THE country will soon obtain an environmentally-friendly technology to solve the problem of dis-regarded and harmful light bulbs.
This is the word from BREA (Barbados Renewable Energy Association) member and CEO of Caribbean LED Lighting, Jim Reid, speaking at a recent members’ meeting held at the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).
He disclosed to the media that it was important to import the equipment into the country as it was a way to properly dispose of light bulbs which disperse harmful toxics into local landfills, resulting in the contamination of the ground water on the island.
He disclosed that one florescent tube contained enough mercury to contaminate 7 000 gallons of drinking water and that many of this toxin was, on a daily basis, dumped into Barbadian landfills.
Spokesperson for the energy association, Clyde Griffith, informed the media that BREA, from its inception in June of this year, was in talks with members of the organisation, such as Reid, about the acquisition of a bulb crusher to assist in decreasing the harmful exposure of mercury into the local water supply.
Reid stated, “We manufacture LED tubes which give you 70 per cent savings in electricity, but of course, when we replace a florescent tube the issue is what to do with the old incandescent tubes? There are no facilities on the island to deal with it properly. What we are doing, therefore, is that every tube that we replace, we take the old tube and we process it and we put it into a bulb crusher in a hermetically sealed 55-gallon drum that is then shipped to Florida to an environmental protection agency who then recycles it properly; we believe this will make a difference very quickly.”
He further noted, “In such a beautiful country as Barbados, we have an opportunity to leapfrog technology that other organisations have developed over the years and make a difference. We are polluting our environment unconsciously on a daily basis; we have dirty fuel that causes asthma, we are putting florescent tubes in our landfill that is polluting the water and I am here with BREA to play my part as a resident of Barbados, and I feel fortunate to be in this country and I want to play my part to help our economy and environment.”
(Source http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=local&NewsID=20772)
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