AfricaPress-Tanzania: In Tanzania, it is estimated that the quantity of municipal solid waste generated amounts to more than 10,000 metric tonnes per day. However, nearly 50 percent ends up disposed through the local methods of burning or burying.
By year 2015, it was estimated that, of the total population, each person was producing an average solid waste of between 0.5 and 0.8 kilograms per day. What we do with the waste that we produce in activities daily, is now the worlds’ biggest headache.
Littering is a deliberate act
Littering is amongst the leading contributor to urban waste management challenges. What irks the most is the fact that; the majority of littering happens intentionally. People find it completely normal to throw away freely cigarette butts, food wrappers and disposables. As a result, most of this rubbish swiftly ends up in our water bodies. What is this doing to our planet? Simply put, destroying it.
There can be several arguments as to why people litter, which includes the prevalence of existing waste and the absence of collection equipment such as dust bins, but the truth still stands, 85 percent of littering is mostly a deliberate act. When pressed with severe repercussions and penalties, people tend to do the right thing, they stop careless littering. Also, those who grow up in a disposable society, have a tendency to end up being disposers and vice versa.
‘Usitupe taka hapa’ is now a joke
It is annoying to see signs like ‘Usitupe takataka hapa’ in areas full of solid waste which shows that no one really cares. It feels like the campaigns have fallen on deaf ears. Either the one installing the signs are not authoritative enough or the defaulters just find them too common to obey. That is where we are as a society. It is becoming clear that the reason most people litter is not because they think it’s ok, but because they think it’s the easier thing to do. They know it is wrong, but they do it because it’s easy, anyway.
Say no to noise pollution,
For most people in big cities like Dar es Salaam, noise pollution is supposed to be a ‘normal’ everyday phenomenal. That is to say, it appears to be normal for the local pub next door, to host live music till late hours. This is common in our neighbourhoods which have become hubs of uncontrolled sounds and blares. People in this city seem to have decided to soldier on like it’s part of the urban lifestyle.
No, it is not normal, and it shouldn’t be allowed to be. Though the impacts and adverse effects of noise pollution cannot be immediately felt, there is a big chance of ending up with health effects such as loss of hearing ability, birth complications, and even high blood pressure.
It is a collective effort
As a society, we need to get serious in highlighting collective social disapproval against littering and other forms of pollutions including noise. The fact that no one dares to litter around controlled areas such as army and police barracks, tells us all we need to know, about the need to change mindsets and behaviours.
If one can be conscious enough not to litter in certain areas fearing repercussions and consequences, hence be mindful enough to not litter at all, then let’s apply stringent rules to get tough against such unbecoming behaviours.
In addition, there is nothing wrong for our city fathers to borrow a leaf from other cities like Kigali in Rwanda and Moshi Municipality in Kilimanjaro Region. Apart from adopting strict regulations or bylaws against indiscriminate littering, Kigali and Moshi, have special cleaning programs involving all residents every Saturday morning with everyone compelled to participate in cleaning the environment around neighbourhoods. These weekly exercises, have worked out remarkably. We should all remember that we have no planet B where we can free after the current one is turned inhabitable. Let’s take good care of the one we have.
