CHAD-Ad takes stand for a better environment

Some of the best memories most of us have as children involves swimming in many of Jamaica's public water spaces.

The reality is, however, that this will remain a memory, as these places are now overrun by bottles, garbage and debris. Our water bodies have become inundated by improper waste, and our people and the future generation will suffer if adequate measures are not implemented to alleviate this growing problem.

Operating in the industrial and distribution sector of Jamaica, Chad-Ad Distributors Limited takes on recycling through the Wisynco-ECO Recycle Challenge. Nicholas 'Nicky' McKoy of Chad-Ad keenly remembers, playing and swimming in the Kingston Harbour and Gunboat Beach as young boy, and is saddened at the state they are now. As a result of this, he has been a firm believer in waste management and recycling overall.

"My staff and I were on a personal labour day beach clean-up when we were approached by Wisynco-ECO which is how I learnt about this challenge. They were really driven by the fact that we were out doing our own clean-up of an area near to our work space (downtown). Recycling is very important to our island, which is why we at Chad-Ad decided to partner on this venture, having met them on the clean-up," he said.

"Over the years, the deterioration of our environment and work spaces have been a result of Jamaicans littering, which majorly impacts our country, our waste management, and our recycling habits. If we develop the policy 'each one teach one' in our societies, communities, work environs, it will allow us to spread the message and the involvement of recycling more," McKoy said.

"The truth is, manufacturers have no control over how people dispose of their litter and filth, and so it's really left on educating the public constantly and how we educate them on the importance of disposing garbage and what the real impact on the environment will be in the long term, which, in turn will become a domino effect," McKoy added.

Many may not know that plastics are reusable and recyclable. They have also made products in Jamaica more affordable to consumers and end users. Ideally, the more recycle programmes we develop in schools, communities, workplaces, the more we will define other avenues, such as job opportunities and vital industries that were never here before or have never been explored before by us, including collection businesses and plastic buybacks.