Coordinator of the West Dominica Children’s Inc, Beverly Baron, has challenged the Environmental Health Department to engage schools to make use of old fridges and washing machines collected during the recent cleanup campaign.
Baron made that statement while addressing a Fight Against Zika handing over ceremony held at the Government Headquarters on Friday.
“Since the cleanup campaign got underway, we saw numerous old fridges, stoves and washing machines being piled high up on trucks,” she said. “As part of our Agriculture in Schools Project, one of the highlights is container agriculture, therefore, I am challenging the Environmental Health Department to find a way to engage a school or schools with space in their yard, to make use of some of these fridges and washing machines and turn them into vegetable beds.”
According to Baron, this initiative can help put food in the schools kitchen or the produce can be sold to raise funds for the school.
She said the West Dominica Children’s Federation has been giving support to green houses in numerous schools, “but even though they don’t have a green house, they can start with the containers.”
She said the federation will provide $400 worth of seeds to one school on the West for this activity.
“We hope that the relevant collaborations can be set in motion to make this happen,” Baron noted.
Meantime, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Helen Royer revealed that the Dominica Solid Waste Corporation (DSWC) has started working with some schools and in a programme called the ‘Go Green” where some containers were used.
“Actually, St Luke’s School just recently had an exhibition where we went and have been the given the [assurance] by the same school, that they would want to do other things like that,” Royer noted.
they need to make sure they drill holes in the bottom of them so the water can drain out so they will not breed mosquitos.
What do the schools need with discarded refrigerators and washing machines? She doesn’t explain what they would do with them because obviously they aren’t working anymore or people would keep or sell them.
Admin: She does explain in the story what these items can be used for.
Containers have been used before in backyard gardening. This option is better than having them at the landfill breeding mosquitoes.
Get real. You want the same items which was removed from the environment in an effort to combat Zika reintroduce in the same environment?
Lady you should be sensitizing the public on ways to use some of these appliances MOVING FORWARD!!!
Why are we so hell bent on being reactive in situations where a proactive way of thinking is required?
That’s a crazy idea to give the school, these old appliances are not good for our water system, I think that we should try to find a market for those kind of materials like they do in the united states crush and recycle them……………..
why not ship them over seas for recycle or try to get some recycling equipment into the country. i guess the clean up was just for show and no one thought of what they going to do with the all the garbage when dsw overwhelmed