dear treasure beach community,

a dream has come true: after having been a regular visitor of treasure beach for about 20 years, i now live in old wharf with my lovely wife. until now we did not regret one second having left our home in belgium behind.

since i would like to give something back to the community, in exchange for all the kindness we are surrounded with, i was wondering if there are environmental projects of any kind that are looking for volunteers.

although my interest are pretty large, helping out a project which focuses on local biodiversity (turtle protection, bird watching, reef protection, cataloguing medicinal herbs, ...) would be my favourite, as well as anything linked to organic farming.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

peace,
hans

ps: for those eventually wanting more information on who i am, what i did in the past, do right now and would like to do in the future, ... feel free to ask. i did not want to make my first posting on this board too voluminous with personal data.

Welcome Lion.

All "hans" on deck. As U Roy used to say, work your show daddy, work your show. I'm partial to reef protection and wish to contact you in the near future. Good luck.

...and Lioness.

thanks for the warm welcome, turey. how is your reforestation project going? rumours say you will soon be back in gb-tb. is that correct?

and thanks for the wise quotation, herby. have we met before? anyway ... looking forward to meet you.

bless`,
hans

Looks like late summer Hans. We'll see how the trees that we planted are doing on their own, feel free to visit.

We've never met Hans and I'm not in Treasure Beach at the moment. Soon come though. turey and I have touched base via email but never met either. Keep the vibes flowing. Guidance.

How about educating the locals to stop littering in their community. I find it is mostly young men who are ignorant to the issue. You know what I heard one man's justification was: 'we are giving someone a job to collect the trash that we throw on the ground.' So the message is continue to litter because someone gets payed to clean it up. [edited by TB.Net]

I too enjoy a litter free community Patient and would support more collection drums and reminder signs.

The littering of the air, water and earth by other careless practices are greater challenges to our health.

Treasure Beach has become known as the Ecotourism Capitol of Jamaica. I hope our future actions will confirm the title.

Someone please explain why use of plastic plates and bowls and eating utensiles and some times drinking cups makes Treasure Beach the ecotourism capital of Jamaica. I am not talking about the kind that are washed and reused but the kind that are tossed in the rubbish and stink if they are burn. We have several restaurants who use them and we all know who they are.

@Plastic, I think the better way to look at it is the single use of plastics is a challenge to overcome in the ever evolving journey towards environmental excellence.

What are realistic, workable ideas to achieve this goal?

Restarants should use utensiles and plates and bowls and cups what get washed. Simple. More work for them but better for the world.

Stainless steel utensils. Can't break, easy to clean and plates good as frisbees. The stush can have them gold plated too.

For take out, the greater source of pollution, there are biodegradable products available.

This is one of many I found when I searched for biodegradable food containers:

http://www.ecoproco.us/

I have seen these bamboo food containers used in other places, Turey. They may cost a bit more, but they are helping make the world a better place. It is my opinion that Styrofoam should be banned in Treasure Beach because it is not biodegradable and seems to be used because it is cheap. Banning something might be ideal but I doubt it will happen. Instead, people can ASK for something different than Styrofoam and turn away when they are told that is all that is available. The same goes for stainless steel utensils. Maybe if enough people express their disgust, the owners of those establishments will change over to something better for our environment. Even if they don't care about the environment they DO care about selling food and drink.

I agree about banning being innefective I Care, consumer feedback and competition to be The Real Thing are better drivers. Yes many are getting more aware of what is best for us and will seek out the right place and food.

Where can I get an organic vegan meal with the right taste and the right amounts of protein/carb/fat , without added sugar and salt, takeaway in a container destined for a compost heap?

Such a place could not handle the crowd. Assuming the price was right.