On January 1 2017 single-use plastic bags were officially banned from Aruba.
The law proposal to legally prohibit single-use plastic bags in Aruba was approved by the Parliament of Aruba on June 28, 2016, after 4 years of efforts by the local, Juliet Carvalhal, who started the initiative ‘Plastic Bag Ban Aruba – Mi Tas ta Reusable‘ back in 2013.
Together with numerous private sector partners, Juliet Carvalhal, has established the Impact Blue foundation to promote corporate social responsibility and responsible consumerism for Aruba and Dutch Kingdom.
‘Mi Tas ta Reusable‘ can be translated from the second official language of the Aruban people, called Papiamento, to English as: ‘My Bag is Reusable’. Dutch is the country of Aruba’s first official language as the island is a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
On June 26, 2018, almost exactly two years after the initiative law was passed, Impact Blue foundation was established officially at a notary signing, as stated on a post of the same-named Facebook Page.
Some of the private sector businesses that are a part of the Impact Blue foundation include, but are not limited to: Total Finance, Arubabank, ASD Aruba, and Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort Aruba.
Impact Blue‘s mission statement, as stated on their self-titled Facebook Page, states the following: “To pro-actively develop and promote environmentally-friendly practices for the private sector through a holistic and collaborative approach. Tools include: research, legal framework development, stakeholder mediation, creative communication tool development, marketing and more…”
For more information on Impact Blue and Aruba’s ‘Single-use Plastic Bag Ban’ you can contact Juliet Carvalhal at info@impact-blue.org
