As part of environmental sustainability and sanitation, a Not-for-profit organisation, Oando Foundation, has reached out to Metropolitan School, Orile-Igamnu and the community for training on how to turn waste into wealth through recycling. as part of their ‘Clean our World Initiative’.
The training programme is part of the Foundation’s ‘Clean our World Initiative’ through which it supports basic education, access and quality. The initiative is funded by Sumitomo Chemicals, Japan and implemented by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF).
The major objective of the recycling exercise, according to officials of the Foundation, is to impact attitudinal change among members of the public and also on how to create valuable products from waste.
While speaking at the training hosted at the Metropolitan Nursery and Primary school, the organisers disclosed that they chose Orile-Igamnu community as part of their continuous relationship with the school which is under their adoption.
Balikis Balogun, lead environmental education at NCF, noted that the main aim of the training was to impart attitudinal change towards waste management.
“We want to teach the students and the community that waste is not waste until it is totally wasted. There are some things that you consider waste but can still be converted and used as another product.
Read also: Sovereign Insurance extends CSR to arts and culture space
“The Nylon that we discard after we buy things or use them can still be converted into something meaningful, thereby having a useful effect on the environment and reducing the number of nylons on the environment, knowing that they don’t decompose even after many years,” Balogun said.
However, the foundation noted that they were able to achieve this training by leveraging on the expertise of Plastic Evolution, a recycling company, to implement the project, as they taught villagers and teachers of Metropolitan School how to convert Nylon to Box and other useful products.
Caroline Iwuajoku, the Assistant Head Teacher of Metropolitan Nursery and Primary School, explained that the exercise has assisted in keeping the school compound clean and imparting knowledge on the students and teachers too.
“Since the Foundation visited the school, we have started teaching the students how to make use of Nylon to produce products and they have started picking up and that will help them to be useful in their family and the society; they can also use it to produce what they can even sell to make money,” Iwuajoku said.
Balogun also noted that the training will serve as a source of income to the community if they embrace it, thereby creating employment.
Ademola Fashina, the school Based Management Committee Chairman, stated that the community has learnt a lot from the programme as explained that a community member was now utilizing the programme as a source of livelihood.
