Commemorate World Environment Day

Embrace green initiatives for planet Earth: addressing the climate change caused by discarded pure water sachets through craft and economic empowerment. Every year on June 5th, World Environment Day reminds us of our shared duty to safeguard our ecosystems, from our backyards and local communities to the bustling streets of villages and urban centers across Nigeria. One of the most apparent threats to this duty is the improper disposal of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), commonly known as "Pure Water" sachets, which we encounter daily, step over, yet hardly consider finding a lasting solution for. After consuming the water, these small polythene bags are carelessly carried away by the wind in millions each day, littering our streets and ending up in gutters, block waterways, causing flash floods, environmental hazards, and simultaneously creating breeding grounds for diseases, thereby threatening local infrastructure, especially during the rainy season. We must recognize that a single sachet can persist for over a decade without degrading due to its non-biodegradable nature; thus, more hands are needed to transform them into functional and durable products.

Drainage Blocked by Pure Water Sachets

At AMG Fit-Out Social Enterprises, we believe the solution lies not just in cleaning up waste, but in shifting toward a circular economy. Our aim has been to transform this environmental hazard into beautiful, structural, and artistic products. We collect the waste, wash and sanitize it, then dry and cut it into sizes durable for stands or yarn for final production. The methods used for crafting these items are adopted from traditional basketry and craft techniques that require significant skill, innovation, and creativity. Our framework is built on a double bottom line mission: achieving financial sustainability while addressing a critical societal problem. Nothing is wasted, and nothing is burned or pollutes the air. The items we produce include baskets, pillows, foot mats, and sun-protected cowboy hats. The yarn or polythene strands are used for various purposes, including finishing garden chairs, due to their high-tensile, weather-resistant weaving material suitable for outdoor furniture.

Basket Made from Empty Pure Water Sachets

The most crucial message we wish to convey to the public is that every garden chair finishing or basket we create incorporates over 1,700 and 850 pieces of empty pure water sachets, respectively, all neatly bound into a useful and beautiful household product. Now, let us imagine those same 1,700 and 850 sachets not woven into garden chair finishing or baskets, but instead carelessly discarded on the streets without control. Consider the following consequences:

1. Blocked Drains: These 1,700 and 850 sachets are sufficient to completely clog a standard drainage channel, instantly halting water flow.
2. Local Flooding: After even moderate rainfall, the blocked drainage will overflow, transforming a street into a stream and flooding nearby homes, shops, and schools, potentially causing damage.
3. Breeding Ground for Diseases: Scattered throughout the neighborhood, these non-biodegradable sachets, trapping stagnant rainwater, will become mini-breeding pools for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, increasing the spread of waterborne diseases.
4. Choked Waterways: These sachets will travel from streets to rivers, harming fish and birds, and eventually reaching the oceans.
5. Permanent Eyesore: Even after 10 years or more, these sachets will not disappear; they will break into micro plastics, poisoning the soil and water. Farming becomes difficult, and if accidentally consume by roaming livestock, it can lead to animal illness and economic loss for farmers.

Every month, AMG Fit-Out removes a significant number of empty sachets from the streets in the communities where we work, particularly in our immediate areas where residents bring them for up-cycling. This effort has significantly reduced drainage blockages, leading to less flooding and a decrease in malaria cases. Thus, every sachet you manage is a flood and disease you are preventing. Recycling need not be complicated or expensive; it must be done to sanitize the environment and create jobs.

Therefore, AMG Fit-Out Social Enterprises seeks your cooperation from every community on this year's World Environment Day, focusing on three key actions:

First: Never discard a pure water sachet on the ground. Kindly find a way to utilize them, or if you are nearby, we can collect and up-cycle them to keep the environment clean.

Second: Purchasing any of our products signifies that you are preventing millions of empty pure water sachets from littering the environment. By doing so, you are choosing a flood-free society.

Third: Please help us spread this model in your schools, workplaces, or communities to educate students and others, towards encouraging a neighborhood free from floods and diseases.

Garden Chairs (finishing from empty pure water sachets)

Friends, let us join hands. The government alone cannot solve all the climate challenges we face, and we cannot wait to have advanced technology to address our environmental issues. The solution is in our hands; every sachet we recycle solves thousands of problems. Small actions, multiplied by millions, can build an effective circular economy and simultaneously address community challenges. We hope this will marks a turning point, transforming empty pure water sachets from drainage blockers to beautiful products in our society.

Aminu Musa Gusau. PhD, CNA, NIM, MAAETL writes from Gusau, Zamfara State. [email protected]

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