Hey ladies, how is your weekends all going and I'm sure it's going fine.
Lately i have been more concerned about the beach and since i moved here, I'm no longer concerned about swimming alone because i can't enjoy swimming if i discover where I swim is not hygienic and when itt comes to hygiene, I really care about taking care of the environment environment i find myself and now in the Caribbean.
I have lived on this beautiful island for over 2 months now and that's long enough for me to start noticing how much plastic waste we have around us and i thought people would care about it because they all visit the beach but sadly, people don't care and they would have cared if they had been enlightened about the danger that comes with waste on the beach and when i decided to take matters into my hands, i discovered that there was not enough places or systems to recycle all these plastics, so most of it ends up in landfills or in the ocean and that's really sad for a country doing well economically but that’s not okay for me.
Luckily for me after trying to reach out to several organizations and finally I was so happy when I found out about Perpetual Plastics SXM, a non-profit organization in St. Maarten that’s doing something amazing with plastic waste. They collect donated plastic and they are mostly type #2 and #5 and they gradually turned it into useful and beautiful things like beads, learning tools, garden tools, and craft supplies. And the best part? Everything is made from 100% recycled plastic and i was really into it.
I was so happy to know what plastic waste could do and since i was into jewelry already and i make beads from shells, i already knew what was next for me and it was like everything was planned for me.
I recently got the chance to visit their space and see how the whole process works from beginning to end and it was so exciting and I learnt every process and it involves people bring in their clean plastic and they get paid which is an awesome way of giving people jobs, after which they've collected those plastics, they get sorted into the right types and after that, it’s cut up and ground down into small plastic chips. These chips are sorted by color, then melted and poured into different molds to create new items.
It was so cool to watch how these little pieces of plastic turn into something useful for everyone and i was really happy to see people interested in making our oceans clean voluntarily amd this play a big role too and my fristt session with them was awesome and i help with cleaning, cutting, and even trimming off the extra bits from the final products. It's a team effort, and the vibe is so positive and full of hope and i learnt a lot on my first visit and i knew i could produce similar beads and mixed with shells.
For me, the most exciting part is the beads and since i make jewelry using these shells i found on the beach while swimming and now i could add recycled beads, and it feels good knowing that every piece I create is not just beautiful but also meaningful and even it's a small difference i might make but i know I'm doing something good and what i love about this idea is like I’m giving the plastic a second chance. turning what could have been trash into wearable art and hopefully people around the beach can have an interest in these and together we can make more impacts.
This was my very first trial and it came out wonderful and i really love it and i have probably discovered my role to save planet earth and we all have a role to play in protecting our earth, wo do something to save it.
We only have one planet that can actually support our living and existence, and we need to take care of it. Reducing plastic waste and finding creative ways to reuse it is one small step we can take, but it can make a big difference. I’m so grateful to be part of this journey, and I hope more people start thinking about how they can help too.
This is a short video below showing the process on how i made my first beads 👇🏼
Let’s be kinder to our earth, and to each other.
Much love,
Thanks for reading 😊❤️