Rest, Relax, Rediscover...and RECYCLE at Small Hope Bay Lodge

The signature line of Small Hope Bay Lodge is “Rest, Relax and Rediscover.” Maybe we should add an additional “R” for “Recycle,” since recycling many products has become a small industry here at Small Hope Bay!

The Small Hope Bay Lodge recycling program has its genesis in Dick Birch’s original philosophy of operating the resort with minimum ecological impact.

Systematic recycling of steel and aluminum cans and beer bottles only became possible several years ago when Commonweath Bottling began a beer bottle return program. Recent metal recycling programs such as “Cans for Kids” and Caribbean Recycling finally made it possible
to recycle beverage and food cans rather than dumping them in a landfill. With those programs in place, Small Hope Bay Lodge was able to develop a system of daily waste management geared toward recycling and reuse rather than dumping. Creating drinking glasses from wine bottles was a local brainstorm, since there are no local programs to recycle bottles other than Kalik beer bottles.

Maintaining a recycling program is a labor-intensive process and required staff members to form new habits when dealing with refuse. Just ask Maintenance Manager Terrence and Assistant Resort Manager Renauldo! The kitchen and bar staff, for example, now separate refuse into appropriate bins instead of just throwing everything into a common garbage can, as was done previously. Gardeners must regularly tend to the various compost bins to ensure a suitable soil product. Other recycling chores include segregating, preparing and transporting bottles, aluminum cans and steel cans for shipment to the recycling plants in Nassau.

Want a drink from the bar? That green cocktail glass was fashioned from a wine bottle that has been cut and re-shaped and for re-use. Imagine that: helping the environment with a cocktail glass!

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