Clean up
2 min read
By Margaret Kamba
We have always known that the woman is the one that does household chores. This is easily
displayed even as children play where the girl child will sweep the play house and all.
It is only now that we the younger generation have begun teaching our baby boys to cook,
clean, iron and do other homely duties otherwise known as wifely roles.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s declaration of the first Friday of the month being a
National Clean Up day follows the need created by the incompetent town councils which
have seen the proliferation of dumping sites literally every corner you place your eyes.
The dirt now stuck in drainages literally causes flash floods when it rains. Even when the dirt
is removed from the drainages no one bothers to remove those heaps so that the cycle does
not repeat itself.
When you see the head of the house stamping his foot down to have the compound
cleaned, then you know there is a serious problem. This is where we are. We have a serious
problem of uncollected litter from our suburbs. We have a serious problem of constant
burning of litter. We have a serious problem of increased diseases due to the litter and God
knows what else.
While such companies as Petrecozim and Waverley Plastics amongst others have created
employment by paying men and women for picking High-density polyethylene HDPE bottles
for recycling, it is crucial that at household level we practice the 3R principles of reduce,
reuse and recycle.
What does it profit you to cook or buy more than is necessary? Why should you not reuse
some of these things and why not recycle?
The cardboard boxes that we throw around are earning such as Cotmatech Waste
Collections income as they recycle and make tissue papers and egg crates. Other companies
make plastic chairs and plastic pavers from plastics waste.
My people perish because of a lack of knowledge is a common biblical verse showing how
ignorance can be costly. This deeply about how the empty peanut butter bottles can be
used to store spices if one cannot afford the fancier spice bottles. Think about how you can
use the salad bottles to store the mango pickles.
In other countries such as the People’s Republic of China PRC, bins are colour coded and the citizens easily place unwanted glass bottles in the designated bins or anything else. Why our councils cannot be this innovative is a mystery.
Do not mix the biodegradables with the rest of the litter please. Where you have a garden, dig a pit and make compost.
As each of us take time to clean our surroundings, let us remember the impact that the rubbish we are throwing has not only to us but the next person.
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