My Recycling Practices: The Struggle and Hope for a Greener Tomorrow

Recycling is an important aspect that ought to be taken with utmost seriousness; unfortunately, it isn't in this part of the world, even though it's one thing that usually stirs me up, not because I've mastered the art of recycling, but because I know how much more I could do, yet I'm not doing it. It isn't because I'm not willing to indulge in recycling practice; I'll say it's mostly down to the system we have in place here in my country, that's even if we have one, so here I'll be talking extensively about my recycling practice and everything that revolves around it below.

Down here in my country, Nigeria, one of the many practices that isn't mainstream is recycling, although lately some private organizations are coming up that are into this, but we don't have a reliable, consistent recycling system here. To make it more understandable, waste management is a big issue in this part of the world; people literally dump waste everywhere without caring how it impacts the environment or what they can benefit from it if properly recycled. In a nation where waste isn't properly managed, what's the assurance that it'll be better sorted for recycling, unlike top world countries where different waste is dumped in different bins, such as plastic, glass, paper, and the like? Here everything is dumped into one bin, and I must say that I'm no saint either, because I do the same.

Although I won't say I'm entirely bad when it comes to recycling, at least I still try to make some small effort when I can, from sometimes recycling my old clothes that aren't my size again to recycling them for children's wear, such as skirts or boxers, and something for other users within the house. I also do save plastic bottles, which I often use to reserve water in the fridge to chill and keep others with the hope of giving my junior brother that has a connection with a recycling company. I remember he once told me he sold certain quantities to them in return for some money, so helping him reserve them is another way of helping him without directly giving him money.

Aside from the fact that we had a people need to learn to dispose of waste properly, I also believe that one way to promote proper waste disposal is the government incentivizing different waste disposal like it's done in some top world countries. Imagine you drop some cans or waste into an electronic waste bin, and you get cash or a coupon card that can be used to pay for some of your shopping anywhere. Doing this will not only make people dispose of waste properly, in my opinion, but also encourage cleanliness, because most people would go as far as cleaning the environment where they regularly ignore how waste is disposed of anyhow so they can use that waste to get some incentive that can be used to buy other necessities.

Why I mostly don't sort out different waste into different bins is because, one, it'll clutter my space; having multiple bins isn't something a minimalist like me would like; also, even if I sort them into different places, they'll all be disposed of into the same van when the garbage vehicles come around to take them, but like I said, had such an incentive been in place and awareness made for people to know, it'll go a long way in making our environment clean and as well getting needed waste in one place.

But then, like I said, it's been a while since I last indulged in recycling. I think the last I did was repairing my spoiled shoe a year ago. Aside from that, it's me helping my brother to gather plastic bottles so he can give them to private companies that buy them, and he'll be paid for doing that, but I really hope the government will key into what can be done and generated from recycling to further better our income as a nation and improve the economy ultimately.

All photos are taken and edited on canva.