From The Governor’s Office

Governor Martyn Roper and his wife Lissie dropped in to a beach clean-up at Barefoot Beach on Saturday, 12 January. 

The event was organised by Plastic Free Cayman and supported by Red Sail Sports and local volunteers.  The visit followed a meeting with Plastic Free Cayman founder Claire Hughes and Educational Coordinator Bill Hughes during which they explained the work of the organisation to raise awareness of the threat of plastics to the environment.

The Governor and Mrs Roper joined a group of 70 volunteers who were collecting plastic from Barefoot Beach and saw first-hand the threat that plastics and styrofoam pose to wildlife and the environment.

Governor Roper commented: “I was pleased to drop in on Plastic Free Cayman’s beach clean-up at North side on 12 January. People from all walks of life took part, including students and adults. Miss World Cayman also helped out.

“Plastic in our oceans is a growing and serious threat to our environment. Cayman is directly affected as are so many countries around the world.  

“The volunteers and students passionately explained to me their hopes for what more could be done in Cayman and globally to address this defining issue of our times.

“This visit forms part of my continuing programme of outreach to different sections of society to understand the concerns and viewpoints of everyone on the Islands”.

By 2050, there could be more plastic in the oceans than fish, and it’s estimated that around 50% of plastic produced is used just once and thrown away.  Around 12.2 million tonnes of plastic enters the ocean globally each year.

In January 2018 the Prime Minister set out the vision to ban avoidable plastics by 2042. The Foreign Secretary has asked the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to move faster: to eliminate avoidable single-use plastics from its UK operations by the end of the year, and from its global operations by 2020.