The Three Monkeys Project

The Three Monkeys Project is an initiative designed to significantly reduce the problem of plastic waste in our islands, by creating an effective marketing campaign using art and expressionism as the key to empowering and galvanizing our youth. Around the world young adults are coming together to protest the ineffectiveness of Government and private enterprise in this battle, but less so in our region; perhaps because the very faces that represent these movements are not relatable to our youngsters. By discovering, developing and featuring young environmentalist leaders in our communities, and then providing them with a nationwide platform where they can air their grievances and demonstrate the work they are currently involved in; we can engineer nationwide buy-in and solve the issues at hand. Further to this we must make the one decision needed to reel in the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America: monetize plastic waste.

When it comes to plastics the problems are glaringly obvious: we fail to see or recognize the issues; we constantly hear what needs to be done, but don't pay attention; and we certainly don't speak up nor act until it's too late. As it stands, the Caribbean leads the way in contributing to what can potentially be man's downfall. Of the top thirty global polluters per capita, ten are from the Caribbean region: Trinidad & Tobago, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis, Guyana, Barbados, St. Lucia, Bahamas, Grenada, Anguilla and Aruba; and every year, these ten island nations generate more plastic debris than the weight of 20,000 space shuttles. This clearly affects everyone. There are hundreds of solutions proposed -- from energy conservation to recycling, but the key contributing factors remain in the way our business enterprise is structured. Plastics equal money! Why give up the production of something that continues to generate profit. We are told to drink eight bottles of water per day to remain healthy. Every event we go to serves drinks in plastic cups and straws out of convenience. Soft drinks are a billion-dollar business. And who's driving this profit? Our youth.

The Three Monkeys Project is an initiative designed to target and serve our youth, so ultimately, we are speaking of roughly 450,556 young people between the age of 12 to 29.

In the capital of Port of Spain and our main hub of San Fernando, two inches of rain results in extensive flooding and millions of dollars in private and public property damage. Lots of these problems are a result of poorly kept drains and sewer systems that are packed with trash and waste made up mainly of plastics. Therefore the solution is two-fold: (a) find ways to clean our existing gutters through manual or mechanical related devices and (b) address the problem directly by getting people to subscribe to disposing of their waste properly, or simply stop purchasing plastics all together.  By using powerful imagery, videos and other means of driving the serious nature of our ill effects to our community, and how it affects each one of us personally, will we be able to turn this disastrous situation around.

Over a period of a year there are multiple strategies being implemented by the Three Monkeys Project in order to deal with this climate crisis in Trinidad & Tobago:

1. We are currently on course to visit more than 70 out of a 120 secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago, with a built in agenda to inform and educate our youth audience. This has already resulted in an Instagram following of 2,000 followers with a goal to surpass 10,000 before the end of the month.To stage the very 1st Youth Climate Summit and Launch on January 30th, 2020 at Queen's Hall, Trinidad.
2. To produce a mini-documentary series for Netflix titled "The Sands of Time", on the current climate crisis in the Caribbean & Latin America, directed by award winning director, Julien Lutz (aka Director X).
3. To stage a series of inter-school challenges which rewards students with points for being better at cleaning up their communities.
4. To build the first shark tank and lab, affiliated with influential departments at the University of the West Indies and tied to a major non-profit in the United States, to help distribute and pitch new innovations and ideas to a global marketplace.
5. To engineer this effort effectively, especially when it comes down to fundraising methods, we are buulding an app and website that will be revealed to the public on January 30th, 2020. One can actually go to our homepage: www.threemonkeysproject.com  and register to attend the launch.

There are no quick fixes here. No short cuts. No magical inventions that will solve the plastic waste crisis.

The solution comes down to dollars and cents. If plastics were too expensive to produce or cost the consumer far too much, we would be using something else. The resolve is to either: find an alternative product to replace plastics or ban plastics. There is one other way: make plastic waste a precious commodity. Over the next several months our goal is to sit down with various plastic manufacturers in the water and soft drink industries, and to produce a specialized bottle that can be returned for a monetary reward. If everyone in our community can start seeing a value to an empty bottle, beyond saving their own lives, perhaps we can get everyone from the street beggar to the working-class citizen to finally put an end to this problem.

French artist Edgar Degas once said, "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." The Three Monkeys Project will work with many artists based locally, regionally and internationally to deliver messages across multiple platforms (social media and otherwise) on how to change our habits in regards to rethinking plastics and coming up with worthwhile solutions. This campaign employs technology in the form of an app and website, which may not be new as pertains to current methods being employed, but our approach of using our youth to engineer change and working with existing companies to monetize the very problem that plagues us, is indeed the thinking we need to drive communities to making a substantial mind-set change and difference.

Do you know the value of a glass bottle? People in my country do. Even the most inebriated individual may refuse to smash a glass beer bottle, as they understand the value it possesses. Try finding a glass bottle in a garbage area around a popular national park, like the Queen's Park Savannah located mere minutes away from the central capital of Port of Spain. More than likely a vagrant has already collected it, with the purpose to return it to a recycling center or supermarket that is willing to pay for the returned bottle. Our Theory of Change is linked directly to the economics that feeds us. People need to be driven to do something. Good causes do carry some form of mileage and understanding that we are saving our planet, will have resonance on the public at large. However, if you want to see immediate change, then add a reward; be it for free tickets, merchandise or money, and your turnaround will be immediate.

The current number of people we are serving with our solution is a youth population of over 60,000 based in secondary and tertiary level schools. Our hope is to expand to triple that amount in the next year, and over a million over the next five years by joining forces with multiple school programs throughout the Caribbean.

We will only be able to measure our impact via the number of registrations, downloads and scientific data we collect as a result. This is still a pilot program and we are merely in our formative years. Yet, we have crossed more than 1,000 registrants online, so once we start to launch our challenges, we hope to see a significant measurable impact across the board.

Let's be honest. No one cares about the Caribbean. Even when a significant natural disaster occurs, we are but a blip on the international news. Our plan however is to design and execute a major event titled, "Islands for Change" which is best described as a "Live Aid" for the Caribbean. This globally televised festival event featuring multiple artists and celebrities, will raise money for multiple NGO's and agencies dedicated to the fight against the negative effects of climate change, and therefore positively impact more people throughout the region than any other standalone event. It will move each year from one territory to the next, be it French, Dutch, Spanish or English, and help set new benchmarks for the construction or implementation of programs designed to help every citizen.

There is no greater barrier than financial. Building one's team. Developing consistency and growth. Convincing governments and the public sector to join a cause, always comes down to the money one has to implement the changes and see people win. It's also the one thing we need to construct a powerful technical platform for the purpose of monitoring or disseminating information. Working with agencies like the United Nations and the Inter-American Development Bank will also facilitate far easier discussions with various Governments and lend credibility to our cause moving forward.

Overcoming any shortfall of financial resources will be made far easier by joining forces with other NGO's, Government agencies, media institutions and school bodies. Getting the word out by using social media platforms and physical activations will help the process as well. Ultimately it will come down to private citizens believing in your cause and using our celebrity connections to drive the message and resulting support home.

The market opportunity through the production of an annual destination festival is self-explanatory: it will be immense and impactful. We already produce multiple events throughout the Caribbean. By combining our efforts with major promoters and festival producers we can expand fairly easily, as each produced event results in global exposure for the brand, the cause, and the country we're showcasing our efforts in.

Our team consists of seven full time team members, five part-time staff members and an advisory board made up of industry professionals consisting of 12 people.

From one of the key members who advised both President Clinton and President Obama on climate change to the Head of Youth Development at the University of the West Indies to the manager of one of the largest entertainment production facilities in Latin America and the Caribbean; our team consists of some of the most influential academics and power brokers in the arts and entertainment industry. We have the ears of Prime Ministers, Ministers, highly sought-after executives, teachers and professors, and most importantly, our youth. This incredible network is what makes us the best team to deliver the solution/s necessary.

We are in talks with multiple partners including the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation, the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Arthur Lok Jack School of Business, the University of the West Indies, the School of Accounting and Management, Republic Bank and the University of Trinidad & Tobago.

Our business model is built on our youth. Our youth drives change, and our hope is that companies via their desire to be socially responsible will support the very programs we have created.

Overall the revenue we seek is based on sponsorships, donations, and any form of contributions we can collect, be they financial or in-kind, and in turn we provide value by using the funds to activate everything from informative school tours to workshops that teach young adults how to become more socially responsible, and use their skill sets to create revenue streams based on engaging in environmentally friendly activities or job creations.

Our path to financial sustainability takes place through the collection of donations and grants, selling products and services, raising investment capital, and sponsorships and contributions made by those in the private and public sector.

Money is key, but the legitimacy the IDB brings to our cause helps further our quest internationally.

The United Nations.

The EU.

CAF.