{"id":7789,"date":"2021-07-15T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=7789"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:31:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:31:28","slug":"why-we-must-all-join-the-reuse-recycle-bandwagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2021\/07\/15\/why-we-must-all-join-the-reuse-recycle-bandwagon\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Must All Join the Reuse & Recycle Bandwagon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Waste disposal has always been a challenge in many countries. But one Ghanaian, Jackson Nyarko, is on a mission to change the situation in his home country through his recycling venture \u2013 EcoCare Waste Initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a conservation biologist, he first threw his hat in the ring of waste management when he entered his idea in the <\/strong>Switch Africa Green \u2013 SEED Awards in 2016, a startups incubator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From an idea,\ntoday it has grown into an organisation, having partnered with his friend Frank\nYeboah (then a Credit Officer at a bank). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking note of\npoor sanitation in most neighborhoods in Accra, the duo set out to establish EcoCare\nWaste Initiative to turn the tide on poor waste management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I caught up with Jackson to shed light on his venture. Here are the excerpts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is EcoCare all about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EcoCare Waste is a low-tech recycling company with the mission\nof challenging Ghanaians wasteful paradigm and throw-away culture by giving\nvalue to waste while advocating against waste generation through use of\nalternatives. The company aims at solving Ghana\u2019s waste handling challenge through\ninnovative waste management approach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What drove you into the field of sustainability?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that improper waste disposal has been a major cause for most environmental health problems, killer diseases (like cholera) and even devastating disasters like flooding inspired me to this sector. We\u2019ve been experiencing accelerated environmental degradation, pressure on landfills as well as deforestation through indiscriminate tree-cutting and land-clearing for construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read also: E-Waste, the toxic good<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plastic waste is a headache, how is EcoCare going about ensuring\nproper management?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At EcoCare,\nwe advocate for the plastic industry to become a more circular economy. We promote\ninnovations and\/or behaviors that will keep plastics \u2013 its production and\nconsumption \u2013 almost across all its value chain; in a circular loop. Since we\ncan\u2019t completely cut off use of plastics in our daily lives, we have to reuse\nand recycle whatever is produced.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consumer\nbehaviour is at the core, an area that needs discipline, from the household\nlevel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is EcoCare\u2019s promoting better plastics management?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ecocare team members during the global climate strike<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In order to\naccomplish this daunting task, we have developed a five-module programme for\nour activities: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.Research and Development (R&D): Since 2016 we have been studying how communities operate to better understand the major environmental issues they face, available actors and solutions. Our R& D informs the kinds of prototypes we design tailored along society needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Education & Awareness: We run environmental education programmes through social and institutional campaigns and school clubs to create more awareness on environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Training & Empowerment: To be able to get more community people engaged in waste reduction, not only are we advocating them against wastes, we also run a small recycling hub in our garage. Here we train the youth and women on recycling. Through this we also recruit volunteers and activists for wider spread of our campaign message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Waste Collection & EcoEvent CleanUp: We are able to teach and demonstrate the \u201chow\u201d and \u201cimportance\u201d of waste segregation in communities when we engage in public and special events like cleanups.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Social Media: We use the internet and social media mostly to reach out to the elite citizens and youth especially; and we use digital inclusion (e.g. print and online media) to advocate against plastic pollution. We are pushing for the replacement of single use plastic carrier bags with sustainable alternatives.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What factors do you consider when coming up with a\nsustainability initiative or campaign?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a company that seeks to make circular thinking the bedrock for environmental sustainability \u2013 the integral part of all our initiatives is that they must follow the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) business model of people, planet and profit. When reviewing the impact of our initiatives each must demonstrate a reasonable balance of the economic, social and environment aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, all our initiatives must positively impact people, planet and make profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What challenges has EcoCare faced in its waste management drive?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowledge\nand expertise gap stands out, so does a slow change in culture and funding\ngaps. We have a big vision \u2013 and sometimes getting resourceful people to\nimplement the idea proves difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working on behavior change initiatives requires reinforcements from consistent advocacies. My co-founder and I had to quit our jobs to invest 100 percent of our time to build EcoCare, while the rest of team members contributed part-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funding\nis also a great challenge.  The paradox\nis that while everyone sees such social initiatives as EcoCare\u2019s fight against\nhumans\u2019 wasteful paradigm, a good deed to humanity, it is not easy to attract\ninvestors and partners for scaling up. Usually, not everyone sees the potential\nimpact of such initiatives in the short term. And it may not look lucrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your biggest concern about Africa\u2019s ability or lack thereof to create a more sustainable world?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not in doubt that the African continent is probably the\nworld\u2019s richest in mineral reserves as well as biodiversity. Therefore it could\nbe a big catalyst for engineering a sustainable world. In my experience as a\nconservationist, I see a \u201csustainable world\u201d to be one that can sustain harmonious\nco-existence of all life forms while maintaining a near perfect balance between\nproduction and consumption of the earth\u2019s resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So with Africa having such rich resources probably more than\nanywhere else on the planet, then it serves as the bedrock for re-creating the sustainable\nworld which we all want. It is either, we the custodians figure out how to\nwield the power on these riches we sit on, to help recreate that sustainable world,\nor we keep messing with it. And worse, allow others to grab and replant it in\ntheir own parts of the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What advice would you offer those seeking to create sustainable\nchange?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always think circular in designing your business. If you really had passion for it in the first place, then do whatever it takes to make that change happen. Now, this may sound unrealistic for a startup \u2013 but still go out there and give it a try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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