Grenada’s Eco Parade is a party with a purpose: the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign in Grenada
- James Clark
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
The Grenadian leg of the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign was a masterclass in galvanising community action: a wonderfully colourful eco-parade and an educational waste drive made Grenada's contributions to the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign uniquely successful.
The eco-parade was a national news story, and took place at 12 p.m. on 7th April, in St. David’s Parish, marching from Corinth Junction, Syracuse to La Sagesse playing field. It was organised by Royal Commonwealth Society Regional Partner: the Caribbean Youth Environment Network Grenada (CYEN Grenada), in conjunction with the Olympic Committee Grenada, Commonwealth Sport and Grenada Solid Waste Management (GSWM). The parade featured hundreds of local school children in carnival outfits, waving signs made of upcycled plastic, dancing, and playing instruments.
Some influential figures closed the parade with speeches, such as the GSWM Communications Manager Mryna Julian, who congratulated St. David’s Parish on their dedication to reducing plastic pollution; UK High Commissioner to Grenada, Victor Clark, who spoke about the sustainability mission of the 2026 Glasgow Games; and local Youth Parliament Member Tariq Miller, who gave an impassioned address calling for continued action to protect the future for the young.
CYEN Grenada explained that the aim of the parade was to raise awareness of the impact of pollution while teaching the young how to mobilise their community in a fun and meaningful way. The parade was also a celebration of the conservation work carried out over the previous few weeks, such as the plastic waste collection drive.
CYEN Grenada and GSWM also delivered a plastic waste collection drive with eight local schools. Students learned about the harms of improper plastic disposal and were challenged to see how many plastic items they could recycle at school. The initiative prevented 2,340 pieces of plastic from entering Commonwealth waterways, with 1,528 of those being plastic bottles. Westerhall Secondary School deserves a special congratulations as they collected a huge 1,027 pieces of plastic and were awarded a $500 prize, intended to further increase the school’s recycling capacity.
CYEN Grenada was extremely proud of everyone on the island and, in particular, praised young leaders, saying they look forward to continued collaboration in creating a cleaner, greener Grenada.
