MONTEGO BAY, St James – Seeking to build additional conversations around garbage disposal, Western Parks and Market Waste Management Limited (WPM) recently launched its Manage Yuh Waste Fi Di Summa podcast.

According to Dramaine Jones, operations manager at WPM, the regional arm of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), the podcast was born out of a need to “make waste management more attractive” to the common man and stakeholders.

He told the Jamaica Observer that after communicating his interest to the authority’s Customer Relations Officer Sharnon Williams, the decision was made to “meet people where they are” through the weekly podcast which became available on the authority’s social media pages and SoundCloud on Friday.

Jones explained that with the Manage Yuh Waste Fi Di Summa podcast, WPM was collaborating with its employees and sparking discussions with stakeholders in other Caribbean countries.

“What we want to do is mostly inform the public of a lot of things they may not see, the perspective of the sanitation officers, and what they do in other jurisdictions and countries,” Jones told the Sunday Observer.

In supporting the points made by the operations manager, Williams shared that the organisation had reached out to several stakeholders who were excited to join in the discussions on the 13-episode podcast. That, she said, will include suggestions and opportunities to learn different waste management tips being exercised in other territories.

“Not only are we looking at the perspectives of the sanitation officers, but we will be having conversations with other Caribbean countries such as Grenada and St Lucia, to look at the best practices that they have in their countries that we can adopt in Jamaica,” Williams said.

On top of that, Williams said that the episode dubbed Diving Into Plastics is worth tuning into, as it seeks to bring awareness to the growing effects of the improper disposal of waste material, and their effects on the ocean.

“We also have an episode about diving into plastics where we are looking at what we collect under the ocean, because looking at the surface, you see this beautiful blue water, but under the ocean is a different thing,” she said.

Williams described the episode as a continuation of WPM’s campaign against the pollution of water bodies across the western region.

In June, more than 250 pounds of waste was removed from the seabed of the popular Dead End Beach in this western city, during a clean-up exercise carried out by the authority to mark World Ocean Day. A volunteer at the exercise told the Sunday Observer then, that the seafloor was littered with plastic bottles and Styrofoam boxes.

In addition to the food-related items found, volunteers also removed tyres from the water. They were reportedly unable to remove a submerged engine block during the exercise because it was too heavy.

In the meantime, the customer relations officer told the Sunday Observer that the entity’s executive director Audley Gordon will also appear on the Manage Yuh Waste Fi Di Summa podcast. She said that Gordon has spearheaded multiple initiatives targeting waste management, and is encouraged to continue on that momentum.

“Mr Gordon did his part and he had some revelations as to where he wants to take waste management in the future, as well he has some programmes that he has outlined on the podcast that NSWMA will be undertaking,” Williams said.

Additionally, Williams noted that soon-to-be-released episodes of the podcast will look at how the build-up of different types of waste materials can be managed. She quickly pointed out that the podcast would target Jamaicans of all age groups, across various sectors.

“We’ll also be talking about electronic waste and how other countries deal with it. And, of course, upcycling, recycling, and how to get kids involved in solid waste management. We will be asking farmers who are doing composting to give tips on how others can do the same thing,” Williams said.

She continued, “We are not trying to just reach the common man, but stakeholders as well. We have one episode titled Sustainable Suite, which will look at what hotels are doing because several hotels are involved in composting and solid waste best practices.”

Educators across the different levels of the sector are also being encouraged to tune into the podcast, as Williams told the Sunday Observer that the fight against pollution and improper garbage disposal was everyone’s business, even the youngsters.

“We want everybody to tune in so they can have their takeaways from it. I am sure that everybody will be able to find gems or pieces of it that they can practice to reduce the waste we generate. Looking at what other Caribbean countries are doing, may show so many things that we can do too,” Williams urged.