. 

Reducing the desire/incentive for plastics over all would be the most effective. As a visitor, purchase drinks in returnable bottles and bring down your toiletries in reusable containers that you can take home with you.

This thread has a connection to the flooding thread as the cause for the flooding (besides the heavy rains) in MoBay. A single drainage gully was blocked by litter and didn't allow the water to flow. It backed up and flooded downtown MoBay.

But the issues and solutions are being discussed in Parliament. Banning of plastic grocery bags (Lada or scandal bags), deposits on all drink bottles and heavy fines for littering.

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## yooper bill

I try and do my part by only drinking red stripe in returnable bottles.

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## TAH

> The government has been working on it...
> 
> http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/n...n-plastic-bags


That's good to hear.

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## Rob

Jamaica has made great strides since I first moved here. There was absolutely no garbage pick up anywhere near Negril and burning of your garbage was the only method for disposal.

This was bad, but box lunches actually came in cardboard boxes and all the drinks came in returnable glass bottles. Then came the plastics. 

The residents still had no garbage collection, so the plastic was burned as they had done in the past. The toxic smoke immediately became a health hazard. Education of the children started and played a huge part in stopping the burning of plastic.

The knowledge of the dangers of burning plastic and yet having no way to properly dispose of the plastic gave rise to the roadside plastic litter problem. Toss it on the ground and let the government deal with it became the only solution.

During the past few years, Negril and the surrounding areas now have regular garbage pick up. If you walk the road or beach you will see the garbage bins. And people are using them. In our local area not everyone has purchased a bin yet, so they use ours.

Just yesterday we noticed a lessening of the plastic bottles while the NWA was cutting the grass along Norman Manley Blvd.

Changing habits takes time. Instant solutions are generally not the best way to govern. As the old proverb says, the road to hell is paved with good intentions

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## LivinInThe603

Rob, feel free to vet this organization but they have been very active on facebook organizing clean ups and creating awareness. People may even have seen their signs on the sides of the road or at bus stops, I have  :Smile: 

https://nuhduttyupjamaica.org/

https://www.facebook.com/NuhDuttyUpJamaica/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZU...CS0UkKSc0sSLIw

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## M&G Montreal

[QUOTE=Rob;197176]Here is a short list of recycling centres:

That's your short list, Rob?  Pretty impressive!  Took a lot of scrolling to get through the "short" list!  This shows that the resources are out there.  

This is like the worst posting EVER for me.  I am an uber environment person and garbage makes me crazy!  Here, abroad, in Jamaica!  Just stop it!  Do your thing for not leaving garbage and talk to people.  You are so right, Rob!  Educating the kids is important!  I have seen people walk out of the mini-marts with 2 items in a big plastic "grocery" bag.  They pull out their stuff, discard the packaging material (into the wind, like the Garbage Fairy will take care of it), and toss the bag.  Really?  You need that bag for what?  15 seconds and now it's part of the problem?  I bring 2 or 3 reusable bags with me (I have to here at home anyway ...) and I have a huge beach bag ... so why do I need that plastic bag?  Plastic grocery bags are 10 cents here in Montreal, and as of 01 Jan. 2018, they will be "illegal"!  No more.  Bring your own.  I'm proud of my city for that move!  I see so many people post "what they need to bring" and it's packages of plastic cups, plates, knives, forks, spoons, straws (OMG!  Dont get me started!).   Why?  Do it boy/girl scout style.  Bring 1 metal knife, fork, spoon.  Wash and re-use.  It's pretty easy and you will find other things you can do that with!  It's not just Jamaica. It's the whole planet.  We need to get it together and realize that this planet is not our toy.  It's not just Jamaica.  Do you bring your habits to Jamaica .... or your conveniences?

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## Rob

Towards eliminating 'scandal' bags

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/n...t=831&cb=false

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## Marblehead

captain wrote: "One thing is we like "box food" a couple of times a week. Hard to get it without the "box"

Jamaica is aware of the issue and we're working on it

Cap"

I found some nice plastic clamshells for take out food that are pretty inexpensive on Amazon.  Safer to carry than foam or paper boxes.  Also, I have some cloth bags with built in stuff sack that fit in a pocket and unfurl to carry up to 40 lbs like a shoulder bag.  I can get 8 beers or two liters of rum in them comfortably.  Respect (the planet!)  --Marblehead

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## Stoners6

Since I posted a week ago, things have been cleaned up considerably along the street and sidewalk.

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