National Service Persons of United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), together with some UN Volunteers, have embarked on a sensitisation drive around the Makola market in Accra to encourage the use of reusable bags. The exercise aimed at heightening public awareness among traders, hawkers and their patrons in promoting eco-friendly practices that would save the environment from plastic pollution and its attendant climate change and human effects. The volunteers carried placards and distributed reusable shopping bags to the people to encourage daily use of sustainable materials. The exercise was on the theme: ‘Driving Change: Influencing behavioural change in addressing plastic waste menace in makola market.’ Dr Stephen Kansuk, Head of Environment and Climate at the UNDP Ghana, said they hoped to promote positive behavioural changes and to reduce the consumption and disposal of single-use plastics among traders and other people at the Makola market and its environs. ‘We hope to encourage greater adoption of reusable bags among traders and consumers as alternatives to single-use plastics and reduce plastic waste pollution at Makola market,’ he told the Ghana News Agency. Dr Kansuk said that the exercise was done at the Makola market, because of its strategic position in the national capital. ‘The Makola Market attracts hundreds of people on daily basis due to its economic significance, it serves as a major source of livelihood for many traders and hawkers. ‘Like many urban markets, the Makola market witness significant consumption of single-use plastics, primarily used for packaging food items, beverages and various other products, and the prevalence of single-use plastics in the market reflects consumer habits and the convenience factor,’ Dr Kansuk said. He reiterated the need for marketgoers to opt for reusable bags when shopping and urged traders to encourage their customers to make more environmentally conscious choices.
Source: Ghana News Agency