Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
January 24, 2008
The UNESCO sponsored initiative – Small Islands Voice (SIV), succeeded in turning trash to treasure during the 2008 Grand Carnival Parade.
The clean up troupe saw 20 participants taking up the rear of the parade, lead by a banner displaying a picture of a section of beach strewn with garbage next to a picture of the same beach after it had been cleaned. It also displayed the theme of “From Trash to Treasure” and once again troupe members were joined by Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) workers.
Spectators were impressed by a float that was a house made of recycled water bottles that had a small plastic bottle man on the inside. As the float went along the route several children took a ride inside the plastic bottle house. There was also a pirate ship made of plastic bottles and cardboard accompanied by “pirates” which consisted of troupe participants dressed in recycled Caribelle Batik material, carrying cardboard swords and daggers. Several participants also wore sandwich boards with different slogans including: “Focused on Recycling” and “Don’t be a Litterbug.” There was also an umbrella decorated with litterbugs.
According to the Coordinator of the troupe Mrs. Kate Orchard, the troupe was once again popular with the crowd who gave many “thumbs up” signs as it passed.
Another spectator pleaser was the bead bracelets that were distributed as the troupe passed. The beads were made of leaves of old magazines. One spectator also joined the troupe and assisted in the clean-up effort.
SIV wishes to thank SWMC, FB Armstrong, Rams, Island Purified Water, Ministry of Health, Kawaja’s, WINN FM, West Side Gas Station, Caribelle Batik, Brimstone Hill National Fortress National Park Society, Coury’s Wholesale, Peace Corps, Carib Brewries, St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network and Constance Keaschuk.