By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, Sept 21, GNA – The Center for Opportunities and Rural Development (CORD Ghana) in partnership with some youth and civil society organisations has marked this year’s World Cleanup Day with a clean-up exercise in parts of the Greater Tamale Metropolis.
The exercise, held under the theme: “From Clean Plates to Clean Cities”, sought to contribute towards the global efforts to promote responsible waste management, environmental sustainability and community participation in efforts to create cleaner and healthier communities.
The exercise brought together representatives and volunteers from CORD Ghana, Network of Youth for Climate Action Africa, Rural Connect, Savannah Rural Women Voices Assembly, Youth Alliance for Climate and Environmental Sustainability, and Meek Care.
The participants undertook the clean-up exercise along the Shishegu Highway on the Tolon-Nyankpala stretch as well as some inner roads within the Sagnarigu Municipal Assembly.
Madam Esther Nyamekye Opoku, Programmes Director of CORD Ghana, speaking during the exercise, said World Cleanup Day was a global movement that brought millions of people together every September to clean up waste and rethink society’s relationship with what it discarded.
Madam Opoku said this year’s theme: “From Clean Plates to Clean Cities”, highlighted the link between food waste and urban pollution stressing that reducing food waste could also help reduce packaging waste and litter in communities.
She said the theme encouraged individuals to begin taking environmental responsibility from their everyday activities, particularly their choices around food consumption and disposal.
She said “World Cleanup Day reminds us that environmental responsibility starts with our everyday actions. When we waste less food, we also have the opportunity to reduce the waste associated with packaging and disposal.”
Madam Opoku called on households, institutions, businesses and local authorities to adopt responsible waste management practices and ensure that waste was properly segregated, collected and reused in a circular economy.
She also urged the public to avoid indiscriminate dumping of waste saying maintaining clean communities required sustained behavioural change rather than periodic clean-up exercises alone.
Madam Rashida Abubakari of the Youth Alliance for Climate and Environmental Sustainability emphasised need for young people to take an active role in environmental sustainability.
She said the youth constituted an important force in addressing environmental challenges because of their numbers, energy and ability to mobilise communities through advocacy and social action.
She encouraged young people to move beyond discussions about climate change and environmental degradation to practical actions that protected their communities.
GNA
Edited by Albert Futukpor /Kenneth Odeng Adade
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