By Perez Mweine
On Monday April 22 was Earth Day. To celebrate this day, wePlanet Africa mobilised community members among them a primary school and local leaders to conduct a city clean-up exercise that included collection of plastic waste and a tree-planting in Kasubi, Lubaga Division, in Kampala, Uganda.
The event that ran from 8.30am to 1pm sought to observe this year’s theme of “Planet vs. Plastics and brought together the WePlanet community of 26 people among them local leaders and pupils from a local primary school.
The focus was on addressing the detrimental effects of plastic pollution on our ecosystem, including clogging waterways, harming wildlife, and reducing soil fertility. The activity aimed to raise awareness and take tangible steps towards reducing plastic waste in our environment.
The event encompassed the manual removal of plastic waste and debris from various community sites, including roads and clogged drainage filled with polyethylene. As we began our cleanup, it quickly became apparent that even within a short timeframe, our collection bags were brimming with plastic waste, particularly from water drains, highlighting the pervasive issue of plastic pollution in the area.
Community leaders noted that polyethylene, a common packaging material for food items, was the predominant source of litter, exacerbating the problem.
In addition to the clea-nup efforts, we engaged young students from St. Peter Claver Primary School in Mugema Zone, Kasubi, involving them in a tree-planting initiative on the school grounds. After planting the trees, we entrusted the after of rees to the students, specifically those in primary five.
Over the next three years, as these students progress through their primary education, they will nurture these trees, ensuring they mature and thrive in the environment. This initiative represents a step towards restoring biodiversity and greening the community and an investment in the future stewards of our environment.
By the end of the activity, we had collected 10 full bags of plastic from a coverage of Mugema zone in Kasubi. The plastic was then collected and handed over to garbage collectors in the area who will then hand it over for proper disposal to the authorities in the division.
Read press release here.