WASTE MANAGEMENT
Zambia has over the years grappled with the problem of waste management which has highly caused the country to lose the greening scenery that it once boosted of. The rapid increasing quantities of waste been generated due to the increase in population growth during the decades has become a concern for Zambia's environment.
Chawama compound dump site 2016 (Photo By Albert Bulaka)
The increasing number of house, health facility and factory waste generated is high. Furthermore, these houses, heath facilities and factories don't take due responsibility to ensure safe, sustainable and environmentally acceptable methods of segregation, storage and final disposal of waste both within and outside their premises. It is imperative to note that waste from homes, hospitals and factories can cause injury, death and damage of both the environment and organisms on it. Besides, the uncontrolled dumping of waste and unsound waste practices would have devastating effects on the well been of the environment and Climate at large. This is either by inadequate dumps sites or by open burning which may release dangerous compounds E.g. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from plastic foams, Carbon dioxide from wood cuts and Sulphur dioxide from sulphides released by industries to the environment leading to the depletion of the Ozone layer and a rampant change to the global climate.
Increasing rates of Air Pollution has been going on for years and is getting worse. Although it is not possible to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that production of 'Green house gases' e.g. Sulphur dioxide and many other gases is causing a rise in the Earth's temperature, i.e ;global warming majority of us agree that it is happening. Polluting the atmosphere with smoke, CFCs and other poisonous gases causes Acid Rain which leads to the poisoning of lakes, streams, and highly destructs the growth of trees.
Acid rain washes nutrients out of the soil and hence trees are robbed of nourishment. Besides, Acid rain forms soluble salts known as Aluminum Sulphate. This salt damages the roots of trees hence the tree dies slowly as a result of lack of nutrients. Furthermore, Acid rain kills many aquatic creatures. This is because the Aluminum Sulphate salt is washed into the water bodies. It comes about through the reaction of acid rain on aluminum compounds in the soil. Moreover, an extra amount of ‘Green House gases’ leads to Global warming and the Depletion of the ozone layer. CFC gases are very stable making it possible for them to accumulate in the atmosphere where they react with Ozone (O3).
The ozone is present throughout the atmosphere but reaches a peak about 25km where it forms what is known as 'Ozone Layer'. The chlorine from CFCs reacts with Ozone and reduces the concentration of the Ozone layer. As a result, more Ultraviolet radiation reaches the Earth's surface. A high level of ultraviolet (UV) radiation greatly leads to an increased incidence of skin cancer, affects the growth of crops, damage marine plankton and even distorts global weather patterns. Considering the fact that there is currently a lot of packaging waste (plastic bottles) as a result of the proliferation of the beverage industry, legislation to this effect will be very imperative in order to compel producers of products that ultimately end up in the environment as waste to change the packaging regime and also help them to work hand in hand with the city councils, and other bodies involved in managing waste to conduct community awareness and educational programmes on waste management scheme.
Unless we as a country at large take drastic action to reduce the output of harmful gases, control our consumption, limit our own numbers, and treat the environment with more care and understanding; global warming will keep worsening and would make the Earth's surface impossible to live on and also may cause our own extinction. √Be environmentally friendly √BIN IT DON'T TOSS IT *Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
