An environmental sustainability group, Let’s Do It World (LDIW), is set to muster millions of volunteers globally ahead of the 2022 World Cleanup Day.
The group disclosed this in a statement signed by its network coordinator for Africa, Mr Gafar Odubote, on Friday, September 16, 2022, in Lagos.
The World Cleanup Day is the outcome of a massive volunteer initiative, pioneered in Estonia in 2008, where 50,000 volunteers cleaned their homes in five hours.
Let’s Do It World is a non-governmental organisation that coordinates and supports the global movement, inspiring and empowering leaders to raise awareness and move countries towards sustainable solutions.
This year’s commemoration is slated for Sept.17 and millions of volunteers in 191 countries will unite to clean their countries of waste pollution in a single day.
The group said: “The global civic-led action will unite local communities worldwide battling with the challenges of mismanaged waste, such as litter and illegal dumpsites, which is tarnishing their beaches, rivers, forests, and streets.”
Heidi Solba, President and Head of global network of (LDIW), noted that the “World Cleanup Day harnesses the power of people around the world to achieve incredible things by coming together for a waste-free world that will change the course of human history.
“The World Cleanup Day demonstrates how people in local communities can unite with a singular objective of making their environment clean and waste-free,”
The group said it would mark the day in Nigeria by cleaning up Akoka community in Lagos.
According to the group, Green Talk, a talk to sensitise residents on sustainable lifestyle and preservation of the environment, is one of the activities lined up for the clean-up exercise.
In a related development, the Centre for Water and Environment Development (CWED), an NGO, has organised a massive clean up of Unguwan Kanawa community in Kaduna, as part of activities to mark the World Cleanup Day.
Residents trooped out to participate in the clean up exercise on Friday.
The Programme Manager of CWED, Mrs Doris Zakama, expressed appreciation to the residents for joining the clean up exercise, meant to enhance sanitation and environmental hygiene.
Zakama, represented by Lydia Saleh, explained that the environment and water resources have a dual relationship and both were essential to human livelihood and sustainable development.
She said environmental cleanliness was necessary as humans generate massive waste daily, which if not cleaned, pollute the environment.
“They will pollute the nearby lakes, ponds and water holes, resulting in water pollution and the growth of harmful bacteria and insects that affect the people,” she said.
According to her, solid wastes are also deposited in the surrounding area, harming human, animals and birds.
Zakama added that uncleared plastic waste clog the drainage system and emit harmful gases and deadly insects such as mosquitos, resulting in the spread of viral diseases such as malaria.
She, therefore, said cleaning the environment of wastes would create hygienic and healthy
environment, as such it was important for people to always make their homes and environment cleaner and greener.
Zakama encouraged residents to embrace the idea of organising periodic clean up exercises in the community for the benefit of their health and families.
In his comment, the District Head of Unguwan Kanawa, Alhaji Usman Ibrahim, thanked CWED for the clean up exercise and urged members of the community to embrace the initiative.
A youth leader in the community, Abubakar Muhammad-Bakura, assured that they would sustain the environmental clean up exercise.
Muhammad-Bakura said they would mobilise the youths to undertake door-to-door sensitisation on the importance of environmental hygiene.
“This gesture in our community by CWED will kick start a new approach to environmental hygiene, we will endeavour to make sure Unguwan Kanawa becomes a dirt-free community,” he said.
By Mercy Omoike and Sani Idris
