STOP AND THINK ABOUT YOUR TRASH / MY TRASH, MY RESPONSIBILITY.

By GWK

 

Domestic waste can be described as unwanted, unusable items, remains from households – it includes paper, cans, glasses, clothing, etc. Waste is generated from our homes on a daily basis and should be handled and managed properly to avoid being a source of danger in and around our homes.  Waste generated from our homes can be classified into hazardous, biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.

Biodegradable waste includes food and kitchen waste, green waste; Non-biodegradable includes paper, glass, bottles, cans, metals, certain plastics; Hazardous waste includes medication, e-waste, paints, chemicals, light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish, etc. These are substances that, if handled irresponsibly in terms of disposal, pose a threat to human beings or the environment,

As regards biodegradable waste, it should be disposed of the very day it is generated and covered to avoid the infestation of rats, rodents and vermin, creatures who we all know and rodents are vectors / carriers of a number of diseases. This can be avoided by having garbage being treated in case of rodents before being transferred to the next destination – this type of waste can also be used as manure.

According to  past statistics, it is on record that in the year 2005, 100 Million plastic bags were distributed in Nairobi alone by supermarkets – it is a sad affair to imagine that the number of generated plastic bags by 2013 may have grown exponentially owing to the fact that there is population growth, and everywhere I turn, there are heaps of paper bags littered carelessly by the road side, by homesteads, and across fields.

For hazardous material, common knowledge and primary science shows that the mixture of different substances results in other likely harmful substances, and combustion of chemicals leads to emission of harmful gases which, if released into the air, could cause respiratory diseases. Also, greenhouse gases are emitted, and they are depleting the ozone layer which is responsible for the protection of the suns ultraviolent rays – if some of the gases come into contact with rain, they form acidic rain which alters the PH of the soil as well as the water bed.

Who is responsible? Well, most of you will say “well that is not me” but do you sit back to analyse the path that trash takes after it leaves your house? My opinion is, if you never care to sort your trash from the basic level, which is from your house I hold you accountable to being a contributor to the waste lying by the roadside.