What if waste could become a resource?
BERI began with a simple question: What if the materials we treat as waste could become resources for our islands?
With deep roots in Grand Bahama, co-founders Brittney Baldwin and Merilyn Ritchie have spent years watching the island they love grapple with litter, illegal dumping, marine debris, and the absence of consistent recycling infrastructure. Through countless beach and community cleanups, conversations, research, and brainstorming sessions, a shared concern gradually became a shared vision: we could do more than clean up waste. We could change what happens to it next.
BERI — the Bahamas Environmental Recycling Initiative — is a grassroots environmental organization working to develop practical recycling, resource-recovery, and environmental innovation solutions for The Bahamas, beginning in Grand Bahama.
Our approach is simple: recover what we can, reimagine what is possible, and put those resources back to work improving our islands.
OUR APPROACH
RECOVER
We’re working to divert valuable materials from landfills and fragile island ecosystems by developing practical systems for recovery, sorting, and reuse. We actively track total waste weights and photograph branded labels to trace incoming marine debris. As our initiatives and funding grow, we are expanding toward comprehensive material auditing for every item we process—building the data foundation needed to pinpoint pollution sources, support conservation research, and advocate for sustainable waste policies.
REIMAGINE
We believe environmental solutions can be innovative, creative, and community-driven. Through education, partnerships, and initiatives like FROM WASTE, WE CREATE!, we challenge our communities to see discarded materials differently — not simply as waste, but as resources with new possibilities.
RESTORE
Recovery is only part of the equation. Our goal is to transform recovered materials into resources that can serve our communities, strengthen our islands, and support healthier ecosystems. By keeping materials in circulation and reducing the pressure on our natural environment, we are working toward a more resilient and regenerative future for The Bahamas.
Waste doesn’t have to be the end of the story.
IMPACT AT A GLANCE
3,242+
LBS Debris & Waste Diverted
75+
Community Volunteers
4
Events & Workshops
100%
Clean-ups Photographed & Tracked
FROM GRAND BAHAMA, FOR THE BAHAMAS
BERI is beginning where we live.
Grand Bahama is an island shaped by both its relationship with the sea and its industrial economy. Like many island communities, we face significant challenges around waste management, limited to non-existent recycling infrastructure, and the ability to recover, process, and create useful resources from materials already on the island. Our coastal environment also makes us particularly vulnerable to the movement of litter and marine debris.
We are focused on building practical solutions from the ground up — solutions that reflect the realities of island communities, make use of the resources already around us, and can grow alongside the communities they serve.
Our long-term vision is to demonstrate what is possible on Grand Bahama, develop models that can be replicated, and help advance a more resilient approach to recycling and resource recovery throughout The Bahamas.
OUR STORY
Brittney and Merilyn have been close friends since childhood. Both grew up on Grand Bahama, built careers that took them to Florida and beyond, and remained a constant part of each other’s lives along the way. When they returned to the island, conversations about the state of the environment became increasingly difficult to ignore. Clean-ups revealed the scale of the problem firsthand. Research opened up possibilities. And the more they talked, the more they began asking a different question:
What if we stopped thinking of waste as something to simply get rid of?
What if glass could become a useful resource? What if organic waste could be put back to work? What if materials already sitting on our island could be recovered and transformed into something that benefits the island?
That thinking became BERI.
The organization’s first initiative, FROM WASTE, WE CREATE!, was established to bring that philosophy into the community — demonstrating how discarded materials can become the starting point for creativity, education, and action.
Today, BERI is working toward something bigger: building the systems that make recovery possible in the first place.
OUR FOUNDERS
BRITTNEY BALDWIN
Co-Founder & President
A lifelong Grand Bahamian with deep family roots in the island’s early development, Brittney brings more than 20 years of experience in marine tourism, business operations, leadership, and sustainable tourism.
Former marine life and fishing marketing manager for a multi-million dollar publishing house. She currently serves as President of Lucayan Adventure Tours and Bahama Eco Boats. Brittney is also the founder of Reel Gals Fishing, a platform dedicated to increasing women’s participation and presence in the sport fishing industry. She also serves as the Representative of the IGFA’s Passport to Fishing Program for Bahamian Jr. anglers.
Her career has been shaped by a lifelong connection to the marine environment and a commitment to Freeport, Grand Bahama. Through BERI, Brittney brings that experience into a new kind of environmental work — building practical systems that protect the places and communities that make the island worth preserving.
MERILYN RITCHIE
Co-Founder & Vice President
Merilyn grew up on Grand Bahama, spent more than a decade building her career in South Florida, and eventually returned home to an island she saw with new eyes. A marketing and communications professional, she has worked across advocacy, environmental and cultural initiatives, digital platforms, and community engagement, helping mission-driven organizations turn ideas into compelling stories, strategies, and action.
She is the owner of TheArtList, a global platform connecting visual artists and photographers with professional opportunities and reaching more than 60,000 subscribers. Her work has also included marketing and communications for Indigenous communities and organizations working at the intersection of environmental responsibility and sustainability.
Back on Grand Bahama, Merilyn’s lifelong connection to the natural world became intertwined with a growing concern about the waste accumulating across the island. Through BERI, she brings her experience in communications, creativity, and community-building to the challenge of creating practical solutions—and helping nurture a future rooted in greater care for our communities and Mother Earth.
WHY WE’RE BUILDING BERI
We don’t believe the answer to the waste problem is simply to clean up more.
Clean-ups matter. Education matters. Individual choices matter.
But lasting change requires systems.
BERI is working to build those systems — creating pathways for materials to be recovered, reused, recycled, and put back into circulation rather than buried in landfills or left to enter our natural environment.
We are starting small, working locally, and building with the long term in mind.
Because our islands deserve solutions that last.
BUILD WITH US
Creating lasting solutions takes a community. If you’re interested in partnering, supporting, volunteering, or learning more about BERI’s work, we invite you to connect with us.
Our Community Partners
We believe lasting environmental change happens through collaboration. BERI proudly partners with local organizations, environmental advocates, and community leaders across Grand Bahama to protect our coastlines and advance sustainable waste solutions.
