Protect environment, Nema advises students

By Michael Oriedo

 The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has urged students to help in recycling household waste.

Nema said waste management starts at the household where students can help parents by ensuring garbage is disposed and thereafter recycled.

Speaking at the Ribena Recycling Campaign in Nairobi, Nema director general Ayub Macharia called on students to participate in waste management to preserve the environment.

 

Recycling

 

The three-month long campaign dubbed Ribena Kids Always Recycle aims to encourage children to embrace recycling of waste.

“Nema recognises that recycling is an important exercise in the maintenance of a healthy environment. If children start to learn this early, then it will become part of their responsibility as they grow up. Therefore, we would have a cleaner environment,” said Macharia.

The campaign, by Nema, GlaxoSmithKline and Tetra Pak targets 80 primary and kindergarten schools in Nairobi. The pupils are educated on the significance of recycling and keeping of the environment clean.

Pupils in participating schools collect used Ribena cartons, which will be recycled. The winning school will get Sh50,000.

So far, pupils have collected 6,000 packets, which will be recycled into roofing material.

“We would like to see more students involved in environmental conservation and in particular, waste recycling. This would help in preserving our natural resources,” said GlaxoSmithKline East Africa, General Manager Ciru Miringu.