Tuesday’s front page painted a positive and yet worrying picture. Roughly 400 volunteers and students collected 1,554 kilograms of waste during this year’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) activities across St. Maarten and St. Martin.
The three-day clean-up brought together students, volunteers, community organisations and businesses to remove waste from beaches, coastlines, waterways and surrounding areas. The total does not include larger debris that could not easily be weighed.
Such selfless contributions are not only admirable but, unfortunately, necessary. Without them the island would be considerably messier than it already is.
Single-use plastics and foam products were again among the most commonly recorded types of trash. At the start of 2025 a new law proposal aimed at significantly reducing these was finally presented.
There had been an earlier National Ordinance in 2020 prohibiting the sale of single-use plastic bags and straws. However, it never got implemented because enforcement proved challenging due to manpower required for inspections.
The latest version adds new mechanisms such as an import and distribution ban. Apart from polystyrene food containers, single-use plastic bags, plastic straws and plastic stirrers, plastic cutlery, plates, bowls and cups were to be included later.
But 18 months have meanwhile passed since the bill was submitted. While a “phase-out approach” to ensure a smooth transition has been mentioned, along with a “fair timeline” for import bans, it’s over a decade ago when Parliament first took a stance on this matter.
Those willing to pick up after others often at the same locations time and again should in any case be commended. Their efforts help protect nature and the environment, also in the interest of the local tourism economy.
Let’s face it, “dirty destination” is a highly undesirable label.
