Waste Management A Responsibility Of Each And Every Person.

Population explosion, coupled with improved life style of people, results in increased generation of solid wastes in urban as well as rural areas of the country. At present, the municipal waste disposal methods followed in many of the cities and towns are unsystematic & unscientific and involve dumping in low-lying areas. Most of the disposal sites are just uncontrolled dumps where a mixture of domestic, commercial, industrial and hospital wastes is ‘thrown away’ at the dumping sites. Apart from creating air pollution, ground water contamination & soil contamination, open dumping of wastes generally becomes breeding ground for various dreadful disease causing pathogens and vectors, particularly in the vicinity of the disposal sites. Further, with increasing awareness of public on environmental and health issues, there is a general opinion that the standard of services with respect to collection and disposal of municipal waste is progressively declining. It is also true in Zambia as half of the solid waste generated remains unattended. The objective of Solid Waste Management is to maintain clean and hygienic conditions and reduce the quantity of Solid waste, which has to be disposed safely after recovery of waste materials and energy from it. Environmental education is an important tool required to raise awareness and creativity in Zambian society for people to make money out of waste. It must be noted however that, there are more negative effects of solid waste than positive ones which most people might not be aware of or unconcerned about. This implies that there is need to bring about awareness of these negative effects of solid waste to the environment and people through Environmental Education. As long as there is development, waste generation will always be a side effect. Environmental Education and public participation, very importantly, in the long run can be cost-saving as expected attitudes and commitment to the environment change for the better, hazards of pollution would not only be minimized but the cost of control would also be reduced. Be environmental friendly for sustainable development we only have one world, care for it.