Human and Environmental Development Agenda, a non-governmental organization, has visited major markets in the Ikeja district of Lagos State to raise awareness and educate traders about the hazards of using styrofoam and single-use plastic.
The group also provided over 500 market sellers with reusable bottles and plastics as an alternative to single-use plastics and styrofoam. In January, the state government announced intentions to ban the use and distribution of styrofoam and other single-use plastics across the state.
The decision was reached following the menace that single-use plastics, especially non-biodegradable styrofoam, were causing in the environment.
The Executive Secretary of HEDA Resource Centre, Sulaimon Arigbabu, who led the campaign to the markets, said all hands must be on deck to fight the menace of styrofoam and its negative impact on the environment.
He explained that the campaign is part of the activities to commemorate the HEDA Resource Centre’s 20th anniversary. He emphasized the importance of people having a culture of promoting alternatives like reusable water cans and plastics.
He said, “So, let’s have a behavioural change. Let’s have a culture of letting young people market, women, transporters, and different kinds of people know that plastic is an avenue to making money.
“We are not saying don’t use plastic for now. If you must use plastic instead of styrofoam, you something that can be used, washed, reused, and even changed for other uses.
“That is our culture, we don’t have a culture of waste. We don’t have a culture of using things and just throwing it away. Our culture is to use something, keep it, clean it for another time, and use something in a community knowing that another person will use it. So you use it very well.
“Then once they introduce all this plastic, all this styrofoam, we became irresponsible. Nobody’s taking responsibility for anything. Even children now don’t know how to wash plates because we are bringing them up under a culture of styrofoam. Just use it and throw it away.
Reacting, the Market Head of Ipodo Obada Market in Ikeja, Abiodun Apena, commended the HEDA Resource Centre for their efforts in sensitizing the community about the harmful effects of using styrofoam and single-use plastics.
