We all dream of sipping cocktails on a desert island in the shade of a palm tree. But would you book that flight if you knew that island was made entirely of trash?
We all know the answer to that.
But in the Maldives, there is an island made of just that — trash — and it’s certainly no holiday destination.
In the 1990s, the Maldives government made a pretty forward-thinking decision — make an island for their trash. Or, to be more exact, an island made from their trash.
However, since then, Thilafushi has gathered more and more waste, especially from the capital city, Malé. And with more waste piling up, it is starting to drift into the sea, and some trash has also caught fire.
This is a massive concern to environmentalists, with marine biologists fearing the trash could eventually choke and destroy the archipelago’s coral reefs and kill its marine life. In fact, the trash island and resulting fires, some of which have reportedly burned for decades, have forced many locals to leave and relocate to the capital.
Although the trash island seemed like a good idea back then, in the years since Thilafushi was created, the country has chosen to place tourism at the top of its agenda. And there are now 33 artificial islands that were once lagoons around the Maldives, filled in and built on purely for tourism.
With tourism comes money, but it also comes with waste too. Most of which ends up on Thilafushi, which is struggling with the sheer amount being dumped there daily.
But this isn’t just a problem for the Maldives.
It is indicative of the problem the whole world is having when it comes to dealing with their waste.
It’s easy to look at Thilafushi and think this is an issue of their own making, but trash is a problem for every country in the world.
In the last few years, there have been news reports of British waste being dumped in Romania and burned in Turkey. And while these make the news for a short while, it’s soon forgotten because it’s happening elsewhere.
It’s not our problem, because we only put our bins out for collection, what happens afterwards isn’t our problem.
And there lies the problem.
It is our problem.
And it’s especially a problem for business owners who can find their waste turning up on the side of the roads in China, Turkey and Romania. This can lead to negative PR, damage your reputation and put a dent in your net-zero goals.
Waste management companies are not always what they seem, and your waste may not be recycled as much as you think. But you can find out exactly where it’s going by investing in a Sustainability Impact Report that provides you with real-world data that:
One of the worst pieces of PR your company can face is having your branded products wash up on our beaches (or end up being burned by a roadside abroad). So, what can you do to ensure your waste doesn’t end up as headline news?
Talk to Certified Sustainable.
At Certified Sustainable, we produce comprehensive Sustainability Impact Reports detailing the environmental impact of the day-to-day operations of businesses. And, once the report is completed, we turn to developing technical solutions and real-world strategies that make your business more sustainable.
No fluff. No PR gimmickry. Just real-world change.
