Sidebar: Earth Day
Sidebar: Green Business
The Chamber of Commerce 14th Annual Earth Day Roadside
Clean-Up event has come and gone since our last magazine edition, but we can’t
let this extraordinary event go unacknowledged. Although the official start was
7am, hundreds of people were out from sunrise as they committed to their goal
of cleaning-up Cayman’s roadsides and beaches. Approximately 1,500 people came
out representing schools, businesses, church groups, and other community
organisations. After the clean-up everyone was invited to a free brunch at Tiki
Beach courtesy of LIME which saw a superb turn-out. The Governor and Mrs.
Duncan Taylor, garbed in Earth Day shirts, spent time chatting with the
clean-up participants. It was one of those feel-good days where everywhere you
looked there was a great big smile.
None of this could be possible without our valued event
sponsors: British Caymanian Insurance Co. Ltd.; The Caledonian Group; Dart
Enterprises Ltd.; Island Heritage Insurance; Water Authority-Cayman; Kensington
Management Group Ltd.; KPMG; Transocean Inc.; G.E.L. Wholesale &
Distributors; FirstCaribbean International Bank; CUC Ltd.; Flowers Bottled
Water; The Phoenix Group; Conyers Dill & Pearman; Cayman Islands Yellow
Pages; Cayman National; Grant Thornton; Foster’s Food Fair IGA; Department of
Environmental Health; Power Flower Ltd.; Mourant Ozannes; Royal Bank of Canada;
LIME; CIBC Bank & Trust Company (Cayman) Ltd.; Deutche Bank; Recreations,
Parks & Cemetery Unit of the Ministry of District Administration, Works,
Lands and Agriculture.
A special mention must also go to the employees of the
Recreation, Parks, and Cemeteries Unit who with a team of 20 staff and seven
pickup trucks collected all the trash bags.
“It was a spectacular day,” commented Wil Pineau, Chamber
CEO. “The community spirit generated by this clean-up event is always
extraordinary. The full-spectrum of our population is represented with the
common goal of improving our environment and making it a safer and cleaner
place to live. Sometimes we forget that it is the beauty of the Cayman Islands
that is our greatest asset. If we don’t preserve this and take pride in where
we live then we run the risk of losing valuable tourism dollars, investment and
diminishing our quality of life.”
As we focus on the key driver Enhance Quality of Life, it
seems fitting to shine the spotlight on what your Chamber is doing to protect
our environment and conserve resources. As an organisation we have pledged to
reuse paper products wherever possible and turn off all lights when not in use.
We have upgraded our printer to a more environmentally friendly model that uses
less consumables and have changed many of our communications processes to
electronic formats so as not to waste paper.
We also encourage our members to take the Environmental
Pledge either as individuals or as a business. It makes being GREEN as simple
as following a list. It’s the perfect start to making a difference to the
sustainability of our beautiful Islands, and in most cases saving money too.
When you take the Pledge, the Chamber will award you with a framed certificate
at a formal presentation and promote you as a GREEN BUSINESS. Some of the ideas
include introducing an office paper recycling programme, introducing energy
saving products, planting native plants on your property, returning hangers to
the dry cleaners, turning lights and electrical products off when not in use
and minimising use of plastic and Styrofoam. Check out our GREEN members listed
on this page.
You can also become a GREEN business by letting us know what
environmentally friendly products or services you provide or let us know any of
your own initiatives you have implemented to protect our environment and
natural resources.
The Chamber of Commerce is proud of our members that
introduce GREEN BUSINESS practices and we hope many other businesses will take
their lead. For those who don’t know where to start we encourage you to take
the first step by adopting the Chamber Environmental Pledge.
Contact the Chamber office
on 949-8090 or email leanna.jarvis@caymanchamber.ky and she will send you the necessary information.