Advocacy for Waste Management: Realization by Churches in Kenya for Improved Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

Waste management encompasses management of all processes and resources for proper handling of waste materials, from maintenance of waste transport trucks and dumping facilities to compliance with health codes and environmental regulations. Public awareness is key to successful waste management. A critical component in any waste management program is public awareness and participation, in addition to appropriate legislation, strong technical support, and adequate funding. Waste is the result of human activities and everyone needs to have a proper understanding of waste management issues, without which the success of even the best conceived waste management plan(s) becomes questionable. (NCBI, 2015) The need to manage waste in such a way that it does not affect our health and our environment is quite a new concept in many countries, especially in the rapidly growing urban centres of the developing world. The lack of awareness can be immense in some cases, and this is reflected in the lack of resources allocated to set up robust waste management systems (WHO, 2015). Rapid population growth especially puts an enormous strain on the sanitation and solid waste management capacities of cities, more so in the developing world where such infrastructure is already weak or stretched (WHO, 2016). According to the WHO (2016) report, all stakeholders need to work together at global and local levels for advocacy and project implementation as well as for raising awareness on urbanization in order to maintain environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability involves the capability to maintain the qualities that are valued in the physical environment such as human life, living conditions for people and other species (e.g. clean water and air, a suitable climate), the quality of life for all people as well as the live-ability and beauty of the environment. Threats to these aspects of the environment mean that there is a risk that these things will not be maintained (Sutton, 2004). The goal of the environmental sustainability is to promote sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems. These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival.