MINI-DUMPING SITES A THREAT TO OUR ENVIRONMENT

This is Juatenda Competition Essay First Runners Up by Fleare Medza Mtana. The Overall Best will be published next week. Read on

MINI-DUMPING SITES A THREAT TO OUR ENVIRONMENT

Chuka University is a learning institution that has seen its growth in a now hundred year old town, Chuka Town. The university has attracted lots of investors therefore raising the economic standards of the society. The locals have not been left behind as they too hail the birth of the learning institution from the farmers, to hostel owners, hotel industry name them. Since the school started from being a polytechnic to now a fully certified University, the number of students’ enrollment has enormously increased.

It is said that everything that has advantages, got its disadvantages too and I would say the same too. The fast growing university is becoming a major threat to the environment without our notice. As the numbers increase, more hostels and rental rooms for learners are constructed this means more land is being cleared for putting up buildings, more trees are cut for construction and more earth bricks are being made.

However that is just a tip of an iceberg, one most important component that I would address is refuse disposal. In most of the hostels, the caretakers and the landlords are creating mini-dumping sites where students can get rid of their waste materials. The picture below is an example of a mini-dumping site.

Such mini dumping sites are used as solution to avoiding littering everywhere but in the long run they will cause more damage than good.  

First it is that the students who are provided with such areas dispose any type of waste into the pits and sometimes the stay for a long time before burning the dirt. This then becomes messy especially during windy days. Some of the materials that are disposed are then blown away into other areas. An example is a pad below that has been blown away to a different area.

             It is evident that the user had not planned to dispose it to such a place but because of the open pits this area is being forced to welcome this foreign material.

Another problem that arising from such mini dumping sites is that in some of the students residential they are becoming such huge humps of dirt. A dumping site like the Dandora dumping site must have started this way, at one time it must have been a small place for throwing garbage before it became a huge dirty and filthy hill. In Chuka next to the school’s male hostels there is one of such mini-dumping site that is now growing higher and higher and if left unattended it may grow to become a huge dumping site.

This trend is spreading across the school environment and even the market has not been left behind. Businesses are booming and salonists, barbers and vegetable sellers too have their own mini dumpsites. Waste matters such as hair, vegetable waste are being thrown in the open since there are no dustbins for collecting the provided by the municipal council.

The issues with such mini dumping sites is that some may be left to fill for long periods causing hygienic problems or even rotting producing a foul smell adding up to air pollution.

In addition as the rainy season begins, more harm is expected from these sites. They become breeding grounds for harmful insects such as houseflies which spread germs and diseases.

Burning of plastic materials such as bottles and polythene bags pollutes cause air pollution. These issues can be addressed in different ways.  First it is to remind students what dangers lie ahead of them and the dangers of disposing garbage in such a manner. Plastic bottles can be reused especially by the local milk vendors who use polythene bags to pack milk for their customers instead of throwing them.

Students are known to be using beverages such as soda and alcoholic drinks. The glass bottles that are out of use should be collected and taken back to the industries for recycling.

Students should also organize with the locals on a safer method of disposing organic materials. Organic matter such as vegetables and food left over can be used as animal feeds since most locals are livestock keepers. Such materials can be used to feed animals such as goats, cows, dogs, chicken and pigs. Organic material can also be used as manure for the farms when left to decompose. Papers can then be burnt as they have been disposed to avoid them from being spread to other areas.

Students should learn to separate different refuse to make this easier for the land to be maintained as it had been before and to conserve the environment.

Our environment is our responsibility and as university students we ought to be role models to the society. We should manage our ways of disposing waste if we want to keep a clean county and a clean town. It demands cooperation and commitment from all residents and passion to see that we live in a clean area. Dirt should not be a normal culture that we are used to.

This article addresses the whole country since as a country we have not all adapted the culture of proper waste disposal. As this campaign addresses my county I would also like to encourage all citizens to take into consideration such methods and keep our country clean.