The Tribune

INSPIRATION comes in many forms, including young Bahamians who are trying to make our Bahamas a better place, and a movie on pollution which was recently shared with Bahamas Waste shows just that.

Jenna Bayles, a sixth grade student at St Andrews, recently made her first mini movie about pollution for her school project and contacted Bahamas Waste, as an environmentally friendly waste company, for their input.

Littering, fires at the dump, global warming and environmental pollution caused by ships were all examples of pollution that were highlighted in the two and a half minute movie, as they all affect the Bahamas.

Jenna contacted Bahamas Waste for help with her video earlier this month and the company’s managing director, Francisco de Cardenas, was more than willing to assist her by watching and sharing her video on pollution with his staff and friends.

“Bahamas Waste helped me to not only learn about pollution but also helped my video on pollution to reach a variety of people,” said the 12-year-old student. “Thanks to their help, my video is raising awareness of how bad pollution actually is.”

The movie was a part of her Year 6 Exhibition project at St Andrew’s School, where students take responsibility for their own learning during a nine-week project.

During this year’s exhibition the students explored how different forms of creativity can communicate powerful messages and may bring about change.

Stacey Fuderer, a year six teacher at St Andrew’s, noted that Jenna selected filmmaking as her topic and through her inquiries learned that films such as documentaries can communicate important messages about critical issues facing society. She particularly found pollution interesting and decided to make her film about littering and pollution in the Bahamas.

“Upon completion of her film, Jenna sent it to Bahamas Waste in an effort to encourage them and other organisations to take action on this issue and develop strategies to effectively manage waste in the Bahamas,” said Ms Fuderer. “Jenna’s action is a great example of how creativity can communicate a powerful message about a real world issue. Her video encourages people to take responsibility for the waste that they produce and raises awareness about the pollution that affects the beautiful Bahamas.”

In the movie, Jenna can be seen explaining various types of pollution, cleaning up litter around her school and showing what we can do to help prevent and reduce pollution. She also encourages everyone to spread the word about pollution and taking care of planet Earth.

“The fact that Jenna came to Bahamas Waste for our thoughts and comments speaks volumes to what we are trying to do for our Environment,” said Mr de Cardenas. “We do all we can to protect the environment in our everyday work and it’s a great feeling that what we’re doing is being noticed, especially by younger Bahamians.”

You can watch the video on the Bahamas Waste Facebook page.