The dilution of life.

After ICT training class, myself and Segun decided to walk down to his office instead of taking a bus ..a small exercise as some would say. The walk was good but there was one problem ..he wanted to strip down. "Lara I feel like striping down", Segun said. "You want to do what"? I quickly replied "Please do not strip at all o. You want everyone to see how God made you, please do not even unbuckle your belt" I said. "But the weather is so hot that you can fry an egg under this sun, it was not like this year's back" he said. Well, it's true that it was not like this year's back but everything is evolving around us, so it would not be too bad if the weather evolved as well. Would it?

Many people are quick to say the earth would repair itself, but not this time because we have gone beyond the point of the earth repairing itself. We need to join the earth to repair itself. Climate change is a core effects of environmental pollution. Climate change is a result of our day-to-day actions with regards to utilization of resources.  

However it is well known that tree planting can handle air pollution. The belief is that trees take in those toxic compounds and releases clean air, but that is not all that happens. Trees use energy from the sun to convert CO2 (from the atmosphere using its leaves) and water from the soil for the process of photosynthesis. The energy formed is stored in the form of carbohydrate ( sugar). When the leaves absorbs toxic gases alongside, it results in necrosis (death) on the leaves and stomata. Obviously when the leaves die, photosynthesis has been altered.  So why plant trees if the atmosphere is filled with toxic gases that would stop their growth? 
However, we keep planting trees yet we endorse open burning of waste at dump sites. Many dump sites situated along roadside are also burnt openly with large and small scale industries situated in residential areas releasing  toxic compounds daily. With power outage always, everyone is forced to use a generator. Studies have linked this level of air pollution in the environment to mortality rate and life expectancy as this toxic fumes are inhaled. 

Earlier this year, about 13 pupils in a school in Ogba (*name withheld*) collapsed in their classroom and were rushed to the hospital because they inhaled a toxic gas that was released from one of the small scale industries ( photo lab) around the school. Report has it that this was the second time in 6 months. Was the first one not enough to close down the photo laboratory or ask them to relocate? Where the enforcement authorities seen behind camera after the incident? How long will the trees keep taking in all the toxic gases that are released? How long will the government remain complacent with emission policies for industries and small scale business? How long would open dump site be our own method of disposal of waste? When would we stop killing ourselves "small small" every time we put on our generators?

Honestly I do not know but I beg to differ that tree planting in Nigeria is not worth it. Yes, its not worth it at all unless we change how we tackle climate change. Why? It is because we are using the curative method of solving climate change and not the preventive method. The preventive method would be to:

·         enforce the emission rules and regulations(which includes emission limits) for large and small scale industries especially those located within residential areas guiding the emission.

·         Open burning of waste by the road side or in dump site should be prohibited.

·         Waste disposal methods should also be review by the authorities

·         Power generation needs to be stable or else air pollution continua.

  

I found this quote that explains it all " The value of life will suffer a dilution If we do not fight air pollution". Have a lovely week and remember..give a hoot don not pollute.

 Photo credit: Google images

Disposal of money into dustbins..

"I am hungry". I said this as I walked home with my siblings from 4pm lesson in our primary school. I just needed food. It was on this same day that my mum taught me and my siblings a practical lesson on food waste. We got home and had our meal for the day which was something that looked like eba but did not taste like eba..but we ate it all. Few hours after the food has digested, my mum decided to tell us this :

"I am sure you enjoyed your food from the way you ate. However I would like to inform you that the meal you just finished is a combination of amala, eba and semo".

That was exactly how she said it and she smiled hard. She went on to explain that all the amalas, ebas and semos she makes for us that we do not finish, she kept them  in the deep freezer to preserve it. Inquisitive children like us asked her how she made it? Did she just warm them and mix them together? She gladly replied:

" I just broke them (frozen amala,semo and eba) into boiling water and added more garri to it so that you would not taste you the combination".

 And that was how we made sure we finished our food always...well not always.

Everyday people throw money into the garbage bins. Food waste is the highest amount of waste generated developing countries irrespective of the obvious presence of plastics. According to UNEP ( United Nations Environment Programme) each year one third of all food produced ends up in the bins of consumers, retailers, farmers and transporters. This results in a total of 1.3 billion tones of spoilt food with a worth estimated at $1 trillion every year. The presence of rotten food in the bins generates methane gas which is one of the green house gas that is responsible for climate change. We can agree that something needs to be done about the amount of money thrown in the bin yearly and its effect on the environment.  As a consumer you have a role to play in reducing food waste in your own small way and you can do it by following this few tips:

•         After eating, leftovers should be packed a placed in the fridge. Sometimes laziness may set in especially at night, do make an effort to clear up the kitchen.  Leftovers can be reheated on nights you choose not to cook (next day- jollof rice taste really good when reheated)
•      Cook what you and your family can finish. Even if you have to add extra for those who want more, do not over shoot it.

•          Excess purchases should stop. Supermarkets encourage excess purchases with their buy-one-get-two-free promos which makes people buy more than what they need. If you have to partake in such promos make sure you do a food stock inventory so you do not have excess at home.

•           Store you food  stuff properly. Perishable food items like fruits and vegetables should be consumed within few days even if they are stored in refrigerators to increase their shelf life. Storage areas should be well aerated

•           Do not burn your food. Burnt food is a waste.

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth  Executive Director Godwin Ojo rightly said that “In a world of seven billion people, set to grow to nine billion by 2050, wasting food makes no sense – economically, environmentally and ethically". I could not agree more. Remember give a hoot..and do not pollute.

PS: Thank you to all who visited this blog and  those who dropped their comments. Please do drop your comments and questions ( if you have any).

We create dirty mountains...

Woow it's has been a month since any write up was posted and we apologise for that. The desire to grow and expand expertise surprisingly takes more time and strength than one ever imagines. For this we apologise again.

"Why did he do that?" I asked myself this question as I sat close to a man who felt it was proper to dispose his gala wrapper through the bus window, he must have told himself the wind would do the rest. The feeling I had on the bus is the same feeling  I  get when I see people  dispose their body waste in any corner that seems comfortable for urination and excretion.  Meeting and seeing people who do this daily make me get upset and very sad. Why ? It is simply because they are the same people who would walk by a heap of waste and complain that it is an eyesore as well as raise their voices declaring that their pathways stinks and cannot be walked upon without painting their shoe sole with faeces. Unconsciously these people who have the PDH syndrome (poor disposal habit) believe they really do not have any influence on the generation of dirt, heaps of faeces  and the stink that brews daily. Well they do!

We would  agree that these eyesores  are  not pleasing to the environment and likewise our health but if we do not change the  way we dispose our waste( paper, plastic and the human waste), these eyesores that has gradually become a culture for some people would become a welcomed stay as long as you look the other way.  Although it  is said that old habits die hard, but the truth is they still die gradually coupled with intention. New habits that could be taken up are:

·    When you buy anything  from hawkers in traffic jams aka hold up , after consumption, hold it in your hand or put in it in your bag and dispose in a bin when you get off the bus. DO NOT DISPOSE IN THE BUS OR THROUGH THE WINDOW.

·     If your urine and excretion signals are raging, increase your pace to your destination or ask for a public toilet around. Most filling stations have toilet for the public.

·    When disposing your house hold waste, pour it directly into the large bins provided at central locations. if these bins are full, dispose waste into a plastic/nylon bag, tie it tightly to prevent the spread of germs and place it close to the large bins.

·    Correct anyone who is about to display PDH syndrome or has already displayed it. DO NOT CORRECT OR EDUCATE THEM AGGRESSIVELY.

The gradual and consistent application of these four tips would go a long way to improve our disposal habits and reduce eyesores.  And always remember that you influence your environment every day, therefore make sure you ....give a hoot and dont pollute.

I found this write up funny and very interesting, people do not appreciate human body waste in heaps.... If i see one more penis

Everywhere is your corner.

It's our first post...*pops champange * and its comes with a very exciting feeling, hopefully you would feel the same way as time goes on. Well this blog is called green adugbo which literally means "green area/environment" therefore we would be discussing and exchanging ideas, methods as well simple ways to keep environment clean and safe. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading and learning new things from green adugbo.

Let's talk about our adugbo, your environment or rather the environment. Your environment goes beyond your house, your backyard or that veranda /balcony you relax in. Your environment is every place you find yourself at every point in time. Your office space, where you sit in the bus, where you set up your tent on the beach even that corner that you like in iya basira shop. Some folks say the environment is a space in time (I am guessing they have watched too many sci-fi movies) where living and non-living things interact. Now the interesting part is that this interaction causes some influence. Now how do you influence the environment and how does the environment influence you?

   

It is common knowledge that we all like a clean environment as in fresh air, clean water, clean roads aka no dirt on the highway. When we find ourselves in different environments we all want to see it clean, neat ,tidy....all the adjective that qualifies a clean place but most of us leave the place dirty. Yes we do, but why? Why do we choose to deface or rather dirty our corner/space whenever we are out of it? Little things such as dropping that pure water sachet on the floor and not in a bin, disposing refuse on the road or in the middle of the road, urinating in public and not public toilets and everywhere just stinks.

By carrying out a single act of everything listed above, you can influence your environment which includes the land, air and waters around you. As a matter of fact you can influence the environments that are not even remotely close to you. How? Well you will have to stick around to know how.

Do tell someone and another and another about this blog and you can tell us about different ways you think your adugbo has been defaced or made to look yamayama. See I am trying to influence you already.

Bye people ...and remember give a hoot, don't pollute