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Online petition made to ban plastic straws & Styrofoam containers in VI

- has garnered 429 of 500 required signatures
July 10th, 2017 | Tags: online petition ban straws Styrofoam Jane Tyrell
An online petition has been made, calling on Premier and Minister of Finance Dr The Honourable D Orlando Smith (AL) to ban the use of plastic straws and Styrofoam containers in the territory. Photo: Internet Source
The petition, started since May 2017, has so far garnered 429 supporters and seeks to reach 500. Photo: change.org
The petition, started since May 2017, has so far garnered 429 supporters and seeks to reach 500. Photo: change.org
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI - An individual is spearheading an online petition calling on Premier and Minister of Finance Dr The Honourable D Orlando Smith (AL) to ban the use of plastic straws and Styrofoam containers in the Territory.

The petition was started by Jane Tyrell and is currently on the BVI Community Board on Facebook as a repost by one Jungle Jane. "With the world gaining traction on the awareness of how detrimental plastic is on our environment I thought I would repost this and hope to get some more signatures. Please sign and share. Thanks."

The petition is being done through ‘change.org’ which says that there is too much pollution on these beautiful islands and in our seas surrounding them. "It's time to take action and ban all plastic drink straws and all Styrofoam containers (food and drink) from the British Virgin Islands. If other countries can implement similar bans, surely we can too! We are responsible for keeping our world clean and safe and this is one small and easy step we can take…"

The petition, started since May 2017, has so far garnered 429 supporters and seeks to reach 500.

Many persons on Facebook have commented in favour of the petition.

Eliminate them all together

Judy Petz commented, "If you do have plastic bottles or containers, the island now has recycling for plastic and glass. Main place is at the college. There is a bin at Nanny Cay near the dumpster. We need more places and support from everyone.

We were just shopping at Riteway, in addition to making you pay for a plastic bag it is going to eliminate them all together! Every person needs to do their part. 

Even to pay a little more for take-out in biodegradable containers. We have enforced this at the BVI Spring Regatta for all our food vendors for years. Takeaway and cutlery. Pay a little more now, or our future generations will," Petz wrote.

This is not the first call on government to take stern action against the use of plastic straws but there have been calls for a ban on shopping bags and Styrofoam food containers, which may pose a danger to the environment.

Back In 2015 when he was a talk show host, Richard C. deCastro, who was always one to speak passionately about littering, had challenged Government to impose a system that charges more on plastic bottles, citing that littering must be curbed to save not only the environment but the face of the territory as a tourism destination.

Just last year this news site carried an article which spoke to the health risk of Styrofoam boxes after the US Department of Health and Human services added styrene to a list of possible carcinogens or substances capable of causing cancer in living tissues

“This is something I seriously think the government should debate and implement. Just like USVI now ban plastic bags, we took a stand on that some time back but supermarkets back with it, but more seriously we should look at stopping the use of Styrofoam starting with restaurants first,” Mary L. Georges wrote.

Persons have previously argued that a ban on drinking straws and plastic bottles would be a boon for fish and help limit children's exposure to the chemicals found in plastic.

12 Responses to “Online petition made to ban plastic straws & Styrofoam containers in VI”

  • Ya me born (10/07/2017, 09:48) Like (11) Dislike (1) Reply
    Way to go VI!
  • Suriya (10/07/2017, 09:56) Like (4) Dislike (2) Reply
    Where is our government on the waste management bill?
    Why do we the tax payers have to pay to remove things while importers profit from the same imports?
    Ban or band aid solutions are not good enough, we need concrete legislation for all to follow.
  • My girl (10/07/2017, 11:03) Like (71) Dislike (8) Reply
    Everything them see up north they coming here with struzz
  • Oh No (10/07/2017, 12:45) Like (2) Dislike (5) Reply
    please go sit down with this nonsense what we need is jesus give your life to Christ and he will take care of the rest
  • Just saying (10/07/2017, 14:28) Like (0) Dislike (2) Reply
    Get from here lady
    • Check books (10/07/2017, 19:39) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      We need to band Government check books since they misusing them so we can keep our money in our treasury...to add to that we need to ban government members allowances..ban things that taking millions out of our treasury undeservingly
  • POPE (10/07/2017, 14:28) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    He did his best
  • Omg. 2 Docs strike again.. (10/07/2017, 19:31) Like (1) Dislike (1) Reply
    These politicians now gone mad...Our politicians need psychotic treatment... Normal people don't wilfully make their own people unhappy... Where is nonsense coming from? Let us be...These 2 Docs..Strupes.. Jah.
  • Education (11/07/2017, 20:29) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    I think that more public education about the environment needs to come from trusted sources such as churches. The average person may not understand the impact plastic etc has on our beloved BVI in the near future. But if Bishop Cline or Rev Turnbull starts the conversation then more will be on board with practical ways to keep our BVI beautiful. After all, I think we are all for anything that benefits our country!
  • BoulderBoy (12/03/2018, 19:54) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    what about the cruise ship companies- i am sure the cruising public would want to help these beautiful islands


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