BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – YOU can now dispose of your used cellular phones in an eco-friendly way, thanks to the Rotary Club of Liamigua’s recently launched ‘Recycle Your Cell Phone’ initiative.
The ‘green’ project, done through collaboration with telecommunication service provider LIME and the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), seeks to gather as many used cell phones, with batteries, as possible for recycling – sparing the local landfill from toxic chemicals that may pollute the environment and threaten human health.
Anyone with a used cell phone from any service provider can walk into LIME’s flagship store on Cayon Street and drop off their phones in the recycling receptacle. From there, the phones will be shipped to suppliers and proceeds will assist the Rotary Club in its community projects.
If successful, the project would bring environmental relief to the Conaree Landfill.
Additionally, scrap metals can be put back into circulation, thus decreasing the need for new metal mining. This, in the words of Rotary President Laverne Caines, would go down as a “future benefit for us as a people”.
“In St. Kitts-Nevis, we do have to recognize that with the proliferation of cell phones there is going to be an eventual problem with our landfill and the toxicity that comes from these phones...We also want to create a consciousness so that our people can become ambassadors of our environment,” Caines said at a launch held at the LIME office on Wednesday (Jun. 16).
Not only is the initiative driven by care for the environment, but it is also designed to raise funding for the Rotary Club, which in turn would be invested in communities around the island.
“Be assured that for each phone you volunteer into the box, we would plough those same funds back into the community. In essence, you are really helping to support the work of the Rotary Club of Liamigua,” Caines added.
LIME (SKN) General Manager David Lake said he is pleased that his company can partner with the local Rotary chapter for a “green-conscious” initiative. Both organizations have worked side-by-side in community projects and this is a trend LIME wishes to continue.
“This is not the first time we are partnering with the Rotary Club of Liamigua, but I must say that this one is a little different. It is something that is very much in line with our ethos at LIME. We are very green-conscious and you would see that a lot of the initiatives we are doing now are in an effort to support our environment and to cut down on our waste,” Lake said.
Though the official launch was brief, the move toward a cleaner and safer environment is hoped to be long-term. According to General Manager of the SWMC Alphonso Bridgewater, this aim will be achieved if other private sector organizations can understand the mission, build momentum and maintain a commitment to conservation.
“I hope the momentum picks up pace within LIME itself and within Rotary. This particular momentum will send a non-toxic charge out to the other members of the community, particularly the commercial sector so they would come on board and get even more civic-conscious than they are already.
“The momentum is also timely because it is coming at a time where we at the landfill are fast approaching what could be considered the capacity of the first landfill that we have,” Bridgewater noted.
