By Chris Onuoha & Agency report

Health they say is wealth. And health can translate to wealth when the ecosystem is free from destructive pollution. Everybody needs a clean environment, no doubt. It is the responsibility of all to partake in our little way. The globe generally has experienced environmental degradation stemming from manmade and natural disasters, and this has also resulted to climate change. Under this deteriorating observance coupled with inability of human to manage waste disposals, prompted a group of people in a community in Estonia to start up a cleanup campaign to that effect.

Estonia is a small country of about 1.3 million populations on the East coast of Europe. The Baltic country with its small population started this cleanup campaign in 2008 when a group of individuals came together to effect change on existing way of managing waste products. With its global reckoning and acceptance, the exercise in 2018 became officially recognised globally as “World Cleanup Day.”

However, Nigeria is not left out of this all important exercise as some organisations in the country such as Alon Green, a Pet recycling company and others joined their counterparts around the world to give the mother earth a clean sweep from the accumulated debris around their cities.

World Cleanup Day is an annual global social action program aimed at combating the global solid waste problem, including the problem of marine debris. It is currently coordinated by the global organization “Let’s Do It! World,” with their headquarters located in Tallinn, Estonia.

The exercise includes litter cleanup and waste mapping activities spanning every time zone and held on the 3rd Saturday of September annually. According to research findings, environmental cleanup events are held in nearly every country until concluding near the International Date Line in Hawaii and American Samoa. It aims to raise awareness of the mismanaged waste crisis by mobilizing all spheres of society to participate in cleanup actions. Individuals, governments, corporations and organizations are all encouraged to take part in cleanups and to find solutions to tackle mismanaged waste. There are numerous organizations that facilitate and host World Cleanup Day events globally. Like Earth Day, World Cleanup Day is non-partisan, apolitical, and is not affiliated with any national or global political party or discrete ideology.

Facts:

Global cleanup efforts have existed in many forms throughout human history, especially after widespread catastrophes such as earthquakes, floods, and powerful tsunamis. In modern history, these efforts are typically undertaken by the affected communities, with support from various international organizations and NGOs, such as Red Cross, Oxfam, and other relief organizations but typically in post-conflict zones. They have included efforts to remove land mines, beach cleanups, and other municipal and non-governmental actions.

The inaugural World Cleanup Day held on September 15, 2018 was built on the successes of previous global cleanup efforts. The goal of World Cleanup Day 2018 was to involve 5 percent of the world’s population (or approximately 380 million people). While the effort fell short of the goal, it directly mobilized 18 million people worldwide in its first exercise. With 17.6 million people across 157 countries, over 88500 tons of waste was registered and collected.

By 2019, World Cleanup Day held on the 19th of September coincided with Peace Day and the Global climate strike of September 2019. And with 21 million people across 180 countries, over 100000 tons of waste was collected and registered. On September 19, 2020, 11 million people across 166 countries collected and registered over 43000 tons of waste. September 18, 2021, with 8.5 million people across 191 countries, over 33000 tons of waste was registered. The 2022 September 17th exercise is assumed to record more when the statistics would be released.

Significance and impact:

The World Cleanup Day traces its roots back to 2008, when 50,000 people came together in Estonia and cleaned up the entire country in five hours. The citizen movement, called “Let’s Do It!” then grew into global operation and engaged tens of millions of environmentally savvy volunteers around the world.

In 2018, the movement organised the first World Cleanup Day – with an aim to engage as many people across the globe as possible for the biggest waste collection day in human history. The first global cleanup day, in September 2018, united 18 million people while the second one in 2019, involved 21 million people around 180 countries. The cleanup days in 2020 and 2021 were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and hence, had less participants – but still engaged 11 million volunteers in 2020 and 8.5 million last year according to reports.

Anneli Ohvril, the executive director of Let’s Do It World, the organiser of the global initiative, said that after a couple of years of COVID restrictions, the movement is “all ready to return as a global community to connect and care for the planet in bigger numbers than ever”.

“Our mission is to activate 5 percent of the world’s population on this day – this is a scientifically proven number that would propel forward the worldwide shift towards conscious care and subsequently, circular economy,” Ohvril said in a statement.

According to Ohvril, World Cleanup Day is not just about cleaning our streets, forests and beaches from all the plastic and other trash that is polluting the planet in ever-increasing quantities, noting that it is about going beyond that and kick-starting the shift within us, our homes, communities, governments and businesses. “Waste-free’ could easily be the new normal if we direct our attention to it and design it into all our systems from the start,” she added.

Also, Ursual von der Leyen, the European Commission’s president and patron of World Cleanup Day in her statement quoted, “I am very proud to be the patron of World Cleanup Day. We need to change the way we treat our planet, be more mindful of its resources and preserve its biodiversity. Everyone and anyone can contribute to this.”

‘Let’s do it’ in Nigeria

In Nigeria, improper waste disposal is also a huge problem affecting most of the metro cities. Government on its side created waste management agencies to that effect but battling the daily accumulation of waste becomes a challenge. Human attitude is also an impediment to an effective management of waste in the country. While some city dwellers complain that there are inadequate arrangements by the government for waste management and disposal within their communities, some also noted that the attitude of the scavengers contributes to indiscriminate littering of waste products around the streets, as they destroy the waste sacs in search of recyclable materials.

Oludolapo Omolokun, is the Chief Executive Officer of AlonGreen Recycling Company based in Abule Egba, Lagos State. Her company is among some organisations in Lagos who assembled volunteers that participated in the observance of World Cleanup Day in Lagos. The organisation in its second year of operation has shown much effort in contributing to the cleanup campaign and advocacy in Lagos.

In 2021, AlonGreen launched its cleanup campaign with over 20 volunteers that swept and cleaned up streets and market space at Ayobo, Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos State. September 17, 2022 also saw a massive turnout of volunteers who have developed enthusiasm to participate in the cleanup exercise.

Omolokun in her comment said, “The city of Lagos is a very populous city. Everyday people are moving in and out of the city and the effective management of waste is still a challenge. The biggest challenges are the awareness and consciousness of the people. Just the fact that we can sort our waste, by a provided nylon bags from other waste that are not recyclable is a key message that we need to pass on to individuals and communities, so that they can begin these practices at their homes and thereby contribute to the effective management of waste in Lagos.

“We need to understand that we all have a responsibility because we all live in this coastal city called Lagos. Everybody needs to play a role. It is not just government responsibility alone. Each and everyone should be able to manage waste properly at homes and in public spaces, and thereby, manage our waste better collectively as a state or community. This is to prevent things like flood, disease outbreak and other natural disasters.

Speaking further, Omolokun noted, “This is our second time to do this. The activities and exercise happening today is to create the awareness and hoping that more people would be aware that there are economic opportunity in sorting their waste and getting it deposited at designated depots. We are focused largely on PET plastic waste collection for recycling, and our mission is to divert the plastic waste from the land fill and also to implement some kind of compensations for that,” she added.

Meanwhile, many of the residents who witnessed the cleanup exercise commended the effort of Alon Green and other organisations that participated. In an interview with Segun, a Keke-Napep operator along Abule-Egba, he noted that waste management in Lagos has been a long time issue. According to him, the culture of indiscriminate waste disposal in the gutter and on the streets is a habit formed long ago, but noted that with the advocacy and awareness drive, people will to an extent; change such habit. He reiterated the need for government to enact a compulsory law that will change the habit of wrong waste disposal or better still impose stringent measures that would deter them from doing it.

For Mrs Olasheni, a fish seller at Abule-Egba market, she complained that the fault is not only of the traders in the market. She disclosed that the consciousness of the existing environmental sanitation being practiced every Thursday morning in Lagos is still in practice, but noted that when all waste are collected and packed at a designated spot for LAWMA to pick it, the local scavengers called (aboki) in local parlance, would tear the nylon sacs, scatter the debris while searching for recyclable metals. And after that, the littered waste would find its ways back to the gutters. She mentioned that traders in Lagos are trying and also complying with proper waste management, that the activities of the waste scavengers constitute a big challenge.

Proper waste management system over time was introduced by the Lagos State government with the establishment of Lagos Waste Management Agency (LAWMA). A waste basket was introduced to commuter buses in the city to curtail indiscriminate drop of pet bottles and other waste on the street. This was also introduced in offices, schools and public places. Some were erected on the streets and recreational centers. But however, the initiative did not live up to expectations as individual character relapse took over again.