Down and Dirty

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jilly777

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We have just moved to a Beachside Apartment with the usual private beach and I am now questioning the D.R. being amongst the worlds cleanest beaches.
Oh sure our beach area and that of the various beachside hotels, spas and bars are cleaned as soon as the sun comes up but general public areas are left littered and dirty.
Last Sunday the public beach next to us was visited by dozens of families of various nationalities and the majority did not take their plastic bags, food containers or bottles away.....and of course their are no refuse bins....which may prompt some people to deposit their litter.
I am not suggesting that all beaches should be "privatized" in fact I think it is unfair that their are so few open to locals and visitors alike.
This morning I even saw 2 "private beach" cleaners raking the rubbish onto an already overly littered public area.
Does anyone actually take any responsibility for the cleaning of public areas?
I would quite happily clean up myself but after seeing the reaction of private security guys when a guy climbed up a coconut tree (on the public beach) I tend to think they may shoot me!!!!!
The security guys took all but 3/4 of the coconuts by the way......seems they have first dibs no matter what "type" of beach it is.
Don't suppose anyone can actually be shamed into cleaning the crap up?????????????????????
 
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mountainannie

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you are going to have to start a campaign with the local businesses and Ayuntameinto.. at least you can get the private areas to not rake the litter onto the public beach

but whoever said that we have the cleanest beaches.. well.. liar liar pants on fire..

dominicans do not pick up their trash in public.. they appear to be slobs in public..

maybe write a note to the President I am sure he speaks English
 
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jilly777

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hahahaha...... luv it....yeah but I noticed it,s not just the locals leaving the crap.
May have found the solution......their are now 2 very very large PIGS rutting around on the beach.....had to look twice as I thought I must have O.D,d on Voddy last night
Kind of thinking the President wont be too bothered with this issue....after all he hardly relies on tourism to boost his ecomomy.
 
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windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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Correct me if I am wrong, but when the "awards" are given for cleanest beaches, I think they are referring to the water quality of those beaches and not the litter left on the shore by imbeciles?

What various nationalities were at fault aside from Dominicans?

Good luck getting litterbugs, especially the locals, to pick up after themselves. You and I asking for that will be like the tail being able to wag the dog. Coming to this country and trying to change it is an exercise in futility.
 
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jilly777

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windeguy said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but when the "awards" are given for cleanest beaches, I think they are referring to the water quality of those beaches and not the litter left on the shore by imbeciles?

What various nationalities were at fault aside from Dominicans?

Good luck getting litterbugs, especially the locals, to pick up after themselves. You and I asking for that will be like the tail being able to wag the dog. Coming to this country and trying to change it is an exercise in futility.
Click to expand...
Didn,t get close enough to I.D. the "blanco" ones....but it was defo. not all locals....can,t have been any Brits lol as we are trained to find a bin or take it home or face a fine from the "community protection" squads.
Can confirm Wideguy that the water is quite clean....not counting the floating plastic bottles!!!!!
Yup guess things wont change huh....and the local porkers currently roaming around don,t do plastic
 
Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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They are!!

Re: Beach clean ups.

A long time ago in a place far, far away, a DR1 poster by the name of Christa and her friend were living up in Punta Rucia. They were active in Reef Rescue, and for Easter Week we organized a clean up program with t-shirts and trash bags donated by Ochoa and Nacional - Cuesta. All told something like 500 or 600 bags were filled with trash from just La Ensenada Beach!!

For years I have been searching for something catchy like "Don't be a litterbug" in Spanish, but have come up with zilch. They are either too gross (No seas puerco! Rec?gelo!) or too xenophobic (No seas como un haitiano! Rec?gelo!) although both are attention grabbing.

It took years for the litterbug campaign to catch on in the US and even more years for local legislation ($500 Fine for trash) to support the program.

Most foreigners, when they first arrive are shocked by the trash in evidence, everywhere.

And jilly, believe me when I say that Danilo Medina really does depend on tourism for his economic stability. Really, really he does. It represents something like 25% of his budget, and maybe more.

Cordially,


HB
 
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jilly777

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j&t's future said:
I thought EVERY beach in the DR was public.
Click to expand...
Hi j&t.....well "our" beach....that is as used by certain apartments around us has a "deck chair" man who guards them with his life....he even got a bit $hitty when my friends popped round to sit with me.....they were not impressed and gave him a South London mouthful!!!!.....we have a sign at the "entrance" saying its private and also no dogs allowed.......I,m surprised anyone is allowed to enter his territory in order to cross from "public to private" lol.
 
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jilly777

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Hillbilly said:
They are!!

Re: Beach clean ups.

A long time ago in a place far, far away, a DR1 poster by the name of Christa and her friend were living up in Punta Rucia. They were active in Reef Rescue, and for Easter Week we organized a clean up program with t-shirts and trash bags donated by Ochoa and Nacional - Cuesta. All told something like 500 or 600 bags were filled with trash from just La Ensenada Beach!!

For years I have been searching for something catchy like "Don't be a litterbug" in Spanish, but have come up with zilch. They are either too gross (No seas puerco! Rec?gelo!) or too xenophobic (No seas como un haitiano! Rec?gelo!) although both are attention grabbing.

It took years for the litterbug campaign to catch on in the US and even more years for local legislation ($500 Fine for trash) to support the program.

Most foreigners, when they first arrive are shocked by the trash in evidence, everywhere.

And jilly, believe me when I say that Danilo Medina really does depend on tourism for his economic stability. Really, really he does. It represents something like 25% of his budget, and maybe more.

Cordially,


HB
Click to expand...

Thanks for your post HB
Don't suppose they have Boy Scouts and Girl Guides here?....sounds like a job for then.....or maybe they allow prisoners out for Community Campaigns?....nah course not lol.
I would love to do what Christa and her gang did....BUT I am just a newbie and doubt that anyone will give a flying fig if I try it yet....but Never Say Never.
I knew about the tourist % but relied of some misinformation regarding the G,Ments dependency so thanks for letting me know.
Maybe he would read a letter of complaint/concern from someone a little more high profile than me?????.....think even as a newbie that I could arrange :devious:
 
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Criss Colon

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There was a radio campaign several years ago.
The guy said that he just arrived back home, on a flight from New York.
He said that in the gate area in New York, the Dominicans used the trash cans, on the plane they collected their trash and dropped it in the bag when the flight attendant came by,in the SD airport they put their trash in the "Zafacon".
Then he said, that as soon as they got picked up at the airport, they started throwing "Presidente" bottles. and everything "Styrofoam" out the car windows.
"Por Que"?????
He lamented.
I live at the top of a high hill.
It's GOOD to live at the top of a high hill!
"$HIT", flows downhill!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 
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jilly777

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Criss Colon said:
There was a radio campaign several years ago.
The guy said that he just arrived back home, on a flight from New York.
He said that in the gate area in New York, the Dominicans used the trash cans, on the plane they collected their trash and dropped it in the bag when the flight attendant came by,in the SD airport they put their trash in the "Zafacon".
Then he said, that as soon as they got picked up at the airport, they started throwing "Presidente" bottles. and everything "Styrofoam" out the car windows.
"Por Que"?????
He lamented.
I live at the top of a high hill.
It's GOOD to live at the top of a high hill!
"$HIT", flows downhill!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Click to expand...
sounds about right lol
well another busy Sunday Funday has passed by at the beach and this morning I am looking at what could easily pass for a "Waste Dump"....guess if people want to sit amongst it then who am I to stop them!!!!!
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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jilly777 said:
sounds about right lol
well another busy Sunday Funday has passed by at the beach and this morning I am looking at what could easily pass for a "Waste Dump"....guess if people want to sit amongst it then who am I to stop them!!!!!
Click to expand...

When we walked by the parque this morning in Jarabacoa te cleaners were complaining about all the garbage. Six cleaners for one park. Yris said when she lived next to the park as a kid there was one cleaner, and mainly she was weeping up leaves.
Education plus enforcement. Garbage police required I guess.
 
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BettsP

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We often sit on Sosua beach - the restaurants above clean their own little area but their concern seems to stop at the steps. Even then I have seen people leaning on a garbage can, drinking out of a plastic cup, throwing it on the ground when they are done.
For tourism I believe to attract tourists to your portion of the beach, the restaurant owner could have their chair sellers clean up their section of the beach and use it as a selling point. We hear from some sellers that they have the best snorkeling out front or the best food behind and free banos. Clean your part of the beach, help the environment and promote tourism.

Education is the key - 30+ years ago in North American litter was a problem, however through education and yes, enforcement it has improved substantially. We have had Dominican market shop owners ask us how the reefs are because they understand that a healthy reef/ocean means tourist. Now they need to be educated that garbage on the beach is being pushed out to the reefs and is one of the causes for concern in the health of the reefs.
 
bronzeallspice

bronzeallspice

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Forget education, in one ear and out the other.The best thing would be to issue fines
for those caught littering. In the days of Trujillo no one dared throw garbage in the
streets, beach, etc. If caught they were thrown in jail. A stricter hand is required.

Enforcement is the key. Caught littering, a few days in jail will teach them a lesson.
 
Xavier_Onassis

Xavier_Onassis

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There are two beaches in Barahona, one on the other side of the Malecon and another on the peninsula, called El Cayo, that sticks out to the right of the Ingenio (Sugar Mill). There is a rather nice beach on the side facing the town, and the beach facing the Caribbean would be really nice if not for about 200,000 bottles and cans and trash, so many that you cannot reach the ocean without stepping on them.

I have never seen so many bottles in my life, including in the Mt Trashmore landfill.
Compared with some other cities, there is very little graffitti in Barahona.
People should be encouraged to buy their drinking water in the plastic bags (fundas) Two for $5 pesos, rather than $15 pesos for a bottle.

There was a huge rainstorm while I was there when Tropical Storm Chantel came through. In 30 minutes, the Calle 30 de mayo became a river about three feet deep. There were hundreds of bottles washing down from wherever. After about 2 hours, the rain subsided water level went down. It was rather amazing the number of people who seemed to believe that a pasola could swim in 3 feet of water.
 
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jilly777

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Have to let you know whats happened since I posted this thread
It appears that someone somewhere has realized that tourists like clean beaches!!!!!!
We now appear to have a clean up campaign in progress...all be it slow.
Was a bit sad that the man who lives in the wood pile close to the shore has had his "home" removed
 
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CaptnGlenn

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Mar 29, 2010
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there was a big "Neighborhood Cleanup" day this past spring in el Cortecito / Bavaro. Was very successful from what I hear, (I was not on the island at the time). It was a real community event, organized and sponsored by a few of the condo home owners associations, developers, local businesses and I even think the local govt. might have helped out some, (but not sure about that). I don't know if they did any clean up on the beach, or if it was solely the little neighborhood ( more than enough mess to clean up even just there). Anyway... it was a positive thing. A small step, but at least in the right direction. Change comes slowly ANYWHERE.
 
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Eugeniefs

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I wish something could be done about the beaches (the public parts particularly) as it is totally disgusting after a rowdy Sunday, it is littered all over the place! Being a Brit by birth, I too was taught at home and at school and then by the local authorities to 'take it home' or at least find a dustbin (well that was hard when the IRA was bombing London) but we all did it.

I have to say that I do have a word with motoconchos who stop outside our walls and chat, if they don't clean it up I get my day guy to clear up the mess, well he encourages them to stop and chat and whilst they are eating too, lol.

However, we are lucky, I have organized for us to have recycling bags for plastic and we empty it out around once a month. If we could only do it for glass too but I was told the company doesn't have enough to go around and we don't churn out the same amount as the hotels do... we do try though, lol!

Tomorrow I am going to join a group of people from Los Corales for a discussion with the Town Hall rep, as their dumpster hasn't been around and we now have a mountain of rubbish (trash) here. The pigs were loving it when they popped by the other week, the security guards were trying to 'shoo' them away but they were rather LARGE.. as for the rats, well they are enjoying the buffet too.

And of course - going back to beaches - no one picks up their litter nor do dog owners clean up after their pets, which REALLY makes me SCREAMING mad. As for that little 'cut' from the parking area to the beach, that is obviously a lovely garbage 'strip'... why can't the people hang on to their trash for a couple more minutes and chuck it in the Los Corales dump area... oooh I could go on, but won't rant any more (for now, lol)...
 
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Eugeniefs

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jilly777 said:
Have to let you know whats happened since I posted this thread
It appears that someone somewhere has realized that tourists like clean beaches!!!!!!
We now appear to have a clean up campaign in progress...all be it slow.
Was a bit sad that the man who lives in the wood pile close to the shore has had his "home" removed
Click to expand...

And then last Sunday happened and it came back in a hurry (that and full moon parties!).. and that poor old guy's little 'house', so sad but I suppose if you were a home owner there and had to look at that pile of sticks at the end of your beach you wouldn't be too pleased. Nonetheless, he does no harm. Although this morning I saw him standing around his little patch with a pair of bathing trunks that did not cover his 'crack' which was a little bit too much to see at 7.30am this morning, lol!
 
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