Stepping to a greener Barbados
Ellerton Primary School receives its CoRe NETWORK Centre
On Tuesday November 15, 2011, the Ellerton Primary School became the latest officially launched recipient of a CoRe NETWORK Recycling Centre with thanks to the FCT and funding from the Coca-Cola Found...
Use the FCT Recycling Area!
GOT SOME RECYCLABLE MATERIAL - IE PLASTIC, GLASS, METAL FOOD GRADE CONTAINERS THAT NEED RECYCLING??? If you are in the St Thomas area over the weekend, drop your washed out, lids off recyclables ...
Future Trees at Warrens thanks to the TDC!
The Tourism Development Corporation has once again supported the work of the FCT, this time through the planting of trees along the eastern side of the ABC Highway heading south from Warrens towards H...
FCT Represents Barbados at the NAAEE Conference
With thanks to our sponsors and contributors which include the Barbados Tourism Authority, Nation Publishing Company, the US Embassy of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, and TD, four of the FCT...
MEDIA RELEASE: CoRe NETWORK Centre Launch – Ursuline Convent Schools
RECYCLING PROJECT HELPS MORE COMMUNITIES With school communities taking the focus at the launch of the first school based centre. Over the past ten or so years, recycling has become quite an ...
Green Business Updates: BCCI and RBC Wealth Management
Lani Edghill, Project Coordinator for the Green Business Barbados Programme (GBB), has been working with the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) over the past couple of months to impl...

Ellerton Primary School receives its CoRe NETWORK Centre

November 20th, 2011

On Tuesday November 15, 2011, the Ellerton Primary School became the latest officially launched recipient of a CoRe NETWORK Recycling Centre with thanks to the FCT and funding from the Coca-Cola Foundation. The project would not be in full swing without the sheer hard work and dedication to recycling, the environment of Barbados and the desire to see communities benefit from their man made waste, from Mrs Vicky Merrick! Thanks Vicky!

Ellerton Primary School’s past Principal, Mrs Barker and is an avid recycler. In her last few months at the school, she applied to the programme for a Centre to be installed at Ellerton. It took some time, and through Mrs Barker’s persistence and love for the school, the centre was officially launched by local MP, Dr The Honourable Esther Byer-Suckoo (or Auntie Dr Esther as she is often referred to by the students and children of the area!) and dignitaries. The launch as was attended by representatives from both the Ministry of Education and Environment, the FCT and of course Staff, Students and Teachers of the school.

Ellerton Primary is the first government school to receive a Centre under this initiative and it is such a wonderful thing to be able to assist such a willing and eager team in the achievement of recycling goals as the team at Ellerton.

We thank all who made the time to be present for the occasion and wish Ellerton the very best of luck as they work to educate their school community and by extension, the Ellerton Community, on the benefits of recycling.

Thanks to Shawn Cumberbatch of Barbados Today and Kerri Gooding from The Advocate for their coverage seen here:

Thanks to Barbados Today for their coverage here

Thanks also for the coverage here – Ellerton Primary with the Advocate

Here are some of the images from the event from the FCT Roving Camera folks – on this day Ayana Moosa and Nicole Garofano!

Use the FCT Recycling Area!

November 4th, 2011

GOT SOME RECYCLABLE MATERIAL – IE PLASTIC, GLASS, METAL FOOD GRADE CONTAINERS THAT NEED RECYCLING???

If you are in the St Thomas area over the weekend, drop your washed out, lids off recyclables to the FCT Recycling Area in the carpark of our Little Edgehill property. You will see the FCT sign on the road and the signs for the area!

Our weekly pick up needs to be worth it for B’s! Make things easy for yourself and make a contribution to the FCT with your clean recyclables!

This area accepts mostly food grade items, but for everything else that can be recycled, check our link here: http://futurecentretrust.org/main/resource-centre.

Thanks in advance for your contribution!

Future Trees at Warrens thanks to the TDC!

October 22nd, 2011

The Tourism Development Corporation has once again supported the work of the FCT, this time through the planting of trees along the eastern side of the ABC Highway heading south from Warrens towards Hothersal Turning. Their contribution of 50 trees were supplemented by another private contributor to take the total count for that area to 60.

There is still more space available for further planting along that stretch and we look forward to more enquiries.

The planting was completed by October 5, with the sign going up in the last few days.

Thank you to Barney Gibbs and Peter Bynoe for coordinating this planting and to the TDC for their continued support of the Future Centre Trust.

This area of the ABC highway may look familiar now, but over the coming years, this stretch will be tree lined, thanks to the TDC and a private contributor.

FCT Represents Barbados at the NAAEE Conference

October 19th, 2011

With thanks to our sponsors and contributors which include the Barbados Tourism Authority, Nation Publishing Company, the US Embassy of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, and TD, four of the FCT team were able to travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, between October 11 through 16 for the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Conference (see www.naaee.net for more information).

The conference is an annual event which draws together a wealth of experience, knowledge and passion from formal and non-formal educators in the field of environmental literacy and environmental education. It is an opportunity to share project ideas, their successes and their lessons, and to interact and network with up to 1000 attendees who all share the same passion – Environmental Education or EE for short.

This opportunity was first recognised by the FCT Admin Director, Nicole Garofano in December of 2010, as an opportunity for learning that could not be missed. “With 1000 people all in one place exchanging ideas and information, it was a fantastic opportunity!” says Ms Garofano. “It came down to the last couple of weeks, but we managed to find the funding for the team to attend, and it was a great experience for all – both us from Barbados and those from the North American Association and some of the total of 16 countries who attended,” she added.

The information that was collected over the four days will be compiled by the team and reviewed for further dissemination to local educators – formal and non formal – to assist in the knowledge sharing. There will also be a short video capturing some of the feedback from the sessions which will be online in the coming weeks.

The FCT would like to work towards partnering with organisations to provide a scholarship type fund for other local educators to attend the annual event to gain first hand experience of the amount of information and interaction available.

More information and reports are to come on this over the coming week and we look forward to updating our supporters.

MEDIA RELEASE: CoRe NETWORK Centre Launch – Ursuline Convent Schools

October 19th, 2011

RECYCLING PROJECT HELPS MORE COMMUNITIES
With school communities taking the focus at the launch of the first school based centre.

Over the past ten or so years, recycling has become quite an industry in Barbados providing well over 100 jobs and processing tonnes of waste that would otherwise head to the Mangrove Pond Landfill. The Future Centre Trust has been assisting this transition through a number of projects including the CoRe NETWORK project to which communities were invited to apply to in February 2011. This project is set to assist up to 12 community organisations, including up to 9 schools, become the recipients of Recycling Collection Centres, Educational Programmes and other deliverables under this project which is funded by The Coca Cola Foundation.

“Today we see the opening of the CoRe NETWORK Centre at the Ursuline Convent Schools -  the third school based collection system by the Future Centre Trust since 2009, but the first with The Coca Cola Foundation (CCF) contribution,” says Nicole Garofano, Administrative Director of the organisation. “Previously we were able to implement a pilot project with funding thanks to the TD Group which included two schools and one community organisation. Through that experience and with the assistance and guidance of our Project Coordinator, Mrs Vicky Merrick, we have now developed this centre at the Ursuline Convent Schools which is the first school based centre implemented with the CCF funding.”

“We are pleased to have the support of the Ministry of Education who saw this project for its many faceted benefits to the school based environment,” commented Ms Garofano. “We received the majority of our applications from schools through their environment clubs, key clubs or through interested teachers and receiving this support has been very beneficial,” she added.

The project works with the community to develop a ‘Green Team’ of recycling monitors who will help manage each centre on a weekly basis. This includes opening and closing of the centre, ensuring it is kept clean and that all signage is in place correctly and that collections by another project partner, B’s Recycling, are being completed weekly. The school and/or community group is encouraged to bring in recyclable material from home to add to the collection of what is used within the school grounds. “This helps with the educational aspect at home and shows how much waste a school community collects every week,” explained Mrs Merrick. “Once the students take this information home, and of course we also encourage participation within the PTA of the school, it becomes not only a school project, but a home based change of habit which we hope will lead to greater appreciation of the amount of waste that is generated every day. Hopefully creating such an awareness that they start to consider reducing their waste.”

While the project provides excellent educational opportunities in many areas including environmental studies and social sciences for the older students, but also math, integrated science and even art for younger students, it also provides income, with most items attracting a small payment. These funds can then be used by the school to purchase more supplies or other worthwhile and needed inputs as determined by the faculty.

“The Ursuline Convent is a great example of many areas coming together from the outset and creating a very positive environment to ensure this project’s success,” highlighted Mrs Merrick. “The school already has a great number of students signed up to be Recycling Centre Monitors and assist with the management, in addition to assistance from the groundstaff, the principals, the administrators of the school and the parents.”

With this type of community based recycling programme being rolled out to the 12 communities under this initiative and another 3 now coming on stream thanks to the US Embassy partnership to this worthwhile initiative, Barbados is well on its way to reducing the amount of waste that heads to the landfill. Not only that, it bodes well for the longer life use of the new 27 million dollar cell at the Mangrove site, with the absolute necessity of public education being assisted by the Future Centre Trust. Not to mention the foreign exchange earned by the country for what would otherwise be seen as ‘just garbage’ or ‘ewww, that’s nasty garbage’ – for what could be a yoghurt container just finished being consumed in the home. “Education, Education, Education, is the key to everything! Nothing will change without education and without supportive education. This project demands community participation and sustainable plans for sharing the knowledge in the long term. All projects MUST have an educational budget to ensure their success, and this means getting it to the people – in their front of mind! This project is all about that and more – education, waste reduction and benefits to the long term sustainability of the country,” states Ms Garofano.

CoRe NETWORK is focused on Community Recycling and its benefits to individuals, households, schools, other community groups, the landfill, the country’s foreign exchange reserves and the physical environs of Barbados. It is being implemented by the Future Centre Trust with the assistance of the Coca-Cola Foundation. It is supported by the Ministry of Education and the Solid Waste Project Unit under the Ministry of Environment and Drainage. We are pleased to welcome the expansion partners to this initiative in the US Embassy for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

About Future Centre Trust

The Future Centre Trust is an environmental Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) and registered charity providing environmental education to the public of Barbados. Its mission is “To stimulate awareness and encourage responsible management of the vital relationship between people and nature leading to a sustainable future for all”. This is achieved through various programmes, activities and presentations to the community which are included and highlighted at www.futurecentretrust.org. ENDS

Green Business Updates: BCCI and RBC Wealth Management

October 19th, 2011

Lani Edghill, Project Coordinator for the Green Business Barbados Programme (GBB), has been working with the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) over the past couple of months to implement the GBB in the Chamber’s Secretariat. As a midterm report, Lani has put together this release, which is found on the Green Business page on: http://businessbarbados.com/press-releases/bcci-green-business-barbados/

Also, the RBC Wealth Management team have also been working towards achieving the local Green Standard with a write up of their experience found here: http://businessbarbados.com/press-releases/rbc-wealth-management-barbados-goes-green/

Other business are now coming up for their reassessment which includes the British High Commission, Shell Western Supply and Trading, among others, which is the annual review of systems to not only ensure the programme is continuing, but to also see where any new information can be relevant to achieving an even higher standard.

For more information on the Green Business Barbados Programme, please contact Lani Edghill on 836 6189 or email to lani@futurecentretrust.org



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Little Edgehill, St Thomas,
Barbados, BB 22118

PHONE:

P : (246)-625-2020
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