General News of Monday, 29 April 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Children empowered to avoid littering the environment

Sanitation is a major challenge in the country Sanitation is a major challenge in the country

The Association of Spouses of Heads of Mission has organised a programme to empower children of the Jamestown Community against indiscriminate littering of the environment, especially with plastic waste.

The programme by the Association, in collaboration with the Jamestown Café and the Environmental Group Plastic Punch, forms part of efforts to observe the 2019 World Earth Day.

The children were encouraged to buy their foods in herbal leaves instead of polythene and drink from calabashes as a way of staying healthy and saving the environment from plastic waste.

A documentary was shown to empower them to serve as ambassadors against littering, which also cautioned commercial vehicles against sweeping off waste onto the streets.

Other activities to commemorate the Earth Day was to promote total solar usage, elimination of the use of plastics, and the segregation of wastes into recyclable ones and those for compost.

Mrs Teresa Barnes, the President of the Association, and wife of the Australian High Commissioner, said: “As spouses of Heads of Mission here in Ghana, we believe it is important to lead by example”.

She said the children were being sensitized to promote the fight against indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste because they could educate their parents and peers by their actions.

“They can also inculcate the habit of maintaining proper sanitation in the upcoming generations,” Mrs Barnes said.

“We are honoured to participate in this event with like-minded individuals and organisations that share our mission for the environment and we believe that such small steps taken are important and can be transformative”.