Sustainable Waste Management Equals Better Quality of Life
Any Kenyan who undoubtedly is an avid lover of business has come across the ‘waste management’ phrase in their lifetime at one point or another. Any Kenyan must also have seen the three different colored bins just hanging around collecting different types of trash in the city, or at least spotted them in the environmental topics in science class, or better still in the internet.
You may have probably even stopped to acquaint yourself with which bin was the proper one to dispose your container that carried freshly blended fruit juice. The more recent example, however, would be when our most beloved plastic paper bags were finally kicked out of the system and replaced with the colorful non-woven/woven carrier bags we have today, making it a huge step for the country in taking her place in ensuring proper waste management.
When we think about waste management, ideally the 3Rs rule is what may come to memory easily; Re-use, Reduce and Recycle with most prevalence being put into recycling and rightly so because it goes a long way in showing us how we can use our trash and turn it into treasure. At the very core of its meaning, recycling involves the reprocessing of already used materials like wood, plastics and metals and turning them into new products.
Also read: Championing Organic Farming and Forest Conservation to Improve Livelihoods
Recycled waste, while having a new artistic side that has appealed to various people who go to search for various elements to make the most intriguing trinkets, can also be beneficial in providing energy sources. In the pre-sorting phase of waste material, where it is separated into recyclable and non-recyclable waste, the non-recyclable waste can be turned into energy. The process, which is called waste-to-energy is the process of converting non-recyclable waste materials into usable energy sources such as fuel, heat or electricity.
Minimization methods of waste management can only account for little of the impact of waste management that is felt. Sustainable waste management allows us to have more opportunities in even impacting the economy.
The main advantage of sustainable waste management is to protect the environment by lessening the impact of waste on the environment by improving air and water quality and contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Coming up with a holistic view of how it is a combined effort and beneficial to everyone is the key to making it more effective.
Economically, waste management has a big economic potential that needs to be leveraged by public and private entities. It involves collecting, sorting, treating, recycling and in some cases, when properly managed, can be harnessed into energy.
Related article: Israel: Hero of Water Management
Socially, besides creating jobs, effective waste management leads to better quality of life for local inhabitants of any area. Where waste is properly disposed of and managed, it guarantees improved health conditions, not to mention educating people on the basic benefits people get to enjoy when they have a waste-free and properly managed waste area. Proper education would go a long way to helping people avoid health related risks and would certainly help cut down on the cost implications and trips to the doctor.
By Kevin Oscar
