THE Jamalco/Hayes Primary and Junior High School Environmental Club collected 22 bags of garbage and debris on their first beach clean-up campaign at the Farquharson Fishing Beach in Milk River, Clarendon.

The beach cleaning, involving 29 members of the club, followed an extensive cleaning of the Hayes school compound, which also saw the collection of another 22 bags of garbage.

The club’s physical involvement is meant to engender in its members new behaviour that is protective of the environment and aimed at preventing littering and safeguarding their own space.

The environmental trip, said Tiffany Minaudo, United States Peace Corps volunteer, who has been assigned to Jamalco to assist the school for two years, was to educate students about the importance of “keeping the environment clean, and through the ‘hands-on’ experience gained in cleaning up the beach, influence them to keep their own environment clean.”

The trip also included a visit to Alligator Hole in Clarendon, where the students got the opportunity to see and learn about some endangered species in the wild, such as the West Indies Manatee and Crocodile.

Ucal Whyte, National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA) tour guide at Alligator Hole, described for the students the lifestyle and habitat of the crocodile and manatee and they participated in an awareness class and quiz session.

“Seeing these in their natural habitat would encourage students to respect the life of these threatened species,” said Minaudo.

The club, made up of approximately 36 members from both the fifth and sixth grade, has been responsible for implementing several projects at the school with sponsorship from the bauxite refining company, among them:

. construction of two green houses where students have started containerised gardening, planting seedlings, composting, and propagation of plants;

. the painting of murals and planting of trees on the Hayes school compound to enhance its aesthetics;

. a visit to the Hope Zoo in Kingston; and

. participation in environmental competitions such as the 4H and Jamaica Environment Trust’s schools environmental programme.

“This is the company’s way of transferring its value for the protection and preservation of the natural environment to the students – the future stewards of the environment,” says Blossom Laidlaw, Jamalco’s public relations and communications manager.

The Hayes environmental club project will continue for at least another academic year.