Cor Hameete – Carmabi Education
Dushi Kòrsou
Curaçao is a beautiful island, enjoyed by both residents and tourists alike. If you stand atop Christoffelberg and look around, you'll see just how green and expansive our nature truly is. We even have animals unique to our island, such as our Curaçao White-tailed Deer (Biná). Underwater, the beauty continues with vibrant coral reefs, swimming turtles, and colorful marine life—making snorkeling here an unforgettable experience.
It feels like it's always been this way, but the natural environment is constantly changing due to geological and evolutionary processes. Organisms continuously adapt to new circumstances, creating a new balance in our flora and fauna. However, the rapid environmental changes caused by humans in recent years don't give nature enough time to adapt, and this has serious consequences.
Sushi Korsou
The amount of plastic waste we produce and discard into the environment is staggering. Plastic is a paradox: its greatest advantage—strength and durability—is also its greatest disadvantage. We use it to create disposable packaging material, often used briefly yet lasting forever in nature.
Much of this plastic ends up as litter on land and eventually reaches our oceans. Although plastic never fully degrades, exposure to UV light and waves breaks it down into smaller fragments, eventually becoming microscopic microplastics. These tiny particles blend with our air, soil, food, and drinking water. Scientists find microplastics everywhere they look, from Antarctic sea ice to human brains, and we still have much to learn about their long-term impacts.
Efforts by initiatives like Clean Up Curaçao, Kunukuman, and countless volunteers help greatly by organizing clean-up actions. Events such as International Recycling Day on March 18 raise vital awareness of these issues.
Help, our reefs are drowning
Another type of waste—less visible but equally harmful—is our wastewater. Much of Curaçao's wastewater flows untreated into the sea, feeding algae growth. Algae thrive on these nutrients and can quickly smother coral reefs, causing them to suffocate and die. Coral reefs need clear, clean water to survive.
Curaçao currently has three wastewater treatment plants (Piscadera/Klein Hofje, Seru Lora, and near Hato at Tera Kòrá). Unfortunately, their capacity isn't enough. Most homes and businesses use septic tanks, and trucks empty these tanks daily, dumping around 300,000 liters of untreated sewage and other substances directly into the ocean at Shut. Additionally, sewage pipes discharge wastewater directly into the sea from neighborhoods like Brievengat and Pietermaai.
Compounding the problem, algae-eating marine species such as the parrotfish (Gutu) and Queen Conch (Karkó) are overfished, leaving algae unchecked. Coral reefs are resilient but face multiple other stressors, including heat stress, coastal development, erosion, and boat anchoring. Combined, these threats make survival challenging.
World Recycling Day
Today, on World Recycling Day, let's remember that recycling isn't limited to plastic alone. Properly treating wastewater allows us to safely recycle it back into our natural ecosystems, ensuring cleaner seas and healthier coral reefs.
That's true recycling in action!
World Recycling Day March 18