By Albert Futukpor
Zugu (N/R), June 03, GNA – An environmental intervention dubbed: “GoClean”, has been launched at Zugu, a community in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region to tackle poor waste management in the area.
As part of the intervention, a basic waste collection system would be set up in the area, to raise awareness about the harmful effects of improper waste disposal on human, animal, and environmental health.
The initiative is the result of a collaboration between MONDO, an Estonian organisation, and two Ghanaian partners; Ghana Developing Communities Association, and Changing Lives in Innovative Partnerships (CLIP) under the umbrella of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) network.
In many rural areas, informal dumping and open-air landfills have become the norm with little consideration for the long-term environmental and health impact.
The GoClean intervention began with an engagement meeting with community elders, who confirmed that waste disposal was a pressing concern.
They supported the intervention as a much-needed starting point and highlighted related issues including the lack of toilets and the poor condition of existing soak away systems.
A follow-up meeting with the wider community helped to identify the most common types of waste generated; plastic, fabric, and food waste.
Since CLIP, through the GoAdapt programme, had previously provided training on producing organic compost from agricultural waste as part of efforts to strengthen the adaptive capacity and resilience of smallholder farmers in vulnerable communities in northern Ghana, this new intervention focused specifically on plastic recycling.
A partnership has been established with a plastic recycling company in the area, which agreed to purchase the collected plastic waste.
During a community clean-up day, bins and gallons were installed in strategic locations, and residents, mostly women, were provided with cleaning materials such as gloves, rakes, and nose masks.
After the clean-up exercise, the community members gathered to listen to a representative from Zablikani Plastic Recycling Company who demonstrated how to properly sort plastic waste distinguishing between bags and bottles, clean and dirty plastic.
The session also encouraged households to scale up the use of organic composting with food waste, which could benefit their farming activities while enhancing local waste management.
A visual sensitisation activity using image displays helped to further convey the health, environmental, and economic benefits of proper waste handling.
The intervention was supported by the District Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit.
A local youth group, the Youth Environmental Brigades, has been tasked with monitoring the condition of the bins and liaising with Zablikani Plastic Recycling Company on collection and sorting matters.
Mr Nuuruden Ibrahim, Coordinator of GoAdapt Project and his team along with Miss Chiara Avanzi, a Volunteer from Mondo and ESC, would conduct monthly follow-up visits to the area to assess behaviourial changes in waste segregation and the community’s adherence to the recycling partnership.
GNA
Edited by Eric K. Amoh/Kenneth Odeng Adade