FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Trelawny students have described a recent exposition held at the Falmouth Market in the parish as a great learning experience on how to care for the environment by the separation and recycling of solid waste.

Last week’s Wednesday event was staged by Western Parks and Markets (WPM) Waste Management Limited, the regional arm of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), in collaboration with the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC), in observance of World Environment Day.

World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year.

“I think this is a very good activity that should be hosted more often for youths in Jamaica, empowering the society on waste management,” Avion Mitchell, a grade 10 student of William Knibb High School, told the Jamaica Observer West.

“Being a part of today’s activity has been a chance for me to be more exposed to what is going on around the island, and it gave us tips on how to keep Jamaica clean. And I have learned what certain acronyms mean and how to separate waste, and how to recycle items.”

Henrique Clarke of Holland High School said the event was a great experience for students.

“I think this was really a great experience for the students to come out here and to learn how to care for the environment and the different ways that we can do so. And also, we have learnt the importance of recycling, and that plastics, especially plastic bags, can be very harmful to our environment,” Clarke noted.

“There are those who don’t really know about the importance of keeping our environment clean. They should try to do so, because our environment is becoming more and more damaged when we keep on throwing the garbage out there.”

Trishan Johnson, a grade six student of Clark’s Town Primary School, said the observance of World Environment Day is important for the nation.

“As we walk on the streets, we see a lot of garbage on the roads and in the gullies and in the trenches. So, I think that the activity today is very important because it helps us to know how to reduce, reuse and recycle. So, it is important because it helps us to know where some garbage should go and what we should do with them,” Johnson explained.

She recommended that students visit educational activities like the WPM exposition in the future.

Custos of Trelawny Paul Muschett in his address to the students and others who gathered for the opening ceremony, pointed to the effects of global warming and the need to practice proper garbage disposal.

“We must remember that when we throw away, there is no such thing as ‘away’. It has to go somewhere. That somewhere is often into our drains causing blockages which lead to flooding; into our water system causing devastation to marine life and pollution,” said Muschett, adding that “presently the implications of global warming are already beginning to have an adverse effect on us.”

Mayor of Falmouth Colin Gager in welcoming the WPM / Trelawny Municipal Corporation initiative, said he hopes that the “proper disposal message will be taken into small districts.”

WPM Regional Operations manager Garnet Edmondson said the exposition was used to showcase ways of composting, ways of using pallets to make items such as furniture, ways of reusing items such as plastic bottles and ways of separating waste, among others things.