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This special consists
of five articles: Sweeping Changes - Bangladesh,
A Clean Conversion - South Africa, Canning It
- Uruguay, 'Magic Carpet', Fuel For The Future
- China
Sweeping
Changes - Bangladesh
After working abroad for some years, Mahbob Ahsan
Khurram returned to Dhaka in 1987. He was shocked
to see how the area in which he used to live had
filled up with uncollected garbage and that the air
had an unpleasant stench to it generated by the rotting
waste. In the years that he had been away, the population
had increased and blocks of flats had been built
to accommodate all the new residents who in turn
were creating greater amounts of rubbish.
Mahbob decided
to take action to clear up the rubbish in the streets
and drew up a plan for a community based household
rubbish collection. He set up a trial scheme, in
his own district of Kalabagan, which would only
receive payment if it was successful and sustainable.
A
Clean Conversion - South Africa
Almost every town and city in the developing areas
of South Africa are surrounded by growing shanties
and squatter areas. Indeed, in many cities, the areas
of informal housing far exceed the size of the formal
city. The people in these informal settlements do
not have the assets necessary to gain formal access
to land, building materials and housing rights. Adequate
shelter is a basic need for a growing number of people
and it requires new solutions to address the problem.
Canning
It - Uruguay
The beaches of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay,
are filled with sunbathers drinking soda from aluminium
cans. In the past, sunbathers have failed to dispose
of their waste properly, turning the beaches into
unsightly places, as well as potentially hazardous
areas for beach users. Uruguay is not a country recognised
for its interest in green initiatives but with the
number of aluminium cans being imported increasing,
people needed to be encouraged to collect and recycle
their used cans.
Magic
Carpet
There are many countries, landowners
and farmers who would like to be able to utilise
desert lands for crop growing and other practical
applications that would help to improve the livelihoods
of the indigenous people. However, even if there
is potential to regenerate desert land, the problem,
in addition to the organisation of effective irrigation
systems, is that the binding root system of the
plants does not grow fast enough to permit the
vegetation to keep the surface soil in place or
for the soil to retain its moisture.
Fuel
For The Future - China
China’s society has seen dramatic changes
over the last few years. Until recently, China
was a largely agrarian society, but it is making
a rapid transition into a more urbanized and
developed one, with consumer goods, such as
fast food and fast cars, becoming more readily
available. With a fifth of the world’s
population living in China, the amount of processed
and packaged goods the country has the potential
to consume is vast. As a result, waste, and
specifically plastic waste, has become an enormous
problem.
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