How Oando, NCF, Others Are Turning Waste to Wealth
Oando Foundation is facing the battle against waste and environmental pollution squarely. And it is getting it right.
Everybody knows how much wastes hurt the environment and how many key cities across Nigeria are littered with tonnes of plastic and nylon wastes. The galling images of blocked drainages are clear testimonies.
In fact, Lagos alone is currently battling over 30,000 metric tons of waste generated daily because of the threat it poses to public health and environment.
Worried by this problem, Oando decided to adopt innovation to convert the menace to wealth and seize the opportunity to empower the middle class. This, it is currently doing in partnership with others like Sumitomo Chemical of China, and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF).
Oando and others are now teaching public schools teachers who will in turn teach pupils and other community dwellers practical means of converting garbage into various utensils, furniture and appliances.
A 3-day workshop themed “upcycling and composting in schools and communities” was held on 21st, 25th & 27th January, where 100 participants drawn from Dele Ajomale Primary School, Ilasamaja; Metropolitan Primary School, Orile-Iganmu and Dada Olisa Primary School, Papa Ajao, Mushin in Lagos were trained. A similar training was organized last December.
The workshop exposed participants to diverse areas of waste recycling, which include the use of plastic bottles to manufacture furniture materials like mattresses, duvet, chairs and tables.
Knowledge gained at the workshop also include the production of organic fertilizers using plants and animals wastes products such as leaves, saw dust, chicken and rabbit materials and so on.
With the training, participants will enjoy a viable means of revenue generation for schools, communities and families while the environment will be saved from pollution.
School pupils will also in the long run benefit from the knowledge and could join the campaign.
Mrs. Abidemi Balogun, Project Lead, NCF narrated that the overall objective of the project was to sustainably manage wastes that have become a menace across the world, with a particular focus on Lagos.
The Lead facilitator, Mrs. Temitope Okunnu, CEO of FABE International Foundation, an NGO that champions environmental sustainability issues, noted that if the initiative’ is massively adopted by governments across the country, using school children as major target group, would help to effectively mitigate the impacts of climate change and tackle hunger and poverty among Nigerian citizenry.
An excited participant, Mrs. Rachael Olaide explained that, “what we call garbage, especially plastic bottles that usually block drainage can be turned into good money. That’s what we have learned. We will teach our children, neighbours and sensitize the schools and parents. It is not a waste until it is wasted.”