By Smith Nwokocha
Climate Reality Leader Smith Nwokocha championed a “Bag Your Waste Campaign” with the theme: Clean Up Africa with support from African Climate Reality Project. On the 26th of March 2024, exactly 10:00am WAT.
He sensitized the students and staff of Community Secondary School, Oroworukwo and K.C. International Academy in Port Harcourt, Nigeria on how to use this exercise of Clean Up and Bagging of Waste as a tool for Advocacy to hold relevant Authorities and Stakeholders, especially Plastic Polluters accountable for better Waste Management practices and possibly lobby for the policies to reduce the Manufacturing and sale of single-use plastic items.
Furthermore, Smith alongside the students embark on real-time sanitation exercise by cleaning up the dump site in the school premises and over 100 plastic bags were filled with plastic waste items collected during the clean up exercise.
Coke Plastic Bottles 200
Pepsi Plastic Bottles 200
La sien Water Plastic Bottles 250
CWAY Water Plastic Bottles 260
Unknown Brand Bottles 90
Papers/shattered Books 160
Cans 210
Leaves 180
Plastic Sachet 500
Plastic cups 50
Plastic straws 100
Plastic Food Wrappers 250
Sanitary pads 80
Toiletries 150
Above is the statistics of plastic and waste discovered. Afterward, students were inaugurated as Eco-Champions/Ambassadors in the school, to sustain the exercise all through the school terms/sessions. In taking action to improve waste management practices, the students will keep raising awareness and organize community/school clean up exercise regularly. Smith also, taught the students and staff how providing solutions to plastic pollution by adopting the 7R’s of Sustainability, which include: a) Reduce b) Recycle c) Reuse d) Reduce e) Rethink f) Repair and g) Rally.
Climate Reality Leader Smith Nwokocha with support from African Climate Reality Project donated some useful Materials and Cleaning Tools, including Trash bags, Shovels, Reks, Handmade and Mechanized Brooms, Cleaning Mob and buckets, Large, medium and small sized Waste bin, packs of Nose masks and handgloves in numbers to the schools to maintain the culture of bagging their waste and cleaning up the environment. The Principal and Proprietress of the schools, students and staff expressed gratitude for such gesture.
In attendance, over 224 students from Community Secondary School, Oroworukwo attended the exercise, while 99 pupils attended from K.C. International Academy, all in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
PHwakawaka 