The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) is looking to increase its presence in the schools on St. Kitts in a bid to improve public awareness on the importance of proper garbage disposal and protecting the environment. Mr. Wilmon McCall, SWMC Operations Supervisor said they are not receiving as many invitations to speak to students as before and as such will be looking at engaging the schools even more. “We are hoping to have a more extensive program in schools. I am not sure that we are getting as many invitations as we used to speak to schools, but we would like to see an increased number of invitations too,” he said. He suggested that the SWMC would look to introduce an activity called the “Shopping Game” that some staffers learnt in Japan while on training, which he believes could help spark a greater interest among the students in the environment.

“If it’s well conducted, it will sensitize the children to the whole question of the environment,” he said. “We want to take something that has some interest so that the children will be motivated in some way to play the shopping game and be environmentally conscious,” he explained. Mr. McCall expects to start this campaign around April/May and make it part of the school day for each school visited.

Mr. McCall said the fact that most students appear to be apathetic to proper garbage disposal practices, highlights the importance of increasing public awareness in schools. “The school outreach in my view is something that needs to be planned properly and executed well, he said. The little we have done don’t seem to be getting deeply into the children as we would have liked,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mr. McCall expressed disappointment that one of the island’s heritage and nature trails, which are used by some schools for walkathons, was recently littered. “Practically every year we have challenge with the schools. One school may go from Cayon via Bayfords to Basseterre, the other one comes from Basseterre via Bayfords to Cayon. And the carnage and confusion and deposits that you see on the road on that pathway is really not encouraging,” he said. He added that the tour operators that use that trail receive complaints from tourists about the litter. “It’s bad for our children to be developing a habit of walking and just discarding waste,” he added. All this proves for Mr. McCall the importance of hosting more school visits and awareness campaigns.