This is unfavorable for biotech companies to invest money.Pesticide-resistant crops provide to farmers high yields and give markets consistent healthy crops=money.

But they made it pesticide resistant! Now we have supper pests, and extra pesticide on our food. And our food makes it’s own poison.

During this past weekend, nearly 1,000 volunteers joined together to participate in Guam’s annual Costal Cleanup effort.

The effort was also joined by the members of the Micronesian Divers Association Treasure Hunt group, who took to the waters of Apra Harbor and brought back trash that people had thoughtlessly thrown into our oceans.

The coastal cleanup event has taken place for the past 19 years here in Guam, and during that time, literally hundreds of tons of trash has been collected, both on and around Guam.

During this year’s efforts alone, I would guess that somewhere close to 20 to 30 tons of trash were collected from our jungles, beaches and reefs.

It would seem that given we have spent this much time and effort each year, for 19 straight years, we would be putting a dent in the amount of trash that we see around our island roads, beaches and reefs. That is obviously not the case, given the vast amounts and types of trash that are collected each and every year.

Violators galore
Unfortunately, it is not hard to figure out why we have to continually run these cleanup efforts each year. It is because people who know better choose to continue to dump their trash and junk around the island in our jungles and along our beaches, with impunity.

In short, no one in law enforcement either has the time or inclination to ticket and arrest these flagrant violators, or for some reason they continue their blight unseen.

So, without ticketing there is little to no opportunity for prosecution of or penalties for these trash dumpers, and they obviously don’t care about the overall good of our island community.

It certainly isn’t that laws against this doesn’t exist or that there is a lack of ticket books. My guess is that, in the vast majority of cases, it revolves around people turning and looking the other way when these people dispose of their trash in other than a legal fashion.

In short, they either don’t pay for or have trash collection at their homes or they refuse to take their trash to the dump. For this group of people, it is less expensive and easier — at least in their minds — to simply throw their trash into the jungle or drop it by the beach in the hopes that either the jungle will overgrow and hide their dirty deed or the ocean will simply wash it away.

Kills reef, sea life
Sadly, when it comes to the beaches and the ocean, all it does it wash it out and beneath the surface, where the vast majority of the community can’t see it anymore.

The main problem with this approach is that it kills our reefs and sea life and, in so doing, begins a destructive cycle of death that is extremely difficult to reverse in a lifetime.

In our jungles, it is not like they are throwing away biodegradable products, either. Most of what is tossed into our jungles by these people is glass, plastic, aluminum or other non-biodegradable products. Thus, while it may be covered up by jungle growth in a short period of time, it will be there for tens to hundreds of years.

If your home was either the ocean or the jungle, you most certainly would not want to have someone swinging by your house to dump their trash in your living room, bedroom or kitchen.

Think about it for a moment. How long would you stand by and allow one of your neighbors or some complete stranger to stop by your home and deposit their trash there?

My guess is you be taking down their license number and calling the police to track them down and arrest them for illegal dumping, not to mention trespassing and destruction of private property.

Well, since we are all stake-holders in the overall health of our island community, it is our duty and responsibility to report anyone and everyone we catch illegally dumping their trash and waste products around Guam, whether they’re aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters or complete strangers.

Only we can clean up Guam and keep it that way, and it is certainly time we did so. Because if we don’t care, who will?

Esta.

Lee P. Webber is a former president and publisher of the Pacific Daily News, and has been a resident of Guam since 1968.