Emmanuel Iniobong Archibong; Darty Darty
Abstract
Waste generation and management poses a big challenge in the world today, especially in Africa and this is occasioned by a huge population and a new cultural lifestyle. Apart from biodegradable waste, there are toxic wastes that are harmful both to humans and the ecosystem generated from man’s industrial activities. These hazardous wastes contaminate land, air, and water. These wastes are chemicals and municipal solid waste, landfills with methane emissions, which is one of the several non-CO₂ gases that contribute to global climate change. In Bantu traditional Africa, hazardous waste generation was nonexistent because there were no industrial activities that produced such wide-scale waste and emissions.
Besides, there is the ontological belief that the environment has a vital force and is an extension of man. Arising from the above, this paper adopts the method of critical analysis and argues that traditional Bantu Africa holds some valuable basic beliefs that can lead to a theoretical framework of “worldview balancing” necessary to deepen man’s engagement with the environment. As a corollary, waste generation requires a policy direction drawn from the Bantu traditional African worldview of “co-existence” with the environment, which will further encourage and advance the idea and practices of clean vital energy. As a recommendation, since biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes produced by man’s activity can be managed in a manner that ensures a cleaner and greener environment, every culture of the world can make contributions necessary for the conservation of the ecosystem for the overall good of mankind.
Keywords: Ecosystem, Waste, Management, Conservation,
Culture, Worldview
