Environmental Education Is Key to Solving Our Waste Problem

By 

Olumide Idowu

@OlumideIDOWU

We live in rapidly evolving societies, so why doesn't our environmental sensitization adapt/conform to these changes?’’

Williams S. Anarfi explains - environmental education is becoming increasingly important as our lives, cities and priorities change. As our cities become more congested and busy, knowledge of the impact we each have on our surroundings becomes more and more crucial. Equally important however, is our understanding of how we can contribute to protecting the environment around us.

Africa is on the verge of losing its essence and beauty to different forms of degradation especially waste pollution’’. This is dope; I think you should start your article with this statement. As we become more urbanized and the spending power of the average African rises, more goods will be consumed leading to even more waste. “The volume of waste generated on our continent is expected to double in the coming years as the size and population of its cities explode.” John Paul.

Apart from the dirty and unsightly look that heaps of wastes are giving to several cities across Africa, poor waste management is closely related to, and largely responsible for, the outbreak of diseases. In addition to its undesirable effects, the mismanagement of our waste has a long-term effect on the handling of Africa’s natural resources in the future. Recycling items like kitchen waste, paper, plastic and metals helps reduce the pollution in our environment.

The enforcement of proper waste management has a strong impact on job creation in Africa. Organizations like Recycle Points Nigeria, Wecyclers, WASCO, EnviroWaste, WasteMan are one of the few organizations in Africa that are contributing to more job creations and ultimately promoting a more sustainable global environment.

Apparently, more efficient and sustainable approaches to waste management need to be adopted. To ensure this, we need to shift emphasis towards a more localized/community based system, make use of low tech/ low energy systems and most importantly ensure waste minimization. This approach is widely practiced all over the world and very few African companies like afore mentioned have adopted these methods.

1. Waste Minimization is an approach that aims to reduce the production of waste through education and the adoption of improved production processes and less wasteful practices.
2. Recycling means to separate certain materials within the waste stream and reprocess them. Currently, the recycling of many materials is not financially viable.
3. Waste processing is the treatment and recovery (use) of materials or energy from waste through thermal, chemical, or biological means.

A waste management system is a combination of several stages in the flow of materials within a given society. All waste management systems goes through the mining stage, processing, production and consumption stages which involves the final treatment and disposal. I believe that the ultimate goal of waste management efforts should be waste minimization, however, waste processing and waste recycling play an important role in improving production processes and in dealing with ‘waste’ in a manner that is more environmentally and economically beneficial.

For us to make this happen we need to improve the educational sectors in Africa There is an urgent need for us to do more advocate for both young and old. But you know what ­- The standard of education in many parts of our continent has deteriorated terribly. Poor access to quality education at all levels – from basic primary education to university – is another serious and nagging problem across Africa.

The poor quality of government education and low investment in the education sector has put youths in a state of crisis in many African countries.

Because many Africans understand that education is one of the few bridges out of poverty, millions of poor families on the continent are desperate to find good schools for their children. However, the existing schools and training facilities are unaffordable for many people and are not even enough to cater to the needs of Africa’s large and rapidly growing population.

How do we make education more attractive? Does anyone understand why education is crucial for Africa’s growth? Should we introduce free education for all or shall we demand a fee from those that can afford it?

I invite you to be part of the solution to the waste management problem in Africa and to help and encourage others. We need to endeavor/strive for sustainable education and proper waste management for all - together we all can make a difference in our different communities.

Thank You.

Olumide Idowu is the Team Lead, 

Climate Wednesday. 

He can be contacted on 

Twitter via @OlumideIDOWU

ME, A MARKETER?

Marketing is an everyday affair as long as human life is concerned. Everyone sells something to someone. You are either selling to your parents the person you want to become after college or you are selling a fun activity to your peers or a guy trying to win a girls love and affection or trying to sell a brilliant idea to the board members of your organization or making a sales presentation to potential investors. Whichever form it takes, whether formal or informal, an item is sold (goods or services). Now a lot people think marketing and sales is rocket science and so, some have built this giant image about marketing in their mind. These and lots more have left some thinking that some people where born to be marketers while others are not.

To help you build confidence in yourself and also have a breakthrough in your marketing career, here are a few tips which I believe would set you up on your journey as a marketer.    

1. Know yourself; Ever heard of the phrase ‘Oh man, know thy self’? Self awareness is one of the key factors in making success in your career as a marketer. Know your strength and weaknesses, know what motivates and inspires you to succeed. You cannot achieve success as a marketer with your confidence nose diving
2. Know your organization; A broad understanding of the source of your products/services is a major determining factor in your success as a marketer. Carry out a SWOT analysis of your organization. And know the direction in which your employer is leading the organization. This information will arm you for your customers, because sometimes, customers want to test your knowledge about your organization.
3. Know your product; You do not need a soothsayer to tell you that a full understanding of your product/services increases your confidence in actually selling that particular item. Every product has characteristics and behavior. As a marketer, you must understand these various features and characteristics in order to make sales
4. Know your competition; who has a similar product like yours? Whose product can serve as a substitute to yours? Whose product is of the same quality as yours? Know what your competition is doing, how they are doing it, with what resources are they doing it and why are they succeeding over you. Then device means to eliminate competition and gain more market shares
5. Know your market and your customer; This is one of the most important aspect of marketing; who is buying your product/services, what is their lifestyle, what is their spending power, what are their values, customs and traditions that you need to respect. Take your time to study them and familiarize yourself with them.

A proper and effective market segmentation will help you position yourself, gain market control, increase sales and increase your profit. As a marketer, you cannot stop doing market segmentation because the market is very dynamic and ever changing. You must proactively develop and innovate new ways to stay above your competition, involve your customers in the sales process and maintain your relevance in the market.

In conclusion, everyone is a marketer, whether great or small, old or young, male or female including you. If anyone can succeed in marketing, you can.

LESSONS AN INDIAN BOY TAUGHT ME

I have read books and practised leadership from my teenage years, but this little boy inspires a different level of leadership in me. His determination to make a difference in a system that cared less and a society that was characterized by selfishness, nonchalance, mediocrity and greed inspires in me the need to take the lead in effecting positive change.

CLICK ON THE LINK TO WATCH VIDEO

 https://youtu.be/GPeeZ6viNgY?si=_UBRLM-DF-jYxzRH

THERE WAS A PROBLEM;

Things weren’t working as normal and no one seemed to care about it; Do you work in an organization where things aren’t going smoothly as it should, do you come from a family that seem to be careless about certain things they should take rather seriously, or you live in a society that has accepted the life of mediocrity? If you find yourself in such a system as I have, you would notice that people aren’t usually very happy about the situation they have found themselves, but they can’t do anything or so they would think. But this boy is someone you would call a maverick (one who sees things differently from others). What did he do?

• He saw the situation and was exasperated by it
• He analyzed the situation and identified the root cause of the problem 
• He didn’t complain, whine, lament or turn a blind eye (which was the major problem) to the problem like the others in the same area
• He asked himself the most important question under the circumstance, ‘What can I do to solve the problem?

THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM;

People respond differently to problems and situations around them; some complain bitterly, others blame the government, the weather, the system, their family background, the economic situation or any other external factor not realizing that the major challenge is not the external forces but the internal weaknesses that we accept as our reality. The bitter truth is that, things are meant to go wrong; people change, government and organizational policies fail, systems that may have lasted for decades fall apart. Rather than sit back and wait and look for whom to blame and criticize, we can be proactive enough to do what this little boy did. He focused his attention on finding a solution to the problem. The only answer that made sense to him was ‘I can move this tree out of the way’. What a stupid thing to do right?

Printivo launches Reseller program to help graphic designers, event planners, photographers and other middle men earn from the platform.

Press Release

Lagos, Thursday, January 07, 2016.

Nigeria’s innovative online printing company Printivo.com today launched Printivo For Resellers, a platform that allows print brokers, designers, photographers, event planners, marketers, freelancers and creative agencies order in bulk and on behalf of the end user. Printivo for Resellers allows individuals or firms to create and order print products on its platform and earn as high as 20% discount all year round subject to terms and condition.

Printivo which announced its six figure series A funding from EchoVC Partners last year after its launch in 2014 is now opening the platform up for creative professionals and anyone who order print products on behalf of their clients with focus on helping small businesses order print faster, cheaper and better via its web2print platform and get amazing discounts.

'We launched Reseller to help graphic designers, freelancers, photographers and other creative professionals order print products for their customers and still make a great margin on each order.With Printivo for resellers, creative professionals can ship printed products directly to their clients, get constant discounts, free sample packs and a dedicated account executive. What this means is that they can focus on the most important part of their business while Printivo takes care of the printing and logistics'. Says Olu’yomi Ojo, CEO of Printivo.

Printivo currently offers free online templates, design support, a custom upload service, nationwide delivery and a fast turnaround with products ranging from business cards, letterheads, flyers, envelopes, and posters to gift products like custom photo mugs, notepads, paper bags and wedding gift items. Customers can order almost any kind of print on the website by selecting from its large database of free editable templates or by uploading their own print ready designs. Printivo then prints and ship the ready-made design to the customer.

'We are expanding our product categories to meet the rapid increase in demand and cover products that our customers would love to order. The idea is to ensure small scale businesses never have to worry about anything print again' Concludes Oluyomi Ojo.

While the reseller programme attracts an annual membership fee of Twenty thousand Naira (N20,000), it is currently free to sign up for the next one year, Printivo believes this will help creative professionals get value from the platform.

To opt in, interested reseller applies on Printivo’s website. Printivo’s reseller team reviews the application and approves the reseller if he meets all criteria. To learn more about Printivo For Resellers visit; www.printivo.com/reseller