As a premier International Real Estate Firm, with many of our listings positioned on the pristine shorelines of the beautiful Bahama Islands, preservation of the sea that outlines this treasure box and embodiment of 700 scattered isles and cays belonging to arguably of the most desired destinations in the world and the jewels that lie beneath them is of prime interest to us.
An international study was conducted which revealed that at least 8 million tons of plastic generated by coastal countries like our own make it to the bottoms of the ocean each year and will remain there for at least a century. It is projected that by 2025 there will be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish, with plastic trash eventually outweighing fish in our oceans.
Tourism being a prime product here in the Bahamas and attracting more than 6 million tourists annually, this news is more than unsettling. At the heel of this global bell ringing, The Bahamas in 2018 joined the force field comprised of more than forty countries globally in an effort to preserve and protect the environment those of whom have all enforced or have moved to pass decree for the enforcement and banning of plastic and styrofoam by importation, local distribution, manufacturing, possession, sale, and single-use.
This bold statement made by the Bahamian Government has pleasantly resonated with local professionals and has welcomed overwhelming support from business owners and the general public whom in many instances understanding that by ordinary heat offset from food or drink toxins are released into the contents of these styrofoam containers have already banned the use of styrofoam in the warming of foods in some schools and restaurants.
Some of the more alarming facts and fostering motives for the said ban, derive from Plastic’s long term effects on our environment, forcing widespread pollution & sub sequentially threatening our rich marine and terrestrial biodiversity. Consider the use of plastic cups, spoons, plates, bags lasting only a mere 15 to 20 minutes in usage before tossing when compared to the 500 to 1,000-year processing required to break them down. If that’s not disquieting enough, try its effects on human and animal health offered as the primary concern: Plastics which break down into micro-pieces & are often mistaken for food by birds, turtles and fish, injure them or cause death, by entanglement, ingestion, chemical bio-accumulation or smothering. Plastic contamination by this scenario is also passed up through the food chain coming full cycle, returning to our dining tables and we, therefore, find ourselves consuming our own plastic waste.
As the number of global participating countries grows, the Bahamian government looks to fully extract the use of plastics throughout The Bahamas with a hard stop at by the end of 2020. As citizens and gatekeepers of these fine islands, however, we find it our duty to protect and preserve while transferring both the pride and service of responsibility to our buyers and developers thereby promoting responsible consumerism, environmental responsibility and global change.
