The level of environmental pollution with littered plastic waste in particular has swallowed communities and our beaches up to the neck. 

Now with the rains peaking, the situation has once again blown up in our faces as damning filth gets vomited out of uncovered drains. Our streets are simply unsightly.

The United Nations (UN) Environment Programme says that an estimated 86 per cent of Ghana’s waste plastic load is improperly disposed of resulting in plastics clogging up storm drains, rivers, streams and the ocean. That statement is a well-known fact and it has plagued us for years with no seeming solution.

It is well appreciated, therefore, that on World Environment Day last Monday celebrated with the theme: “Beat Plastic Pollution”, some organisations continued to focus on contributions that could help lessen this canker in our environment.

EVE segregation project

One such organisation, EVE, a not-for-profit organisation with Her Royal Highness, Lady Julia Osei-Tutu as its life Patron, inaugurated the EVE Segregation Project at the Nima Cluster of Schools in Accra.  The project was in partnership with Zoomlion Foundation and Soko Bags.

With an avowed aim to educate both young and old on negative behavioural attitudes that impinge on environmental cleanliness, EVE secretariat, led by Catherine Morton, Executive Director, and Yaa Brago, EVE Envoy for climate action donated waste bins for segregation of plastic and other recycling materials to the Nima cluster of schools in Accra.  The donation also included books and stationery worth GH¢10,000.

Unfortunately, because education has not gone far, people indiscriminately throw out their sachet water wrappers and other plastic materials thinking it is somebody else’s problem to collect.  Even despite recent announcements of companies buying plastic waste, indiscriminate disposal continues.

Sadly when our careless actions come back to hurt us with flooding and the loss of lives, the same people shout the loudest for help from the authorities.

Environmental action

EVE’s donation to the schools was the beginning of a structured environmental action plan to conscientise first and foremost school children while teasing out the advantages and disadvantages of plastic waste pollution.  

In every society, children have some influence on adult decisions, at home or outside the home.  A lot of times, they influence their parents when it comes to what to eat, drink, wear or clean.   

They also influence what is served as school meals, what vendors sell at the school premises and sometimes at the Church premises in terms of snacks.   It is for some such reasons that marketers will target their goods and services to attract children.

Targeting school children with education on waste segregation and environmental action by EVE, therefore, is appropriate, hoping they will be waste segregation ambassadors at home and in their communities.  What perhaps was more enchanting was the point emphasised to the children that what is considered plastic waste could be turned around to make money for their schools, hence the need to segregate their waste for recycling.

To make education on waste segregation an everyday practice and a valuable habit for homes and communities, a Climate Action Club with over fifty members and two patrons were inaugurated to see plastic segregation in the school for future recycling.

With the Action Club in place, the members themselves were advised to lead a life of a good example among their peers and ensure the project of collection and segregation took seed in the school. 

In conjunction with Zoomlion Foundation and Soko Bags, the segregated waste would be collected on a weekly basis and used to make bags which could be sold to raise funds.

Meanwhile, EVE would provide monthly skills training in the form of workshops not only for members of the Action Club but also for identified communities on how to use waste materials to make bags and other usable items for income generation. 

EVE would ensure the Club’s marketing and distribution efforts towards their products would create value and make the project sustainable.

EVE’s climate change initiative aligns with EVE International’s commitment to creating a sustainable future by addressing the pressing issue of climate change through education, advocacy and sustainable practices.

EVE is coined from the history of creation and from the name of the first woman perfectly modelled by God.  It is the largest network of Ghanaian women living here and in the diaspora with a dedication to the advancement of women. 

According to its life Patron, Lady Julia Osei-Tutu, “It is for every woman and therefore a clarion call to all women to work together to promote womanhood”.  Climate change is one of 29 professional and social networking groups they have.

EVE’s donation of segregated garbage bins, books and other materials to the Nima cluster of schools and the Nima Presbyterian School is just the beginning of the call on all to help beat plastic pollution and make a mighty impact on the environment. 

With the main objective to raise heightened awareness, promote waste segregation through education, and empower school children by providing them with skills, knowledge and resources, while fostering partnerships with stakeholders, the EVE call to action is thus summed up: “Protecting the environment is a collective responsibility”.