Mr Hamidu Minkailu Yakubu Silinba, an environmental activist and recycling enthusiast, has called for mass sensitization of people to the benefits of turning waste into useful products for livelihood empowerment and environmental sanity.
He said the environment can be saved from the depredations of pollutants if people become aware of the economic benefits of recycling their waste products.
Mr. Silinba said this in an interview with Info Radio, Wa on the occasion of the commemoration of the 2024 World Environment Day under the theme, “Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience.”
He added that the effects of desertification can be reduced if people turn away from felling trees for charcoal and firewood to the use of agricultural waste for producing briquette charcoal which is friendlier to the environment.
He, however, observed that people, especially women, fell trees for charcoal because it is their major source of livelihood and thus, advocated for the training of women on alternative livelihoods such as briquette production.
“This is their source of livelihood, so for us to stop tree felling, we should train them on how to use waste, agricultural waste such as maize cobs and groundnut husks to produce charcoal.
And if people throw away bottles and other plastics because they think it is not useful to them, we can bring them together, talk to them, and demonstrate how to use them [plastics] for some useful creations,” he said.
Mr. Silinba who is the founder of 3N Silinba Waste Utilization GH, a firm dedicated to creating a circular economy through the production of eco-friendly products from plastic waste, said his outfit was committed to empowering women and young people to gain essential skills needed for recycling waste.
He said, through those efforts, the firm envisaged reducing the rate of unemployment and poverty among the youth and women in the Upper West Region.
Mr Silinba called for close inter-agency collaborations and public-private partnerships to maximize efforts and deepen the impacts of initiatives towards safeguarding the environment.
He lauded the government’s intervention in providing cooking stoves to families but expressed concerns about the intervention’s viability in combating excessive charcoal usage, especially among rural families who do not have ready access to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
He also touted the efforts of Upperlink Consult led by Prof Hamida Darimani in training women on the production of briquette which he said was worth emulating and supporting by like-minded individuals and organizations.
Mr Silinba called on the general public to remain compassionate towards the environment and to see every other day as World Environmental Day and thus endeavour to protect the environment at all times.
Celebrated annually on June 5 since 1973, World Environment Day seeks to create awareness and calls for action towards the protection of the environment.
Comentários