Creating a waste free Christmas Village: How possible?
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. The festival celebration is around the corner and preparations have already begun. From selecting gifts for our loved ones to wrapping them in the most elegant and beautiful wrapping paper, from giving a rich new look to our house to planning a Christmas party, all these things are a part and parcel of Christmas celebration.
While we prepare for the festive cheer, knowingly or unknowingly we generate a lot of waste.
During this celebration we generates thousand tonnes of waste every year of which only 25 percent of it are recycled. And you Wonder what happens to the rest of the waste? Well, the rest of the waste is either dumped at the landfill sites, drains or at the unity pack. This tremendous amount of garbage dumped by us cause alot of envirnonmental issue in the Environment.
But with little efforts we can change the narrative. We can bring a big change and help in making this year a little better as 2020 is coming to an end.
Let’s give some relief to the Unity Pack in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and make the last festival of the year waste free.
We can do it right this year by celebrating a waste free Christmas in Akwa Ibom State, Uyo and beyond if we all go back to our basics, to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
Hopefully we all have heard about the 3Rs reduce, reuse, and recycle, but how possible is it for us to apply these 3Rs during Christmas even when we know that the annual uyo Christmas Village attract awhole lot of Business operators with different delicacies, drinks and games, and others during this season.
However things we purchase in the Christmas village cause havock later if not properly disposed. We do know, the attitude of some people that once the content of what he or she eats or dirnks finishes, we simply discard the containers, bottles, and other hazardous substance in the field Instead of carefully putting them in the receptacles provided.
Knowing fully well that throwing away those things like empty drink bottles, food containers, jam jars, can cause harm to the Environment, why not think how you can upcycle them as a little bit of creativity which goes a long way.
Reuse empty jars and bottles in the Christmas village by either painting them or putting in fairy lights and use them to prepare your decoration. Reusing empty containers around the Environment will also help in reducing the waste generating during the festival season.
As loudable as this Christmas village initiative may be, organizers should not loose sight of its impact on the environment.
Those who witnessed last year’s Christmas celebration at the Uyo Christmas village will agree that there were enough to wine and dine, but how the leftovers are disposed should be the concern of stakeholders and business operators alike.
No doubt, preparations are in top gear by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to meet up with the tourists and environmentally friendly design for the business operators in the State.
The Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency Prince Ikim also assures the people of the state that proper and timely evacuation will be made available in the Christmas village.
He appealed to the business operators, visitors, and Residents who will be visiting the tourist Environment to take part in adequate waste dumping in the receptacles that will be provided in some tragic places in the field to help him serve them better during this season.
Prince Ikim also advise that all hands should be on deck even as the State will have welcome more visitor’s this time.
Although this is the season of sharing love with our love once, don’t also forget that it is also a time for clean up activities inline with the Covid-19 guidelines to ensure proper celebration.
Let’s all minimize the impact on the Environment by creating a waste free Christmas and avoid non reusable products.
