Wild Tobago

Carnival is over. And we may be proud of the clean streets on Ash Wednesday. But where does it all go: the glitter, the beads, mylar strips, armbands, feathers, zippers and flag poles, plastic and metallic supports? Dr Anjani Ganase suggests we take a sober look at waste generated by Carnival, and make better plans for the next one. Carnival is rags, flags, beads, feathers and bumsies set in motion to a soca beat. It is symbolic of excess in every way but an integral part of our culture. While the drinking, wining and waving can be put away for another year, the materials in the costumes, the single use plastic containers, cups and cutlery used to water and feed people on the road used on two days of masquerading, as well as at the fetes happening in the two months leading up to carnival can amount to more than a hill of garbage. Hundreds of thousand masqueraders and revellers generate a huge amount of plastic waste. The majority of this will end up in land fills, in our drains a...

Dr Anjani Ganase, marine scientist, discusses one of the big challenges for humanity in this decade: our addiction to plastic use. The advent of synthetic plastic products in the early 1900s was revolutionary: its durability, low cost, and malleability allowed an array of uses. Today, plastics are used in everything from packaging, extending the shelf life of food; machinery; electronics, as insulation; textiles (polyester) and even building materials. Take a look around and count the number of items you see that are made from plastic; it is everywhere. So what is the problem with plastic?   Marine plastic debris: fishing net drapes over a coral reef in the Maldives. Photo by Christophe Bailhache, XL Catlin Seaview Survey (http://catlinseaviewsurvey.com). Although plastic is easy to make it is less easy to dispose of; the material can endure through multiple lifespans. About 8300 million tonnes of plastic have been produced over the last 65 years; and up...