In commemoration of World Environment Day 2017, the Department of the Environment (DOE), the Belize Solid Waste Management Authority (BSWaMA) and the Belize Audubon Society (BAS) conducted the “Walk for a Green Belize” 2017. This event was held on Saturday, October 14th , 2017 and involved cleaning both sides of the George Price Highway from Belize City to Benque Viejo del Carmen.
An estimated 985 (20 to 55 gallon-sized) bags of garbage were collected yielding an estimated weight of 10,800 pounds of garbage!
The Walk For A Green Belize clean-up activity was conducted by over 650 volunteers that included organizations, students, activists, government and non-government agencies, as well as the general public. The Secretariat for the “Walk for a Green Belize” initiative extends heartfelt gratitude to all the participants and sponsors of the event and we look forward to your support and participation in the “ Walk for a Green Belize ” 2018.
To make this event exciting and more engaging, we had sponsored a friendly competition for all participants for which there were two categories in which a team of volunteers could win. A prize of $200.00 along with a plaque will be given to the winning teams on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at the DOE as follows.
1.) Belmopan Police Cadets – Largest number of volunteers a team or group brings out; 2.) St. Agnes Anglican School – Largest number of completely filled garbage bags a team collects.
The Department of the Environment (DOE) takes this opportunity to remind motorists, passengers and the general public travelling along Belize’s roadways that littering is a violation of our laws, carrying a ticket fine of $100.00 for a person and $500.00 for a company. Littering creates a huge environmental challenge in terms of land and water contamination, with negative impacts to wildlife and landscape aesthetics. Let us keep Belize clean and maintain a healthy environment!
For further information, please contact: Chief Environmental Officer Department of the Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment & Sustainable Development Market Square, Belmopan Tel: 822-2548/2819 Fax: 822-2860 Email: envirodept@btl.net orenvirodept@environment.gov.bz Website: www.doe.gov.bz
