HARARE, Oct 20 (IPS) – They wouldn’t have a pension nor monetary help from households or relations, however they’ve themselves. Now they’ve turn out to be collectors of plastic waste, which they flip into merchandise as they battle for survival – incomes cash from the rising plastic air pollution in Zimbabwe.
Such are the lives of the nation’s senior residents, like 76-year-old Tabeth Gowere and 81-year-old Elizabeth Makufa, each hailing from Harare’s Glenora high-density suburb, the place they turn out to be well-known as plastic waste collectors.
Gowere and Makufa, due to plastic waste, now take care of themselves financially regardless of their outdated age, in order that they stated.
“At first, we saw plastic waste just being flown around by the wind, and we started to pick these, cleaning the environment, burning it, but later realized we could make something out of these plastics and earn money. So, using plastic waste, we started weaving different things, including mats to decorate sofas. Many people were impressed by our work, and they started placing orders for the plastic products we were making,” Gowere instructed IPS.
Makufa, like Gowere, has additionally seen gold in the dumped plastic waste.
“We say this is waste, but from it, we find something that is helping us to sustain us in life. I make 30 US dollars daily at times from selling the products I make from plastic waste, which means at least I get something to survive,” Makufa instructed IPS.
The younger are studying from the teachings from the senior plastic waste entrepreneurs – like 40-year-old Michelle Gowere.
“Weaving things using plastics is a skill I learned from my mother-in-law, Mrs Gowere. We spend time together daily, and because of this, I ended up learning the skill from her; this is helping me to, at least, help my children with food to carry in their lunch boxes when they go to school,” Michelle instructed IPS.
To Michelle’s mother-in-law and lots of others, the atmosphere has been the secondary beneficiary of the geriatrics’ initiative gathering plastic waste.
“You would see that in our area, waste collectors from the council rarely come to empty the refuse bins. So, as we use plastic waste to make our products, we are making our environment clean,” Michelle instructed IPS.
Zimbabwe Environmental Management Agency (EMA) about 1.65 million tonnes of waste are produced yearly in Zimbabwe, with plastic making up 18 p.c of that.
However, Makufa says it was not the love of cash that swayed them into moving into plastic waste however enhancing the atmosphere.
“It was not because we lacked money that we turned to collecting plastic waste, but we copied some people who were doing it, and we started doing the same. We thought of removing plastic waste from our environment, and we told ourselves if we could take those plastics and weave them together, we could have impressive products that we could sell and earn some money,” Makufa instructed IPS.
As the group of aged individuals are making a distinction in collectively preventing plastic waste, the native authorities welcome their contribution however add that it’s all people’s accountability to take care of the atmosphere.
“The job of caring for the environment is not a responsibility of the council alone. In fact, it is the duty of everyone to make sure where they live there is cleanliness. As a council, we thank people who are beginning to realize that there is money in plastic waste. It’s not every waste that should be dumped; there is what we call recycling, and some people make money from it, but the duty to take care of our surroundings is not a prerogative of the council, but ordinary people as well,” Innocent Ruwende, Harare City Council spokesperson, instructed IPS.
Priscilla Gavi, director of Help Age Zimbabwe, a non-governmental group mandated to deal with the aged’s wants, says the aged, too, are vital in the struggle in opposition to plastic waste.
“Old age does not make someone incapable of supporting their families and taking care of themselves. It doesn’t stop the aged from working for their country. In fact, old age gives people opportunities to use skills gained during their prime ages, and they, for instance, make use of plastics, producing different things for sale from plastic waste as they also rid the environment of the plastic waste,” Gavi instructed IPS.
Yet for a lot of like Makufa, gathering plastic waste has additionally turned out to be therapeutic in addition to being an financial enterprise.
“These things that we make with our own hands using plastic waste help us to rest from mental stress owing to problems we have these days that strain us psychologically. So, this helps us to be always occupied and refrain from overthinking about things we don’t have control over,” stated Makufa.
According to the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), an estimated 1.65 million tonnes of waste are produced yearly in Zimbabwe, with plastic making as much as 18 p.c of that.
Gowere and Makufa and different aged recyclers and plastic entrepreneurs have drawn the admiration of organizations like EMA.
“This is a commendable initiative that is promoting upcycling of waste and upscaling recycling as a business. This reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills and the environment. Plastic waste takes hundreds of years to decompose, and it releases harmful toxins into the environment when burned,” Amkela Sidange, spokesperson for EMA, instructed IPS.
IPS UN Bureau Report
Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
Follow IPS News UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal supply: Inter Press Service
