A big part of Dolphin Quest’s mission is to give back to the community and one way the organisation achieves this is through its stewardship effort. Education Supervisor and co-ordinator for the effort, Robyn Larkin explains that it is basically Dolphin Quest’s way of giving back to the community as it relates to its mission, vision and values.

She says Dolphin Quest pays for each of the 20 crew members to volunteer eight hours of their time.

These volunteer efforts include helping the Bermuda Feline Assistance Bureau by feeding the stray cats in Dockyard, regular coastal cleanup efforts, planting trees along the South Shore, feeding the homeless at the Salvation Army, scrubbing the turtles at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo (BMAZ) and even donating blood.

“We are all very passionate about animals and the environment and giving back to the community, so it’s nice for our company to support us in this, and very often people do more than their eight hours. I have 175 hours for the year so far,” she adds with a smile.

On the day of her interview with The Royal Gazette, Mrs. Larkin had spent the morning collecting spent toner cartridges from various businesses in Hamilton.

She explains how she and other Dolphin Quest crew members work with companies to recycle their non-traditional items including mobile phones, spent toner cartridges and ink jet cartridges.

“We hand carry it all back to the US and send it to approved recycle facilities,” she adds with a chuckle, adding that customs officials now recognise the Dolphin Quest crew and are not surprised anymore by the contents of their bags.

So far this year Mrs. Larkin and fellow crew have donated more than 425 hours towards various charities and recycled 1,328 mobile phones, 712 toner cartridges, 175 ink jet cartridges, 585 mobile phone batteries, 5,524 plastic six-pack rings, 3,942 holiday cards and 4,070 pop tops (which supports the Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama in the US.

Companies interested in getting involved in this recycling effort can contact Mrs. Larkin at Dolphin Quest.