applauds Bermuda's KBB under the guidance of Lennox Boodram, executive director. She was impressed with our community efforts for a beautiful environment.

When I met Lennox Boodram at our annual International Coastal Cleanup conference in Washington (DC) last December, one of the first things he said to me was you have to come to Bermuda! It really didn't take much arm-twisting to convince me that a visit to Bermuda in March was in order. Lennox is one of our most successful International Coastal Cleanup, (ICC) coordinators and I knew I could learn a great deal from him about how to recruit communities to become more actively involved in fighting litter and pollution.

When I arrived in Bermuda, Lennox had a television interview lined up for me on the way home back from the airport! We literally hit the ground running,and we did not stop for a week.

Our busy schedule included visits to several schools, meetings with Government Ministers and other Ministry officials, attending and speaking at KBB's annual general meeting, giving numerous press interviews, and many delightful informal meetings with KBB supporters and members.

One of the highlights of my week was being invited to give the key-note address at KBB's annual general meeting where I had the opportunity to meet KBB Board members, supporters, the award-winning community and school groups, and several of the staff at the aquarium where the event was held.

Throughout my stay, the thing that struck me the most about Keep Bermuda Beautiful's work is their message that the environment is something that everyone can get excited about.

School children, church groups, community groups, and individuals alike - everyone here can relate to the need to protect their surroundings when living so close to such an abundance of natural beauty.

In Bermuda the environment is a feast for the senses. With brilliantly coloured flowers, the bluest seas, and its beautiful beaches, in Bermuda the environment is all around you and ever present, reminding you constantly of its uniqueness.

There is so much in Bermuda to protect and KBB is the group that everyone looks toward to carry out this mission.

There is a danger though in being as successful as KBB has been. With several litter cleanups scheduled for just about every weekend, Lennox explained to me his concern that cleanups, rather than litter prevention, are seen by many to be the solution.

He would like to change that focus to one of changing people's behaviour patterns, working toward the day when cleanups are no longer necessary. His concerns resonated with me, as this is something that I also struggle with in my work at the Centre for Marine Conservation.

As organisers of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) - the planet's largest volunteer effort on behalf of the marine environment - the challenge in not so much in getting volunteers out to clean beaches, but in reaching people who need to hear it the most with a convincing message to take personal responsibility for the waste that they generate.

Our emphasis with ICC promotion over the past several years has been to help people make the connection between trash found on a beach and trash discarded farther inland.

One of our ad campaigns for the ICC began with this heading you may not head for the beach everyday, but your trash does,pointing out that if you drop a cup, can, or cigarette near a storm drain or waterway it will be carried out to sea and eventually wash back to shore.

KBB has found that much of the trash found during cleanups along Bermuda's coastlines is coming from inland parks and roadsides, which tend to make one think the culprits are Bermudians themselves.

However, added to this problem is the incredible influx of tourists to Bermuda who often thoughtlessly leave their trash behind on beaches and roadsides.

Through KBB's Adopt-A-Park programmes, the RockWatcher groups are setting an important standard for visitors. Roadside signs proclaiming a group's adoption of a park makes an important statement to visitors that Bermuda is not to be trashed.

Through successful education programmes people's attitudes about personal responsibility often change, and along with that shift in attitude comes a change in behaviour. This is of particular importance in the U.S. where more than half of our population lives within 50 miles of the coast yet, according to a recent survey, only 14% of Americans recognise that their individual actions are causing ocean pollution.

KBB is making important inroads in Bermuda in changing people's attitudes about littering and I learned a great deal about how and why this is happening by watching Lennox at work.

The tools and tactics that he employs are ones of persuasion, teamwork, and instilling a strong sense of stewardship for the overall environment, but also for specific environments.

With the philosophy that we will take care of that which we love, he tailors projects to encourage people to take responsibility for the care of a particular environment that they enjoy. One example is the RockWatchers Programme mentioned above where members adopt and take care of a favourite park or piece of the Rock.

Likewise, with school children he encourages teachers and students to work together to create programmes to protect their environment - their school and school grounds.

All of KBB's programmes are cantered on the theme of taking personal responsibility for the environment. One programme that was of particular interest to me was created by students and teachers at Elliot Primary School.

Their Litterless Lunch programme is one that I have promoted, since returning home, whenever I find myself talking with teaches and educators. In this innovative programme, students carry their lunch items in reusable containers, instead of throwaway, in an effort to have the perfect lunch - a lunch that leaves no waste behind.

Classrooms compete against each other for prizes or privileges to have the lowest volume of trash generated at lunchtime. In this effort students are not the only one's learning life-long earth friendly habits, their parents are as well! Of particular interest to me in my work at CMC it the problem of pollution generated by the cruise industry. We have had some landmark cases in the past 6-8 years that have resulted in heavy fines being assessed to this industry for infractions of garbage dumping at sea, oily waste and hazardous chemical disposal at sea and in port and, most recently, the issue of releasing untreated sewage.

I was particularly interested in meeting with officials from the Ministry of Transport to learn of Bermuda's landmark decision to restrict the size of cruise vessels coming to your shores.

The new mega-ships being built by the industry, which can hold 5-6,000 passengers and crew, are of particular concern to CMC because the environmental impacts of these ships have not been fully studied. Given that the cruise industry is almost completely unregulated, Bermuda's decision to turn down proposals for a mega-pier to accommodate huge cruise vessels was music to my ears.

I learned a great deal in talking with Mr. Larry Jacobs of Transport about Bermuda's history with, and regulations regarding, the cruise industry. The rest of the Caribbean would do well to study your successes here.

I would particularly like to thank several people for making my stay on Bermuda a memorable one.

Many thanks to Mr. Alex Scott and Mr. Arthur Hodgson for making the time to meet with me. And Mr. Allan Hunt who gave me a wonderful tour of the Bermuda Biological Station and other areas of interest on Bermuda, and a very special thanks to Jane and Kathryn Brett who graciously opened their home to me and introduced me to St.George's and several particularly beautiful spots on the eastern end of the island.

I also need to thank Maria and Marissa Boodram who but up with a very hectic week that translated into very little time at home for Lennox! I hope to be able to return to Bermuda at some point in the near future, and when I do I know I will find it as beautiful as I found it in March - in large part because people such as yourselves treasure what they have and recognise it's uniqueness.

Best wishes and good luck in all of your efforts to keep Bermuda (stunningly) beautiful.

Emily Morgan, Director, Citizen Outreach & Monitoring Centre for Marine Conservation Seeing an old bed on a walking trail does not impress visitors.