admin – Esirom Foundation

Reggae Sumfest’s Climate Change Initiative Garners Silver ADDY Award

admin — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 22:08:45 +0000

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The issue of climate change has always been close to the heart of Downsound Entertainment’s Chief Executive Officer Josef Bogdanovich, producers of Reggae Sumfest.

The latter was the reason why, in 2019, he and the Reggae Sumfest team embarked on a mission to bring about positive change through their sustainability initiative.

Declaring the annual festival as one that is ‘going green’, the team has consistently engaged in a number of activities- including an annual beach cleanup in Montego Bay, St James – which has yielded impressive results since its inception. Still, the Sumfest team said they were not expecting to win any awards for a project they deemed necessary. So, when it was announced that they would receive this year’s Silver award from The American Advertising Awards (ADDY Award), the team acknowledged that the accolade was the “icing on the cake.”

In addressing the award, Bogdanovich emphasised that it serves not only as recognition of their efforts but also as a reminder of the profound impact individuals can have on preserving life.

“This is another small step to uplift one’s consciousness beyond oneself. The fact that this effort was recognised demonstrates that we as individuals can make a difference in the preservation of life,” he stated.

Speaking on the societal impact of the campaign, Bogdanovich remarked: “This project is a first step to elevating oneself into paying more attention to the climate and our effect upon it. When one becomes more responsible as a person and as an individual, who knows how far one can grow as an individual, as a family, as a community and as a nation.”

He added; “There is a certain feeling that is enjoyed by the collective that we are doing something together that is worthwhile, and it’s especially good when you are among fellow workers and associates.”

Expressing her surprise at the award win, Karla Jankee, Head of Marketing at Downsound Entertainment/Reggae Sumfest, emphasised that, much like Bogdanovich, she sees the award as a testament to the team’s unwavering dedication and consistent efforts since 2019.

“This came as quite a surprise. I wasn’t even aware that our partners at Esirom had nominated us. We’ve been pouring our hearts into our sustainability campaign since 2019 because addressing climate change is a top priority for us at Reggae Sumfest,” she explained. “This year, we were very deliberate about how we wanted to present our initiatives, so we entrusted Esirom with crafting the social media campaign, and they exceeded our expectations. We’re incredibly proud of their work and ours, especially considering it was all organic. This campaign was one of the few where we didn’t allocate any funds for advertising, and that’s what makes this award even more meaningful.”

Alex Morrissey, Director at Esirom, expressed his delight in collaborating with Reggae Sumfest. He emphasised that the victory was the result of a collective team effort, and he couldn’t be prouder of the achievement.

“We were thrilled to partner with Reggae Sumfest, the Caribbean’s largest reggae festival attracting over 20,000 patrons annually, to execute our sustainability campaigns. Their dedication to environmental responsibility and massive reach perfectly aligned with Esirom Foundation’s values. Having collaborated with them on previous sustainability initiatives, we were confident that this partnership would amplify our message and create a significant impact,” Morrissey stated.

He added: “This ADDY Award feels different. Sure, we’ve been fortunate enough to win awards before, but this one, for a campaign that trumpets sustainability in Jamaica… it hits home. You see, Jamaica, like many places, grapples with basic environmental practices. Winning for a campaign tackling that head-on? It’s an incredible validation of our mission, a fuel to our passion. It’s not just about the trophy, it’s about the message reaching those who need it most. This award is a powerful push to keep fighting, keep amplifying, and hopefully, inspire other events to follow suit. Because let’s be honest, a cleaner, greener Jamaica, a more sustainable Caribbean—that’s an award worth winning every single day.”

With a highly successful 2023 campaign under their belt, the Reggae Sumfest team, gearing up to host another edition of the event this summer, has already initiated plans for the 2024 campaign.

According to Leeann Dunkley, Coordinator of Sustainability at Downsound Entertainment/Reggae Sumfest, in addition to the annual beach cleanup, we are looking to expand the initiative city-wide.

“We envision hosting a ‘sustainability clean-up day’ that extends beyond Catherine Hall Beach to various areas of Montego Bay, including the hotel strips,” she elaborated. “We aim to engage our hotel partners, who are enthusiastic about joining us to amplify our impact. Expansion has always been part of our vision for this project, as Joe mentioned; it holds great significance for us. Making a difference is our shared goal.”

Dunkley also disclosed that, alongside expanding the city-wide cleanup effort this year, Reggae Sumfest aims to engage children in an educational capacity. She stressed that addressing issues like recycling from the grassroots level could be pivotal for achieving long-term change.

“We aim to visit schools and educate children about the significance of recycling to address certain issues proactively. A significant reason behind the recycling challenges we face stems from insufficient early involvement. We’re determined to shift that paradigm,” she emphasized. “Furthermore, we aspire to assist schools in establishing green spaces in collaboration with our partners at H&L. It’s set to be an enriching educational voyage. Stay tuned for updates on the exciting initiatives we have in store.”

Read More: Jamaica Observer

US Embassy grants J$37m in funding for youth development, human rights, environment

admin — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 22:03:14 +0000

The United States (US) Embassy, Jamaica has issued grants of more than J$37 million to seven local non-governmental organisations, aimed at positively impacting lives and communities.

The grants were issued to support programmes in the areas of youth development, human rights, and environmental protection. The awardees are Children First Agency, Esirom Foundation, KAHLE Journey, The Humpty Dumpty Institute, Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT), Jamaicans for Justice, and the UWI Discovery Bay Marine Lab.

US Ambassador N. Nick Perry officially presented the grants to the awardees during a handover ceremony, held at the US Embassy in Kingston.

The ambassador congratulated each of them on their achievements and went further to encourage the representatives to “positively impact the lives of Jamaicans through providing opportunities for growth and transformation”.

Representatives from the respective beneficiaries also used the opportunity to share details on their individual projects and their anticipated outcomes with the ambassador.

Perry was joined by the embassy’s public affairs officer, Mike Lavallee, and other embassy officials, who celebrated with the awardees.

The US Embassy’s Small Grants Program forms part of the US government’s effort to support activities that address the climate crisis, promote youth empowerment, strengthen democracy and human rights, stimulate trade and development, and uphold the rule of law.

Esirom Foundation honoured for excellence in public service advertising

admin — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 18:38:40 +0000

Esirom Foundation Limited is a recipient of the Gold Award for the Kingston Harbour Eco-Restoration Initiative and a Silver award for Reggae Sumfest Sustainability for their exemplary public service work during the 7th Annual American Advertising Federation District 4 Angel Awards ceremony.

Conducted by the American Advertising Federation District 4, the Angel Award Competition honors the very best in public service advertising by honoring campaigns that demonstrate exceptional results and execution.

The foundation received the Gold Award in the organisation/cause campaign category and the Silver Award in the social media category.

Mike Weber, founder and chair of the Angel Awards competition, shared that it is inspiring to see the causes and organisations that are serving communities.

“Creating effective advertising for them is a challenge. Unlike selling a product, the advertising needs to elicit an emotional response. The Angel award recipients this year demonstrate that,” said Weber.

For her part, Stephanie Herndon, governor of AAF District 4, said she was immensely proud to witness the high-quality advertising created for charitable causes across Florida and the Caribbean.

“It is an honour to recognize and celebrate the agencies crafting stellar campaigns that shine a light on these impactful service initiatives. The event always leaves attendees with teary eyes and a full heart,” said Henderson.

The awards represent two missions of the organisation: to utilise industry expertise to address community issues, and to celebrate and honour advertising excellence.

Entrants consisted of a variety of advertising service providers, public service organisations, and special-interest causes and groups located in Florida and the Caribbean.

Read more on OurToday

Esirom Foundation Takes the Lead in Environmental Protection Initiatives

admin — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 12:32:00 +0000

Answering the call for more active participation in the fight against climate change, the Esirom Foundation is making waves in environmental protection, sustainable consumption, and urban planning.

Founded in December 2022, the foundation, which is the charitable arm of Esirom, the marketing house led by Alex Morrissey, has aimed to continue the small-scale environmental outreach that had long been a part of their mandate.

Explaining how the foundation began, Sustainability Manager Khalia Hall told Good Heart, “The director of the company, he is very passionate about all things environment-related, and so was I before I started working at Esirom. We kind of both partnered up on this mission because climate change is a pressing issue. It’s a term we feel flies over people’s heads sometimes because it’s nothing new. You hear about it in the news, it sounds so dire but you wake up the next morning and, from the looks of it, and from your day-to-day life, it seems as if things aren’t changing. It’s a bias we have as humans that, if something isn’t eminent, in terms of causing danger to us, we don’t act. Earth is our one home and, without it, nothing else really matters. And Jamaica, as a small island developing state or a Caribbean island, we are going to be one of the first countries to feel climate effects.”

Though crowned Miss Jamaica World 2021, Hall has always been passionate about protecting our global home.

“Before Miss Jamaica, I had a plant-based food business and the motivation behind that was climate change. So I changed my diet and felt this urge to come back to Jamaica and influence the way Jamaicans eat because animal agriculture is a huge contributor to carbon emissions.”

She continued, “I was already passionate about that. So this came from a simple endorsement video and it transformed into what is now the Esirom Foundation.”

Now, with Morrissey at the helm, alongside Hall, the sustainability coordinator, Samantha Channer, and their volunteers in Rockfort, St Andrew, led by Densek Edwards, affectionately known as Trevor, the foundation is actively implementing multiple projects to both protect and rebuild our largest shared habitat.

Drawing inspiration from the creative marketing arm of the parent company, the Esirom team is equally enthusiastic about extending its outreach through online channels.

“We always try to capture something, Hall explained. “The reason we push content so much is really for education purposes. So it’s a really important pillar in our work. We have three main areas, environmental protection, sustainable consumption and urban planning, but, at the core of them all is public awareness and education. It’s intertwined into everything because, if people don’t know, how will they change? If people don’t know about possibilities, you know, how can they come up with new ideas and be inspired?”

She continued, “Our mission statement, I would say, is addressing environmental issues comprehensively to ensure that we create solution-driven impact while generating opportunities around sustainable development in Jamaica. All in all, we are addressing a global problem but we’re taking local action because Jamaica is our home.”

With less than a year under their belt, she mentions that, next year, they will not only persist in their palliative work such as beach clean-ups and wellness initiatives, but will also delve deeper into urban planning and sustainable consumption. Initiatives like their ‘Bring Yuh Owna Tings’ campaign, the ‘Grow Your Own Food’ campaign, and a composting project will be focal points of their efforts.

“Generally, not speaking on projects next year, we plan on having more direct impact on people and working directly with people. We’ve been working a lot behind the scenes and, even with our clean-ups, it’s our very small team but we want to include the public in our projects as well as interact directly with Jamaicans to make our impact felt stronger,” she said.

Read More: Jamaica Gleaner

By: shanel.lemmie@gleanerjm.com

Esirom Foundation and NSWMA Join Forces for International Coastal Cleanup Day Initiatives

admin — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:21:55 +0000

National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) Executive Director, Audley Gordon (left), assists environmentalist and fisherman, Densel Edwards, to remove debris which accumulated along a section of the east Kingston coastline, on Saturday (September 16). The exercise formed part of activities for International Coastal Cleanup Day, which is observed annually on the third Saturday in September. Looking on is Kimone Evans of the Esirom Foundation which partnered with the NSWMA to undertake the cleanup.

Read more on JIS News

Salada and ESIROM Foundation gifts Jebb Memorial School Eco-Friendly Bowling Alley

admin — Mon, 15 May 2023 00:13:53 +0000

Corporate partners, Salada Foods and ESIROM Limited boosted the playtime and extra-curricular activities at the Jebb Memorial Basic School located on Spanish Town Road with the recent donation of an eco-friendly bowling alley.

School Principal, Leonie Salmon Wong-Sue said the students and teachers welcome the eco-friendly bowling alley and were anxious to get the games on a roll.

“From Monday, the children were peeping through the window curious to see what the main structure was. I don’t think many of our children (who are from the community) are exposed to playing outdoors, especially traditional games when they are home. Now we have the bowling alley and hopscotch too. They were initially happy coming outside to have a look at it and more so to play the games,” she remarked.

Made from recycled materials, primarily plastic bottles for the bowling pins, an old pipe ‘up-cycled’ to make the gutter and plyboard forming the land and the overall structure, the bowling alley was a large structure, adjusted to fit into the play area at the school.

Salada Foods has been working with administrators at The Jebb Memorial Basic School to improve infrastructure and welfare at the institution. The early childhood institution currently has 69 children enrolled and four teachers, inclusive of the principal who also teaches.

“The partnership with Salada goes way back before I even arrived here in 1999, and since then they have done so much. They love the students very much and want to see the school up and the doors open so we can continue to have the little ones come in so we can educate them. Everyone loves the gift, it was a creative way to get their attention and get them listening and the token shows Salada was also listening. I know the children will be asking often when they can go out to bowl and this is also a medium for us to teach colours and help them with their fine and gross motor skills, through an experience they will love,” Wong-Sue stated.

The installation of the bowling alley was completed on Monday, May 8, and then officially opened to the students and teachers on Tuesday, May 9 as part of the school’s Read Across Jamaica Day activities which also saw Tamii Brown, Salada Foods General Manager, reading to and engaging with the little ones.

The bowling alley was originally constructed by Denzel ‘Trevor’ Edwards, a professional fisherman, who is passionate about environmental sustainability and plastic waste management, for ESIROM’s 2023 Earth Hour Concert on March 25.

Salada was delighted to know that the team was able to find a way to repurpose the bowling alley, and according to the manufacturing head the change was appropriate befitting for the desired outcome of making the bowling alley “an edutainment tool.”

Brown remarked, “It was heartwarming to see how excited the children were to receive the bowling alley and have visitors to share with them on the occasion. Children need these types of engagements in order to function and enhance their learning capacities and all the better, that it can be done in the eco-friendly space that Salada Foods and our friends at ESIROM have partnered to create. Repurposing the alley was ingenious; and we wanted to build on immersive learning activities with a game such as bowling, that requires critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication amongst the children, all while empowering their educators.”

In her efforts to find sustainable projects and ways to educate youth on their responsibility to the environment, Khalia Hall, Sustainability Coordinator at ESIROM Limited, discovered that games could not only attract the needed attention at the concert but help to raise awareness.

“In trying to host the event more sustainably, one of the things we included was the ‘Planet Play’ section and we were happy to have Salada on board to sponsor one of the games. After we saw the impact it made, we never wanted it to go to waste and they told us about Jebb Memorial Basic School and we thought it was a perfect solution to the situation,” Hall said.

She continued, “Something I always say is, a big solution to environmental issues is to raise awareness and to educate; and thinking back to when I was a student in school, I never learnt about it. Now, they’re learning it from a young age and to have a symbolic game that is not only fun but entertaining and educational, they see something like plastic bottles being put to use rather than thrown in the trash. My heart was also warmed from setup to finish, I was expecting the excitement but never expected it to this level, I’m at a loss for words.”

Read more on Loop Jamaica

Deplorable trash conditions at Kingston Harbour

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 12:23:00 +0000

#JamaicaISee was designed to highlight the beauty of the island, recorded by Jamaicans. But, if some Jamaicans only see grime, what else would they highlight other than grime?

Loop Lifestyle thought it necessary to shed some light on the working conditions of this fisherman, Densel “Trevor” Edwards, who goes out daily to catch fish, but ends up catching trash and plastic bottles, more often than not.

Edwards was discovered by the ESIROM Foundation, which recently kicked off a new phase of its plastic-free educational campaign. They have created a four-part series recently that has been wading through the social media spheres.

The first episode, which was recorded on Kingston Harbour, focuses on highlighting the effects of trash disposal during the December to January entertainment season.

In other videos, Edwards, a fisherman and environmentalist, parted piles of garbage in his path as he steered through and highlighted some contributing factors of the problem.

Lost flags, plastic bottles, Styrofoam containers or utensils, are but a few of the noticeable items in the pile.

Wrapping paper, bales – you heard right – bales of fabric used to decorate parties and events that are, according to Edwards – is “stifling the mangrove”, as he put it; the issue is primarily derived from human disposal.

The trash issue also affects the time for travelling the seas as the average trip takes between two and four hours.

And, the issue is not just a floating mass of garbage in the ocean, but, according to a statement from ESIROM, the garbage also affects the ecosystem, something that Edwards addresses in an upcoming fourth episode.

The interest in exploring Kingston Harbour began when members of the ESIROM Foundation noticed a layer of debris and plastic bottles floating on the harbour.

It spread far and wide, further than our eyes could see. We decided from then that this was an issue we had to tackle through the ESIROM Foundation.

This took place in September 2022. A couple of weeks later, the ESIROM team returned to find “Trevor”, who offered to take them out to sea for a closer look at the polluted areas.

Edwards, who also paints and builds boats, invited the team of three onto his boat for a four-hour tour around the harbour, where they saw discarded refrigerators, car seats, mattresses, fabrics, the plastic of every form (snack wrappers, plastic bottles, pieces of equipment etc.)

The pollution is not only affecting the ecosystem and all the life it holds, but also the livelihood of the fishermen in the area, and as a small island developing state (SIDS), Jamaica is vulnerable to the long-or-short-term effects of climate change.

Cleaning up the harbour is not tackling the problem at the root, unfortunately. There have been countless reports from other organisations that immediately after clean-ups, the area returns to a polluted state.

The ESIROM team are making plans to address the issue upstream. The team is conducting meetings with “Trevor” to fund and execute a project this year that would support regular cleaning of the harbour.

Read from source: Loop News

“Embrace Eco-Friendly Sips: Jamaican Cafes Encourage ‘Bring Your Own Cup’ to Enjoy December Discounts”

admin — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 23:58:00 +0000

With a plastic-free Christmas being the aim this year, ESIROM Foundation will support the cause with the launch of a first-time initiative dubbed #BYO Cup with a selection of impressive cafes across Jamaica.

BYO (Bring Your Own) Cup is the company’s sustainable initiative for this year’s 2022 Christmas.

The idea stemmed from the foundation’s main aim of generating opportunities around sustainable development and an overall aim to push less plastic usage and encourage more resealable containers.

“The act of having a reusable cup started growing over the last two years and so this is a great way of continuing it while also effectively reducing our plastic usage,” said ESIROM’s newly appointed sustainability coordinator, Khalia Hall.

“The initiative officially kicks off on December 1st and will last for an entire month.”

HOW DOES BYO CUP WORK?

Customers who purchase from the list of participating restaurants will get a 10 per cent discount off each beverage purchase, once they’ve brought their own (reusable) cup.

The confirmed cafes participating so far are:
Cannonball Cafe
Lemongrass Tea Room
Cafe Dolce
Raggamuffin Coffee Bar
JACANA Cafe
Starbucks
Cafe Blue
Rituals Coffee House

Commenting on the partnership, Raggamuffin’s Andrew Nam said: “We want to help build awareness in Jamaica about the harm of single-use plastic waste, and how it damages our beautiful island. We strongly value sustainability and so will support this BYO Cup initiative until we as a country can eliminate our usage of single-use plastics.”

Also joining the listing is the Hope Road location, Lemongrass Tea Room.

“We’re very happy to participate in this programme as we have a responsibility as a business to encourage our customers to reduce their consumption of single-use plastic and paper cups, especially seeing that the food and beverage industry contributes so much to the issue” said Lemongrass’s Warren Barrett.

We love that we can help bring awareness to our customers on the importance of preserving our planet and so this means a lot to the Cafe Dolce team as we believe in helping to save the environment and we can help do our part one cup at a time. - Cafe Dolce’s Lisa Chin

Cafe Dolce’s Lisa Chin noted that Bring Your Own Cup means a lot to the cafe team as they’ve always believed in helping the environment.

For those who need a reusable cup, a few of the listed cafes also have a collection of cups that can be purchased.

The initiative is also endorsed by Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica!

Source: Our Today