What we can do to save our planet waste to wealthy ?
Answers
While the Uganda Government tries to woo more investors in a bid to increase the country’s revenue, there is a lot of waste in our backyard that is undermining the economy. By reducing waste or turning it into wealth, Uganda will be riding on the road towards productivity and environmental sustaina
While the Uganda Government tries to woo more investors in a bid to increase the country’s revenue, there is a lot of waste in our backyard that is undermining the economy. By reducing waste or turning it into wealth, Uganda will be riding on the road towards productivity and environmental sustainability, writes Gerald Tenywa
Alex Mukasa who lives about 20 kilometres south of Kampala along Entebbe Road wakes up every morning to battle what he calls the “monster on the road”. His secret in this invisible battle is waking up early so that he is not trapped in the traffic jam to devour his time.
About five years ago, Mukasa used to get on the road by 6am and could get to his work place by 8am. Two years ago, he changed to 5:30am because the congestion got worse.
Apart from time, the jam also eats away sh500m everyday, according to a recent report by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). This excludes the loss in productivity and exposure to stress as well as the polluting dirty gases spewed by second-hand vehicles.
As motorists burn their money in congestion, sources say a similar amount is needed for funding daily operational expenses including salaries at Mulago, which is Uganda’s national referral hospital.
Overcoming such waste is part of what policy-makers should be thinking about as the world commemorates the UN World Environment Day today. The national activities organised by NEMA are being held at Kalangala, Buggala under the theme; “Think. Eat. Save our environment.”
A report released by the World Wide for Nature (WWF), states that the world is using resources equivalent to one and half planets meaning that the human population is living beyond its means. “Whatever the world produces in 18 days, we consume in 12 days. It means that we are eating into our natural capital,” says Robert Ddamulira, an official of WWF.
UN Environment Programme confirmed this, stating that from 1981 to 2005, the global economy more than doubled, but 60% of the world’s ecological systems were either degraded or over-used. In Uganda, the villages that sit on mountainous areas such as Elgon are prone to landslides because of the destruction of the ecological systems that used to shelter the landscape.
Production and consumption
According to Fred Onyai, the monitoring and evaluation specialist at NEMA, the current production processes and consumption patterns are unacceptable. “It requires rethinking by looking at waste differently,” he says.
Onyai says approaches pegged on the Rs (Reducing, Re-using, and Recycling) would help the industrialists as well as consumers. “We should encourage re-use of materials,” he says.
Charcoal production
Another wanton loss occurs during production and consumption of charcoal, according to John Ayongyera, a private consultant. For every bag of charcoal produced, he says, nine bags of charcoal get lost through inefficient technologies used to convert wood into charcoal.
“Highly inefficient technologies of charcoal are used such that for every one tone of charcoal, seven to nine tonnes of trees are cut,” says Ayongyera. “For efficient technologies to be adopted there is a need to organise the charcoal production sector.”
Improved stoves that would minimise wastage of charcoal and also reduce household expenditure are being used in urban areas, but penetration is still low. “Possibly less than a half of Uganda’s households use improved charcoal stoves,” says Ayongyera.
Fortunately, he points out that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-Uganda is working with Government to design a strategy that will encourage sustainable production of charcoal.
Urban water leaks
According to the most recent report entitled Water and Environment Sector: performance report, water which does not generate revenue increased from 21% in 2009-2010 to 24% in 2011-2012.
“This is mainly attributed to the aging infrastructure in a number of towns, some of which have exceeded their design life and are in need of major rehabilitation or replacement,” states the report.
this is the mainly atributea ageing number of towns
