With plastic a growing pollution problem in the reefs and waters around the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, the Presbyterian Church there has launched its own reusable bags to help reduce the amount of plastic bags in the sea.
“We have launched reusable bags that we can take to the supermarket, to the grocery store or marketplace,” Rev Anabell Lalla-Ramkhelawan, moderator of the Presbyterian Church Trinidad and Tobago, told a World Council of Churches‘ delegation earlier this month.
“To stop more thousands of plastic bags from ending up in the ocean, we are trying to encourage our people and the country to use recyclable bags,” she said.
“We distribute the bags to our congregations and give large quantities of bags directly to the members of our congregations, so they can give to those around them. We also distribute them in all our national gatherings and in the church schools.”
The initiative may also help the leatherback turtle, the largest sea turtle in the world, which is listed in the “threatened” category by International Union for Conservation of Nature. With jellyfish its main prey, the turtles are prone to eating plastic bags instead with many said to have died as a result.
Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches – among the WCC delegation visiting the island nation, described it as yet another example of a local church initiative aimed at repairing environmental damage caused by mankind.
“Again, we see the impact of local commitment and the role local congregations play in our pilgrimage of justice and peace,” he said. “Local faith-based communities can offer important initiatives and commitments and should contribute to addressing the threats to our environment.”
The WCC delegation has been visiting a number of countries in the Caribbean including Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua.
