Ambergris's Trash Problem

[oddible]

So another poster in this forum was looking for 'eco-friendly' accommodations and dive ops and it got me thinking about my experience on Ambergris. The island is basically a big trash dump (as is most of Belize). The people who live there seem to have zero understanding that the majority of their livelihood is derived from tourism and they treat the island very poorly. You pretty much can't walk down any street in Belize without being surrounded by trash on the ground. This is not being generated by tourists (well, maybe some but not significantly). If you wander around Ambergris beyond the main 3 streets it only gets worse - at least they're doing nightly clean-ups of the main 3 streets. Beyond that you'll find the most heinous abuse of the environment I've seen outside my hometown of Detroit. Seriously, Ambergris needs a wake-up call. It would not take anyone walking around the island very long to find open bowls and plastic containers of motor oil spilling into the ground or even into the sea. There are innumerable make-shift 'dumps' where locals just deposit their trash all over the island. There are signs saying "no dumping" all over the island but there is very little of the island that isn't already covered in trash.

The problem with this is it will slowly (maybe not so slowly) erode the reef and the wildlife that people come to Ambergris to see. The dive op we went with had their DMs carry bags to collect trash out on the reef during our dives. It is only going to get worse as the detritus all over the island continues to pile up and gets blown into the sea. I was very surprised that there was so little motivation by the hotels and dive ops to control this. Hope that there is some organization that has formed to begin cleaning up the island before serious damage occurs.

 

[Downing]

I haven't been to or dived around Ambergris Caye, so I can't comment specifically on that situation, but describing "most of Belize" as a big trash dump is a wild exaggeration.

Most of Belize is jungle, not a trash dump.

But speaking in broad generalities, I do agree that many Belizeans do not share Americans' dislike of litter. I've seen many houses, both in the city and the country, where there's a fair amount of trash in the yard and wondered why the residents didn't take 10 or 15 minutes out of their day to pick it up.

Again, that's a very broad, general statement. We have our fair share of slobs in this country who think nothing of tossing litter out their car windows, dumping trash wherever they can get away with it, pouring motor oil into sewer drains, etc, all of which are illegal but relatively easy to get away with.

The worst area for trash I've dived is off the west coast of Oahu. I brought some back with me every time I dove there, and the boat captain and dive master acted like I was some kind of eco weirdo for doing it.

 

[peterbj7]

I actually don't agree with the implication that there's a lot of trash on the ground in San Pedro. There is some for sure, and a lot of that IS dumped by tourists, but it's generally less than you'll find in most European or American cities.

On the beaches of Ambergris Caye there's often the results of flotsam and jetsam. Much of this doesn't emanate from Belize at all, but floats on the sea from the far side of the Caribbean. The better resorts clean up their beaches every day, but that doesn't happen alongside private unoccupied plots or often private houses. That can be rather unsightly.

San Pedro does have a problem with trash, but it's not the problem that's been outlined. It's knowing what to do with it once it's been collected. That is a whole different subject, but again there are solutions in place and new ones being developed.

 

[oddible]

Take 3 steps outside of San Pedro - that's the problem I'm talking about - not in town, as I mentioned San Pedro is cleaned nightly. The entire island is covered in litter. While the litter is a problem, the number of jugs of oil from oil changes that I saw on the island was disturbing. When I was there I rode my bike around the island - north and south of town. If you're looking to protect tourism on Ambergris Caye by your comments, sure, the main town gets cleaned up every night so if everyone stays in town you're probably not going to see what I'm talking about. However, the rest of the island is a mess and it all blows or seeps into the ocean and affects the reef. Go a block south of the airport. I've heard of places like Bonaire passing ordinances to crack down on the litter problems - was wondering if Ambergris had any motivation to do the same. I guess if the folks who live there don't see the problem, as is evidenced in the first couple responses to this thread - amongst the diving community - then I guess nothing is going to happen. I think the deflection in the prior responses is just a way to ignore the problem. Sure, Detroit, Oakland, St. Louis, Honolulu are messes - so let's just let everywhere be a mess! No need to address it! Doesn't work. All those places should also enact policies to get control of their trash. Ambergris is a pretty small community - it would be a LOT easier to start to revise people's thinking about the island and to start to take care of it a bit more than converting a major US city. Especially since Ambergris makes it livelihood off keeping its reef pristine.

Seriously - take your golf cart north or south of town and tell me Ambergris doesn't have a trash problem again - unless something dramatic has changed in the past year, I don't buy it.

Ambergris needs the dive community to step up as a caretaker of the reef and encourage better treatment of the island.

 

[oddible]

This is what we saw all over Ambergris south of San Pedro - literally all the way down the coast - we road to the point. This is not flotsam, it is inland, this is from the locals and tourists.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash Belize or hurt the tourist economy, quite the contrary, I had a fantastic trip and I encourage everyone to go, but the trash is a problem that needs to be addressed.

 

[Downing]

I guess if the folks who live there don't see the problem, as is evidenced in the first couple responses to this thread- amongst the diving community - then I guess nothing is going to happen. I think the deflection in the prior responses is just a way to ignore the problem. Sure, Detroit, Oakland, St. Louis, Honolulu are messes - so let's just let everywhere be a mess! No need to address it!

Dude, wtf? I don't live there. I didn't try to deflect squat. I certainly didn't suggest that since we have a litter problem in the US that it's ok to have one on AC.

But don't let facts get in the way of your rant, right?

That photo's grotesque, no doubt about it.

 

[peterbj7]

I know that particular spot, and yes it's pretty nasty. I know of a couple of other spots rather like it. But however unpleasant these are to look at, they are discreet spots and this is not typical of the general landscape. Please don't try to leave people with the impression that this is what you will see wherever you look on this island, because that simply isn't true.

 

[oddible]

Yeah after reading my first post I wish I could edit it now - it is probably a lot more provocative than I meant to be. It probably should have been titled "Ambergris Stewerdship - Dealing with the trash". The clean-up currently seems very localized to the beaches and San Pedro around the resorts. My concern is that what I saw all over the rest of the island (I didn't see many places as bad as the above pictured but I did see a LOT of trash all over the island) will become a problem for the reefs.

This seems to be both a cultural and a systemic problem. Like everywhere in the world, the kids have zero concern for their environment and we saw several instances of kids just tossing candy wrappers and lunch bags behind them as they walked along wherever they were. I think that this is reinforced by parent's attitudes and the environment - most of the dwellings on Ambergris have yards littered with refuse. This may stem from the more systemic problem of Ambergris governance not providing an adequate method of waste removal. Either it doesn't have the coverage to pick up trash from every household on the island or it is too expensive for those living there to take part in - so the dumping happens. As Peter mentions, this is likely due to the fact that Ambergris is a lowland swamp which probably doesn't have a landfill and likely has to port its waste by barge to the mainland. I don't know the facts here but I do know what kills reefs and it is refuse and oil and paint creating a toxic environment for the plant and animal life in such a way that it imbalances the ecosystem. Once the process is started, it is FAR more expensive and time consuming to reverse.

Not sure what the answer is. Periodic "Island Cleanup" days where everyone is rallied to go and collect refuse - getting the kids involved. Providing cheaper and more extensive waste management on the island (that would have to come from island governance - not sure what the governance structure on the island is - San Pedro mayor? Ambergris council? local sheriff?). This won't happen on its own - and the only group who could possibly motivate a turn of events would have to be the diving community.

 

[Downing]

"Island Cleanup Days" would be a good start. A couple of pickup trucks, some garbage bags and 10 or 20 willing bodies could have that site pictured above cleaned up in a couple of hours.

Here in Oregon, we have an annual beach cleanup day, sponsored by SOLV and completely run by volunteers. It's astounding the amount of trash they pull off the beach every year. A lot of it's washed up from the ocean, but there's a fair amount of illegal dumping that goes on, too.

I agree that a big part of the problem is attitude. It seems like many Belizeans just aren't bothered by trash or at least not as bothered as most Americans. I remember a Belizean proudly showing me photos of his daughter's wedding reception. It looked like they were having the party in someone's backyard. You could see a fair amount of litter in the background. It was kind of weird, frankly, like he didn't even know it was there.

To a great degree, we should respect other people's cultures but we also have to draw the line somewhere, e.g., Japan's wholesale slaughter of whales and sharks. Imho, poor or non-existent waste management also crosses that line.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

When I was young (a long long time ago) and growing up in Canada, it seemed that people would toss garbage everywhere there - I used to get my spending money by picking up beer bottles along the highway. That has mostly changed, mainly I think due to educating the school kids but it took a generation to change the attitude (of most people).
At Splash we do what Downing suggests - we have an annual cleanup of Laughing Bird Caye National Park. We take about 100 school kids out for a day of cleanup and fun and education. The kids cleanup the caye. The rangers do a good job on cleanups in the immediate area where the tourist go and tour operators take back their garbage but last year we brought back about 30 big trash bags full of stuff that should not be there. Some of our Splash Kids Club kids do presentations to the school kids on ecology and pollution and some clean the mooring buoy that Splash sponsors. The presentations should gradually affect the attitude of people in our community about trash and other bad practices. We use our Splash Dive boats and some hotels send boats along with some of the guides and SEA. Some restaurants provide the lunches and MnM provide some boat fuel.
Long voyages start with small steps and I am confident that over time the people of Belize will do more to protect their heritage.