Deryck founded TAP to make TT a greener country. He tackles the rising plastic waste epidemic in three ways
a) terrestrial and marine cleanups
b) re-and upcycling
c) environmental literacy for school children.
To do so he hosts terrestrial cleanups, provides SeaBin technology for marine cleanups and educational purposes at schools and runs plastic awareness projects.
It is his goal to take 500 tonnes of plastic waste out of the environment in 2020 and have it recycled. The data collected from cleanups will help national and international organizations in large scale decision making.
Deryck has watched his country getting more and more covered in plastic waste, while waste management systems are unable to provide the needed service to clean up, keep the environment garbage-free and recycle.
– For marine cleanups TAP also partnered with The SeaBin Project, which provides SeaBin technology to automatically skim the water surface and collect trash.
-For educational purposes, schools have direct access to the SeaBins and marina staff to learn about environmental science and awareness as well as technology and its application for environmental purposes.
The data from both the terrestrial and the marine cleanups will be used to build a database, that can be used in national large scale decision-making processes and will be integrated into the Global Ambassador network.
The Ambiance Projects Achievements to date:
Hello all, short update and call for support from MEXICO! 🇲🇽 We have connected with so many amazing projects and people taking action for our
We have connected with Nchanji and Habitat Africa thanks to Deryck, founder of the Ambiance Project. Habitat Africa is an NGO, which advocates environmental protection,
We are teaming up with Priyanka Dhanie – Daughter of Ambiance Project Founder Deryck – to make some awesome content. Check out her awesome page
Reform Village Collection
School Education Programs
Tarouba Collection
Lbs Plastic & Waste Collected
Community Members Educated
Events & CleanUps
We will raise funds and provide networking support to The Ambaince Porject to help them raise awarness for what they are doing, find more support and activate community members, provide equipment to empower their clean ups and events, help with infrastucture and support to establish a local plastic waste management process.
Deryck has funded over $1,000 dollars of his own money to support his clean ups and education events.
$ 600 – Educational videos – plastic waste
$ 400 – Recruitment video
$ 1000 – Equipment for clean ups and events
$ 1000 – Materials, Gas, Other equipment
———————————
$3,000 – Total
$0 of $2,100
Updated May 22, 2020
Deryck Dhanie
51 years old
I am happily married and we have two daughters. One is a National Athlete, having represented Trinidad and Tobago for a number of years in Archery. She was the Junior and Senior Female Compound Archery Champion for several years. She recently took a break to complete her BSc in Sports Science. She also won three scholarships during the course of her degree and should complete it in December 2019. Our second daughter loves Air Rifles but was more inclined to study. She recently completed her CAPE studies with 8 1’s and has won a partial scholarship from Colorado State University. She should be beginning her studies in January 2020.
Our families, from my parents and uncles have always been close to the forests, wildlife and the environment. Several of my uncles and cousins have worked in the Forestry Division of Trinidad and Tobago. When we were younger, on Easter Monday we would all go to the forest for a family cook and explore the beauty around us. Now we are older, we are working to maintain that beauty. One of my cousins is actually The Minister of Agriculture, State Lands and Fisheries in Trinidad and Tobago and is working to provide greater protection for our forests and wildlife.
I am an entrepreneur, having worked in all spheres of business, but also close to agriculture, being an exporter of fresh produce for a number of years. I was the President of the Agricultural Exporters Assc of Trinidad and Tobago and served on the Boards of two agencies who worked in that sector.
Our beautiful country is seeing the effects of a lost generation who benefitted from the windfall of oil booms and became accustomed to the path of profligation. More emphasis was placed on the possession of consumer goods ushering us down the path of environmental detriment. Little thought is now given, by many, to the consequences of actions and their deleterious impacts on the environment. Furthermore, even fewer seem to understand the potential to influence quality of life.
https://twitter.com/Newsday_TT/status/1175777755579002881?s=20
The Ambiance Project (TAP), a non-governmental organisation, has decided to lead by example in the effort to clean Trinidad and Tobago and instill a greater sense of environmental literacy and responsibility within the general public. We have built a small core team of professionals who committed to resolution of the pollution problem and its root causes through the dual application of nationwide terrestrial and marine clean ups along with an environmental literacy and advocacy programme.
Terrestrial clean ups, inclusive of beach clean ups in coastal environments, aim to target vulnerable environments (such as wetlands) and vulnerable communities (such as rural areas plagued by the direct effects of pollution, as well as the indirect effects, like flooding.
Marine clean ups are done in partnerships with The SeaBin Project through the application of their SeaBin technology. Basically, the equipment skims the water surface, collecting debris and trash and returning the water to the source. The marine clean ups will be continuous in nature, with each site associated with a SeaBin (or SeaBins) which will need to be continually monitored by TAP staff.
Further to this, TAP aims to power all appropriate SeaBins with renewable energy (wind and solar combination) to push the venture even more towards environmental sustainability and conservation.
Similarly, the education initiative will target the public in two ways.
First, the terrestrial clean ups, particularly those that are community based, will be directly connected to public awareness and education event within that particular community. This is to first bring awareness of the pollution problem and its ability to generate other negative impacts, such as flooding, health concerns, pest proliferation and others. Furthermore, this is expected to aid in reducing the recurrence of pollution within the nation as a whole by allowing the public to understand that their ability to influence their environment and the ability of their environment to influence the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
Similarly, each of the SeaBins will be linked to a school within the area through a Global Ambassador Programme. This will allow students to have direct access to a SeaBin, working directly with TAP and marina staff to understanding, not only environmental science and awareness, but also environmental technology and its applications.
Finally, data from both terrestrial and marine clean ups will be used to build a national database which can be factored into the decision making process. Additionally, the data will be included in an international database as part of the Global Ambassador programme.
We have also been creating partnerships and linkages with other environmental organisations , such as the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL), the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) and the Carbon Zero Initiative of Trinidad & Tobago (CZITT) to name a few. Additionally, other stakeholder partnerships have also been formed where groups within a community have been found to have a vested interest in that particular area. Such associations include the Chaguaramas Development Authority, the Green Alliance and the SMCL Plastic Recycling Plant.
Alongside these agencies, The Ambiance Project will be rolling out a comprehensive plan in 2020 to have a definitive impact on the issue of garbage in Trinidad and Tobago, the first of a number of initiatives.
TAP has hosted 2 terrestrial clean ups:
In Reform Village where we collected approximately 600 pounds of garbage (35 bags), the majority of which was plastic or styrofoam based and
In Tarouba where we collected over 2200 pounds (1 tonne) of trash, the majority of which was plastic or styrofoam based.
We have also participated jointly in 3 other clean ups:
At the Chagville Beach in Carenage with the Lions Club and the TnT Environmental Chair
Within the Guayaguayare/Mayaro region with the President’s Award
At the Caroni (Bird Sanctuary) for International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) Day 2019 with the EMA and supported by the Coca Cola and bmobile.
TAP was incorporated in March,2019
The SeaBin Project https://seabinproject.com/ and
httpss://www.facebook.com/Seabinproject/
The Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) https://www.chaguaramas.com/
The Carbon Zero Initiative of Trinidad and Tobago
https://www.facebook.com/carbonzeroTT/
NIHERST : The National Institution of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology
(We have just begun discussing a collaboration with them, but it is very positive thus far
https://www.facebook.com/NIHERST/
TAP utilises several tools in pursuit of our mission:
The most effective tool is the inclusion of Trinidad and Tobago citizens in directly changing their environment via the clean ups. This allows them to enact a tangible and measurable change in environmental quality.
Furthermore, this also seems to spark the curiosity of members of the public, spurring them to ask questions, such as “ What are you doing? Why are you doing this?” These questions and engagements allow the citizens to better understand the cause and effect relationship that exists between humans and the environment, and similarly, the effect of the environment on humans.
TAP is also applying SeaBin technology, a new and innovative product that targets improving water (marine) quality through the removal of pollution in the form of debris, microplastics as well as oil and other hydrocarbons. Further to this, as already mentioned, TAP seeks to outfit all appropriate SeaBins with renewable energy, rather than relying on the electricity grid.
Our biggest goal is to increase the Environmental Literacy of our Nation. The Global Ambassador Programme along with our Outreach program will educate our schoolchildren and from here, encourage them to reach their peers, spreading the awareness of the impact of simply tossing your garbage out of the windows or into the rivers and streams.
We are also actually cleaning up Trinidad and Tobago by hosting regular land cleanups. We hope that as we continue working, we shall foster an appreciation for our Nation and the number of volunteers who wish to work with us will grow. Eventually in a couple of years, Trinidad and Tobago will return to the Ambiance of yesteryear and our citizenry will be proud once more to travel to our beaches and countryside and not see garbage strewn all over the ground or in our streams and rivers.
We hope to have more support for our cleanups, with a small team working more frequently, we can traverse the critical point where we have identified and being garbage strewn and then drill down to the lesser polluted areas. This will take about two years to work around the island with this team. All the garbage will be sent to the recycling facility and we have estimated that per annum, we can collect 500 tonnes of trash.
We also intend to look more closely as the possibility of renewable energy, recycling, composting and biogas. The Ambiance Project intends to make a change to the way we in Trinidad and Tobago Think about Garbage and its uses, Think about Renewable Energy and how to create and use it, Think about several aspects of the Green way of life and make it more attractive and feasible so more of our population can take up the challenge to change their lives.
We shall begin by installing our SeaBin, starting our Global Ambassador Programme, hosting fortnightly land cleanups with our Regional Corporations and also holding Outreach Programmes in schools. We shall be more active on the Social media platforms, also including articles and interviews in the digital and print media.
Our plan is to hold more land cleanups with a small responsible team who will work around the island, in sync with the authorities to ensure we do not simply transfer the garbage from one location to another, but it is sent to the recycling facilities.
The Pollution will be first reduced, then eliminated, through the application of recycling initiatives; repurposing of non-organic waste and the conversion of organic waste to energy. This reduces the waste being generated and the pollution already in existence.
The educational awareness campaign will change the public’s position on pollution by increasing the knowledge base with respect to causes of pollution, impacts of pollution and green technologies.
A lot of research will be done to define the exact path to the conversion of the waste to energy, however, our team has been considering numerous concepts and will make a decision in the near future.
Doing 2020, The Ambiance Project will announce an exciting opportunity for our schools and all working in the sphere of the Environment. It is too early at this point to speak more on it.
Waste processing and recycling technologies, such as tire recycling machines and biogas digestors are essential equipment in realizing this goal.
Training is required in technologies available for recycling, waste-repurposing and bio-energy technologies.
Financial support is of utmost importance to help see the start-up of these initiatives.
Support through the use of social, digital and print media for the social awareness required to educate not only school children, but also the communities and elders who are seen as leaders for others to follow.
Regional and International support sharing/accessing ideas and solutions to pollution is also imperative in achieving these objectives.
Trinidad and Tobago
$0 of $2,100
Updated May 22, 2020