World Environment Day - operation keep my town clean campaign to beat plastic pollution

On the occasion of World Environment Day celebrated every 5th June, Dr Tumasang Swiri Foundation and Kids for Kids Cameroon are organising a campaign to end plastic pollutiion. The campaign named operation children keep my town clean is part of the activities to #beat plastic pollution#

Our environment has been for many years polluted by plastic waste. We move about and see our gutters blocked, flooding, streets littered etc due to the abusive disposal of plastic waste.

Our initiative seeks to put an end to this problem. In my country, many NGOs focus their attention on solving the plastic pollution problem by addressing adults and taking decisions without including everyone. They often forget the kids.

Our initiative is important because, it focuses on children.

Most often parents sit at home and send their children to go and dispose of their garbage. They don't even educate the children on where and how to dispose of it. The children end up throwing them in gutters or on the streets.

Secondly, children are not adequately informed about the harm plastic can have on the environment. They do not know that plastic are non degradable and as such should not be thrown anywhere.

That is why on the Sunday 4th June, we are going to organise an educative talk and a keep our environment clean campaign with kids.

The aim of this project is to

- educate children on the dangers of plastics in our environment and teach them about proper ways to dispose of plastic waste

- keep our environment clean by picking up all the plastic waste on the streets in our neighborhood and those blocking gutters.

Our project targets kids age 3 to 15 and we hope to assemble 100kids in my neighborhood(Cité Verte-Yaounde). Every child will be given a pair of gloves, a rake and a big bag. Under the supervision of volunteers of the foundation, we are going to go around and pick up all the plastic waste on the streets in our neighborhood. This action will sensitise the kids and even adults that if kids can then we can. This project is sustainable as the kids will grow up avoiding to throw plastic in the environment and become environmental aware adults.

A follow up project will be to touch 2000 kids through our sensitisation campaigns.

We advocate for the complete ban of plastics bags, we also call on stakeholders to put refuse bins for plastic in various neighborhoods of the town. If every city mayor equips the various quarters in their jurisdiction with recycle bins for plastics, this will greatly reduce plastic pollution in Cameroon.