Plastic waste menace
Till 1983, when the wild fire which gutted the forest reserves in Ghana.
Food vendors used plants leaves popularly known as "agwonomoo" or "Ntenteremma" or Fiito in frafra to wrap food for both the young and the aged. This practice was enjoyed by everybody. However, this was shattered as the plant species were gutted by a serious wild fire in 1983. As an alternative measure, the food vendors resorted to the use of paper bags to wrap food .But this was short lived as the papers were easily soaked with oil and eventually got torn.
They then shifted from the use of papers to polythene bags (Plastics).
So now the use of plastics has come to stay and are being used for domestic, commercial, agricultural purposes. The use of plastics is posing serious environmental, health and Economic problems which must be addressed.
It is against this background that this posting is made to sensitize you on this menace. Where do plastic waste come from? Food vendors,Market women, Hospitals,Churches, Domestic,Schools Etc. what makes plastics different from pepper bags and leaves? They are: Non biodegradable, Flexible with high tensile strength, Malleable when subjected to heat.

Problems of plastic waste
ENVIRONMENTAL
Chocking of gutters/Drains
Floods
Destroys the beauty of the environment
Degrades the soil quality
Pollutes water bodies
Toxic to goats and sheep
Pollutes the atmosphere when they are burnt

HEALTH
Breeding grounds for mosquitoes
Carriers of pathogens
When burnt the smoke may contain dioxins and SO2

ECONOMIC
Let the population of the Methodist Church in Sunyani Diocese be 47,000 (Reference 2014 conference Agenda)
Supposing every body drinks 3 sachets of H2O a day 47,000 * 3 = 141,000
Female members (30,000)go the mkt : 30,000* 3 = 90,000 plastics.
Total = 141,000+90,000 =
Grand Total 231,000 plastics
Financial loss to the individuals and the MMDAs
Economic implication
Lets consider a family of 5,
Each consumes a 0.8 pesewas worth of H2O
It means 0.8*5 = GHC 4.0
In a year we will spend = 4 * 365 = GHC 1,460.00
MARKET
If the woman spends GHC 1 on polythene bags per day, in a yr she will spend = GHC 365.00
This means in a yr they will spend GHC = 1,825.00

The way forwwrd
Management of plastic wastes in Ghana has always been a challenge due to its inability to biodegrade.
The following are being recommended:
The 4R principles

R =Reduce
All the vegetables can be put in one polythene instead of separate bags
R = Reuse
Eg reuse for nursery, wash and reuse when going to the mkt

R = Recycle (We can recycle by sending them to appropriate factories
R = Re-think
Re-think when discarding polythene such as Insu rubber
Put them in litter bins

Lets use the pulpit to sensitize our members of this menace
Buy litter bins around chapels to discourage littering
Lets segregate our waste from source
Use biodegradable products (buy drinks in paper bags instead of plastics)
Do not burn plastics

Cleanliness they say is next to godliness so we need to tidy up our premises
We are stewards of Gods property and we will one day be called to give an account on our stewardship
M = Manage
A = Admire
N = Nature

Signed Nsoh Godfred Ayineloya (Vugah)
NSP- EPA- Bechem-Sunyani