| Imagine the picturesque Bimini Islands. Located just | | | | I could spend a great deal of time describing the |
| forty two miles east of Miami on the Florida coast, it | | | | beauty of North and South Bimini. They are truly little |
| is the closest of the Bahamian Islands to the United | | | | gems and then, on the flip side of the coin, the |
| States and just a twenty minute hop by air or a | | | | extreme garbage and trash that has been left to pile |
| couple of hours by boat. Bimini is so close to us | | | | up on the side of the roads and along some of the |
| geographically, but yet so very far away in terms of | | | | harbor ways is not only an eyesore, but a health |
| waste management regulations compared to the | | | | hazard. |
| United States. | | | | Well, you can just imagine Pat and me scaling this |
| I recently visited the island paradise of Bimini. Excited | | | | mountain of garbage and shells to find the perfect |
| by everything, from the warm crystal clear water to | | | | treasures to bring back home and share with our |
| the white sugar sand beaches, the Bahamas has so | | | | friends. At one point, one of the locals wandered |
| much to offer, not only to the tourist industry, but | | | | over and asked us what "two crazy white chicks |
| to the world in general as a pristine fishing ground. | | | | were doing on that pile of trash". We tried to explain, |
| Ernest Hemingway spent years fishing and writing in | | | | but I do not think he really understood. In fact, he |
| Bimini and, until a recent fire destroyed it, there was | | | | said that when he got back from whatever |
| a museum dedicated to the famous author called the | | | | important business he had scheduled, if we still |
| Compleat Angler. | | | | needed shells, he would help us out for a small fee! I |
| I wanted to bring some conch shells to friends back | | | | mean, you have to love that entrepreneurial attitude! |
| home. You know the ones, they are about ten to | | | | He left us with the warning to be careful, that you |
| twelve inches long, have the large fluted lip and the | | | | could get diseases from playing in the garbage like |
| opening is usually a glossy pink color. The kind of shell | | | | that. Well, I guess so! |
| you see natives blowing into. All very seaside chic! | | | | After that, I checked out the waste management |
| My friend Pat and I went looking for conch shells. We | | | | situation in Bimini. There is a landfill on South Bimini |
| had been told that there were mountains of the | | | | that gets burned every now and then, but for the |
| shells outside some of the restaurants that serve the | | | | most part, the carcasses of dead cars and trucks |
| delightful conch meat. The locals gather the live conch | | | | just rust away, the used oil and batteries get toted |
| and bring them back to sell. They are then cleaned | | | | back to Florida occasionally and the rest of the |
| and the shells are tossed right where they clean | | | | waste just hangs out and gets picked over by the |
| them. In other words, right between the restaurant | | | | birds and other animals. This is not a very healthy |
| and the water we found enormous piles of shells. In | | | | situation for people or our environment. |
| addition, other restaurant trash has collected there. I | | | | What is the answer to save their fragile island |
| do not know if the refuse has just floated up from | | | | environment? Perhaps these islands ought to consider |
| the sea or it is just easier to toss the garbage out | | | | a high heat thermal process to take care of their |
| the window. YIKES! | | | | waste management needs. |