Grand Bahama has a new creative movement and it is being built out of reclaimed materials, community pride, and the kind of energy that only young people can bring to a problem the rest of us have learned to overlook.
From Waste, We Create is a student eco-art competition currently open to Grand Bahama students, challenging them to transform discarded materials into original works of art centered on this year’s theme: Bahamian Pride. The land, the sea, the culture, all of it fair game, all of it rendered in what most people would have thrown away. Entry is completely free, and sponsors including the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Xquisite, and Lucayan Adventure Tours are providing hot glue gun kits to students who need them, making sure participation is accessible to everyone. Submissions close June 1st, followed by a public exhibition and award ceremony.
Running alongside it is the Grand Bahama School Clean-Up Challenge, where schools organize their own clean-ups on campus, in their neighborhoods, or on the beach, document what they collect, and compete for a $1,000 donation to their Eco Club, Art, or Science department.
Both initiatives sit under a larger vision: BERI, the Bahamas Environmental Recycling Initiative, a grassroots program working to build real waste recovery systems for Grand Bahama long term. Their Bahama Bucket Project is next, beach bucket stations that let residents and visitors collect litter during their beach day, return the bucket, and keep the cycle going.
