The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

NON-PROFIT organisation Cans for Kids (CFK) is making major moves in the Bahamas as they promote the recycling of aluminium cans.

While the aim of this movement is to address the need for recycling and the cut down on littering, CFK was also created and founded in 1999 by Ginny McKinney to raise funds on a regular basis for children’s programmes in the Bahamas.

“We encourage schools, youth organisations and churches to register with us and then get their kids to collect cans at their homes, in their neighbourhoods, at their schools or organisations.,” she said.

“We give them ‘sugar bags’ that we get from Coca Cola, and an enclosure if they want it, to store their collected cans in. When a bag is full they notify us and we come and collect that bags for free. We weigh the bags and then credit the weight against their account. Every three months we add up how many pounds they have collected and pay them 30 cents per pound. We also encourage bars, restaurants, hotels, companies, ministries etc to collect their cans and then contribute that either to a school or organisation or to the running of Cans for Kids – the collection, densifying and shipping costs.”

Just recently, the organisation took on a campaign entitled “Cans4Kids242” conducted by Bahamian art company Waynehead Productions with the assistance of a CFK coordinator. Ms McKinney said this new initiative is to help reinvent the Cans for Kids campaign so people are attracted to what they are trying to do within the community.

“We think it’s hugely beneficial because anything that promotes cleanliness, looks after the environment and trains us to think as team players must be good. This is our Bahamas and we should all be thinking how to care for her, so we don’t destroy the God-given beauty and healthy environment we live in, both for ourselves now but also for future generations,” Ms McKinney.

She said the growth of CFK has been steady, but relatively slow as schools and organisations will often join, but stop when the person in charge of organising the can collection moves on, is reassigned or does not have time anymore.

Winning a UN grant two years ago, Mr McKinney said, helped tremendously in their outreach, but there is still a need to make CFK mandatory in local schools so that they can build a culture of recycling with children.

She believes it should not be the responsibility of just one teacher, as the whole administrative and teaching team should be promoting it every day, challenging the kids to collect cans at home, in their neighbourhoods as well as at their schools; encouraging them to care for their environment while reaping a reward for their efforts.

“We are a well-read and well-travelled people in the Bahamas, so most of us have been exposed to recycling in other countries or through literature, we just don’t seem to be very willing to do it at home. There are huge benefits to be gained from recycling. For instance, composting our green (garden) waste would give us much needed soil for farming and gardening and help avoid the production of methane gas, which forms when it is left in the landfill; methane contributes hugely to global warming. Through the non-profit group RABL people are now becoming more aware of how dangerous the effects of our burning landfills – the Family Island ones are always burning as well – are on our health,” Ms McKinney said.

“We all need to demand from ourselves as well as our elected representatives and our civil service a greater degree of action and accountability when it comes to waste management. We need to ask for and then embrace recycling initiatives, even if they cost a little money. If we don’t do it now we will pay later and it will be a much greater cost both health-wise and for remediation.”

She said people may ask why did the organisation chose to make cans the centrepiece of their recycling awareness, and her response is that persons can earn money from them; they are easy to sort and the value of aluminium is fairly consistent. Being able to give money back to people for their efforts seemed the best way they could start the recycling habit here in New Providence, she added.

“Cans are unsightly but not necessarily dangerous to our health, except our financial health when the tourists see them littering our streets and beaches and decide not to visit us anymore. Taking care of our other garbage properly is hugely important to our health,” Ms McKinney said.

CFK is now in the process of creating an internship programme, mainly for high school and college students, through which youngsters can be involved in promoting CFK and then get credit for their efforts. These CFK credits will fulfil their high school community hour requirements and also be useful when applying to colleges.

“To get more buy-in we want to keep decentralising the organisation by encouraging all schools and their interns to create their own CFK format as to how they promote the collection of cans,” Ms McKinney said.

“Though we will still give them whatever literature and guidance we have, we believe if they create their own methodology they will be more enthusiastic and consistent in their efforts. We also want to create a challenge competition where all the schools create songs and skits that speak about recycling in general and how beneficial it is to our environment.”