Camana Bay is widely known for its nightlife, restaurants and shopping, but it's what's going on behind the scenes that truly sets this bustling community apart.
The town offers an immense amount of initiatives, programmes and policies that promote sustainability — from infrastructure that promotes walking and cycling, to electric vehicle charging stations that can be used for free.
The charging stations generate power using pollution-free solar cells that contribute to recuing carbon emissions to zero. The solar arrays not only power the charging stations, but also help power 11 structures throughout the Town Centre.
The Town Centre for many years has also served as a drop-off location for recycling. The recycling station is currently located in the north parking lot off Emeritus Drive and includes bins for paper and cardboard, plastic, tin and aluminium cans. Around 20 pounds of aluminium are collected daily. Dart also collects the tenants’ cardboard boxes and works with Foster’s to ship the cardboard off island for recycling.
While Dart recently drew to a close its glass recycling programme, the company is looking for alternative solutions.
“Dart understands that glass recycling has been an important aspect of residents' and business operators’ efforts towards sustainable living," said Richard McAree, environmental, social and governance (ESG) programme manager at Dart. "Glass is one of the few recyclable products generated and recycled on-island with beneficial use as a secondary aggregate and architectural concrete products. Dart is seeking to work with the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) team to generate an alternate solution to maintain glass recycling opportunities until the ReGen facilities come online."
Hew’s Janitorial serves as Camana Bay’s main cleaning services provider and recently signed up for the National Chemical Laboratories (NCL) Earth Sense Program. The programme boasts an environmentally responsible product line along with environmentally friendly products from their Dual Blend dispensing system. Some of the products used are Green Seal certified as well.
“Our focus has always been on the effect or footprint our process and products will have on the environment," Hew's Janitorial Managing Director Chris Hew said. "Emphasis is placed on the health of our team and clients and the impact of products on our environment. Many years before the term green cleaning became an industry term, we removed certain chemicals from daily use by our team and changed the process in the way we perform our duties."
Hew said his team expects the dispensing system to be fully operational within two months and will lead to eliminating 90% of the plastic bottles used in ready-to-use cleaning products.
“We are constantly seeking ways to improve the way we conduct our cleaning and the products and equipment we use," Hew said.
"There are much cheaper alternatives to environmentally friendly products and equipment. We believe that the earth belongs to no one but to everyone and we are simply the caretakers of this soil."
This article was originally published in the December 2022 print edition of Camana Bay Times.