KINGSTON, Jamaica — For Kimani Graham, 17 years of participating in beach clean-ups have taught her an important lesson removing garbage from the shoreline is only part of the solution to protecting Jamaica’s coastal environment.

Despite the hours volunteers spend collecting discarded plastics and other debris, the waste often returns within days, highlighting a persistent problem that cannot be resolved through clean-up exercises alone.

According to a release from JN Foundation, her experience was reinforced during the JN Group’s recent participation in the Kingston Harbour Clean-Up Project at Gunboat Beach, where employees joined other volunteers in removing waste from the coastal environment as part of efforts to protect Jamaica’s marine ecosystems.

For the sales support supervisor at JN Life Insurance, a member company of the JN Group, the experience underscored the importance of addressing the sources of pollution, rather than simply responding to its visible consequences.

“You can spend hours cleaning an area, removing bags of waste and feeling a sense of accomplishment, but sometimes just a few days later you see garbage washing back up on the shoreline. That is what really stays with me,” she reflected.

She believes the persistence of coastal pollution points to deeper challenges, including improper waste disposal, inadequate recycling infrastructure, limited access to collection facilities and excessive reliance on single-use plastics.

Her observations reinforce the importance of the JN Group’s commitment to fostering climate action, one of the JN Foundation’s strategic priorities, through practical environmental initiatives that encourage employees to become active participants in protecting the environment.

Omar Wright, lead, environment and community development programmes at the JN Foundation, said the Kingston Harbour Clean Up Project provided an opportunity to translate that commitment into meaningful action, while helping employees better understand the relationship between everyday human behaviour and marine pollution.

“The harbour is vital to Kingston’s economy and ecology, and the waste that accumulates there directly shows how land-based behaviour affects our marine environment and coastline,” he explained.

He added that engaging employees in environmental activities was important because lasting change begins with people understanding the challenges and recognising their role in addressing them.

“When staff see the scale of the problem firsthand, the issue becomes real and personal, and they can then carry that awareness into their homes, communities and beyond, amplifying the call for action,” Wright said.

For Graham, the opportunity to work alongside individuals from different backgrounds towards a common purpose remains particularly meaningful. However, she maintains that Jamaica must move beyond periodic clean-up activities and invest in systems that prevent waste from reaching the coastline in the first place.

She is advocating for more accessible recycling programmes, additional collection points and public education to encourage responsible waste disposal. She also believes Jamaica should strengthen legislation supporting a nationwide deposit-return system for beverage containers, providing consumers with a financial incentive to return empty bottles for recycling.

“At the individual level, we need to become more conscious of our unnecessary use of single-use plastics, how we dispose of our waste and make a greater effort to separate recyclable materials,” she said.

She noted, however, that individuals must also have convenient opportunities to recycle, supported by adequate infrastructure and policies that make responsible environmental practices easier to adopt.

Meanwhile, Wright pointed out that the foundation intends to continue sharing information on the economic, social and environmental importance of Jamaica’s marine resources, while promoting waste reduction and recycling practices among employees.

“Beyond the clean-up, we intend to build habits, not just hold events. This includes sharing information about the economic, social and environmental importance of our marine environment, so staff understand the link between everyday disposal and marine pollution,” he said.