A Day At The Beach Can Make A World Of Difference

It isn’t often we get a chance to join a worthy cause and have fun at the same time. But that’s exactly what a team from Panmedia did last week when we joined the Jamaica Environment Trust in a beach clean up at Palisadoes. We even advertised it on two sites in the Panmedia Network and on Facebook, and we printed Panmedia t-shirts with the slogan from the International Coast Clean Up  “A day at the beach can make a world of difference.”  JET’s Founder and CEO Diana McCaulay thought that was cool.

It started off as a cool bright morning and the JET’s staff and volunteers were already ensconced in their tents when we pulled up at the command centre. With clipboard in hand to document what we would find, Panmedia’s team leader, Chevonese Dacres, organized our assignment and dispensed garbage bags and gloves.

Then we hit the beach. Plastic was everywhere, mostly soda bottles – empty, filled with sand, seawater or strange looking liquids. There was also an abundance of shoes, sneakers, toothbrushes, soda cans, bottles of all sorts and a host of items that were unrecognizable or too difficult to categorize.

Soon we found we were competing with too many other groups in the vicinity near the command centre. Scores of volunteers had turned out to support JET in this annual endeavor. After filling a couple bags, we drove to the area near the lighthouse and just across from the main runway at Norman Manley International Airport.

The plastic bottles were there in abundance, too, but so, strangely, were a lot of discarded trousers and assorted clothing. We surveyed the situation and realized we could only finish the part one sees from the road and about half of the beach because the bags we had wouldn’t hold the amount of garbage we saw strewn about the beach.

We picked up some strange items, including a bag of pot-pourri, a nightgown and a plastic statue of the Virgin Mary. Just as we finished putting the full bags and two buckets with the leftovers at the side of the road a garbage truck drove up as if on cue.

Panmedia staff from left; Paul Allen, Donnett Smith, Daemone Brown, Knolly Moses, Alex Morrissey and Chevonese Dacres

We were happy to see the results of our hard work carted away, a fitting end to a team effort where everyone seemed to have enjoyed the camaraderie that comes naturally in a shared volunteer venture. We just couldn’t fathom why well meaning Jamaicans must pick up after those who are so injurious to the environment.

We have since put up a Facebook page with photos and videos of the beach clean up. We encourage you to become a fan and upload your own photos. You can also vote for the best photo in several categories. The winning photos will get a Grand Panmedia Certificate.