Saving the Environment One Fence at a Time

3-19-12

Hello Everyone!

Today I'd like to take time to elaborate on a story that I found very inspirational and necessary in these times. A topic that gets attention all over the world on a day to day basis is recycling. We are constantly opening our eyes to new ways to reduce pollution, wipe out waste, and ensure that our environment is cared for. Many steps are taken in all types of facilities to utilize the three R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle. I am pleased to discover that Kenya is taking a major role in the preservation of our environment and resources as well. Lorna Rutto from Kenya was recognized by the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards for her business idea to use plastic waste to make fence posts.

Lorna Rutto was always interested in preserving the environment and decided to take her own steps to improve the care and recycling nature of our resources. She established EcoPost which constructs eco-friendly fence posts out of recycled plastics. These fence posts are durable and allow us to reuse our products rather than wasting them. "Nairobi, Kenya alone generates more than 2,800 tons of waste every day, of which 20% is plastic" (Hartigh).  In this one area alone, a tremendous amount of waste is produced on a daily basis. That is over 1 million tons of waste in Nairobi alone in one year! This waste is unacceptable and Rutto has taken steps to reduce the amount of waste and use it towards improving the environment of Kenya.

Not only is this improvement good for the environment but it is good for the economy as well. Rather than wasting products, the people of Kenya can reuse this plastic and use it for other necessities. Also, this project has created many job opportunities for the unemployed. Many youth and women have been able to make a living through this project and support their families. This recycling helps the environment by conserving our resources and saving our trees and benefiting the unemployed of Kenya. It is definitely a huge step in the right direction and there is talk of expanding the business to promote recycling of many products and to create more jobs. I am hopeful that this project will continue to allow Kenya to advance and save their resources in order to help their economy and environment.

To read more about this topic, please visit:

http://www.africagoodnews.com/business/innovation/2859-transforming-waste-to-wealth-in-kenya.html

Thank you!

(The picture below is actually Lorna at work producing one of the EcoPosts!)