‘Picking up garbage is fun’
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will host its 16th garbage collection and walking event — called GarbieWalkie — this weekend on the Palisadoes Strip in Kingston.
It is set for Saturday, January 23, from 8:00 to 10:00 am. The meeting point is the end of the stone revetment closer to the airport roundabout.
Interested participants are invited to register no later than today, Wednesday, January 20 by emailing takakiuchi1957@u01.gate01.com.
Bring water, wear comfortable shoes, a cap, and sunscreen. Gloves and garbage bags will only be provided for the first 30 participants, so you are advised to bring your own if you have them.
JICA member Takao Kakiuchi explained that a small group of JICA members and their friends have picked up garbage on the Hope Gardens compound once per month for the past two years.
In December last year, they decided to migrate to Palisadoes, where large amounts of debris wash ashore in spite of the annual International Coastal Clean-up marshalled by the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) every September.
“Our objective is to clean the earth and [create the idea] that picking up garbage is fun; it’s a kind of sport,”Kakiuchi told the Jamaica Observer. “Enjoying picking up garbage makes good sense.”
GarbieWalkie is being staged in partnership with JET under its ‘Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica’ public education campaign.