+ News and Press
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GREEN SOLUTIONS
Making a Greener Cayman
Featured in "The Cayman Islands Journal", February
2008
By Chris Weaver, Manager, Island Supply
This month I would like to recognise some green initiatives
that are already in place and flourishing in the corporate
sector and in some government departments.
Firstly I must congratulate the Chamber of Commerce for kick
starting the process with their environmental pledge.
Last year all interested companies were invited to sign this
pledge, indicating their willingness to adopt green practices.
The Chamber also suggested a further 21 ways that this could
be achieved.
Over 50 companies and organisations signed the Chamber’s
pledge last year. I would like to name a few that have really
stepped up to the plate and made a difference so far. Many
companies will have formed a green team to facilitate change
in their organisation and some may be omitted because of lack
of exposure. The most significant initiative seen so far is
that of the Dart Corporation in the new town of Camana Bay.
This is indeed ironic as they are also one of the largest
producers of Styrofoam and plastic disposable products on
the planet. However, after taking the grand tour with the
Facilities Director Joe Gadsby, it left me in no doubt that
they wish to make Camana Bay a shining example of environmentally
responsible development.
“What about the mangroves?” I hear you cry. Well,
they are being replanted, and in addition many local plants
are being incorporated into the extensive landscaping around
the project.
Camana Bay takes its environmental stance seriously and is
committed to reducing emissions. The chiller plant is a good
example and houses the air conditioning systems for the whole
development.
The management of the facility will also be responsible for
collecting garbage and supplying containers that will
facilitate the separation of waste by the consumers themselves.
Camana Bay is taking care of its own liquid waste too; the
philosophy here is that they want to control the use of harmful
chemicals by cleaning companies and tenants they are insisting
on using Green Seal approved chemicals wherever possible.
Other good corporate examples of green signers of the Pledge
include Deloitte, which has its own green team dedicated to
becoming a leader in the green revolution by reducing waste
and making use of environmentally sound products and practices.
Electratech was one of the first companies to use biofuel
on island, and is at the forefront of promoting the use of
solar power.
The Governor has also lead the way by going green, by insisting
that Government House be an example using environmentally
responsible cleaning products and reducing the use of disposables,
and so on.
Miss Cayman Rebecca Parchment, used the greening of Cayman
as her platform in the recent Miss Cayman competition, continues
her mission and is currently visiting schools to get the message
across to the younger generation.
Many government schools have already started switching to
healthier cleaning products and this has encouraged many more
cleaning contractors to go green, too!
The Department of Tourism is pushing seven resort properties
in the Cayman Islands to gain Green Globe certification (
from the Caribbean Hotel Association). This is becoming increasingly
important to a certain sector of the tourism market and will
only increase in importance in the years to come.
In my view the best thing government can do right now to
insure a greener Cayman would be to legislate in the same
way that the US government has done and mandate that all government
buildings be cleaned with environmentally sound products which
are certified by an independent body such as Green Seal.
This would be very easy to implement and would be government
doing its part on the road to a greener Cayman.
Visit www.greenseal.com
for more information.
