Ways of disposing of home garbage

Jul 22, 2011

The way rubbish is disposed of can impact on the health and cleanliness of the home and the community. Poor disposal will provide a breeding ground for bacteria and germs and unpleasant smell in your home.

By Harriet Birungi

The way rubbish is disposed of can impact on the health and cleanliness of the home and the community. Poor disposal will provide a breeding ground for bacteria and germs and unpleasant smell in your home.

It is common to find rubbish strewn along the roads, outside gates and in trenches. In some residential areas, rubbish is put in a sack or polythene bag and thrown on the road. It is also common for people to throw rubbish while in transit. Nobody cares what happens to their rubbish.

The blame game begins when the rubbish piles up. Fingers are pointed at the Local Council leaders and the Government.

Rehema Kalule, a tenant in Kampala, says she dreads going home in the evenings, especially on rainy days. “You will find sacks and polythene bags full of garbage leaning against fences. You have to skip over rubbish if you are walking. It is as though people try to free their homes of any rubbish. During the night, birds and stray dogs rummage through the rubbish, scatter it and mess up the area.”

When it rains, this rubbish is swept into trenches, hence blocking them.

Richard Muwanga, who works with a garbage collection company, advises people to subscribe to private garbage collection companies. These companies provide polythene bags for garbage collection. These bags are strong and can be used to collect rubbish for a number of days before they fill-up. The principle is that when the bags fill up, these companies pick them up and give you another polythene bag.

Alternatively, residents can acquire gunny bags locally known as budeya. This provide effective collection points for garbage. When full, you can take the gunny bag to designated points or pay for the services of a garbage collector. Depending on your area of residence and how far he has to move, the minimum a garbage collector may charge is sh500.

For rubbish like leaves, mineral water bottles, used polythene bags and paper, residents should agree on spots for burning the rubbish. Preferably dig a hole in the neighbourhood where you can place garbage that can be burnt. The garbage can be occasionally turned over until it dries and is burnt. Use paper and kerosene to burn the rubbish.

Muwanga says those who live in flats should remove water from their garbage to ease transportation and disposal. He says co-operation between residents will go a long way to free the flats of garbage. Collectively, residents can build an incinerator for burning waste.

People who stay far way from places where the garbage is collected should form groups and employ the services of wheelbarrow garbage collectors. These come to your home and take the rubbish at a fee. And since the garbage will be collected from various homes, you can draw up a schedule of how many times a day or a week rubbish should be collected.

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