To be honest, recycling in Nigeria is not part of our everyday lifestyle. It's not like in some other countries where they have different bins for plastic, paper, metal, and food waste. Here, most of us have just one dustbin at home, and everything goes into it. Once it’s full, we either give it to the waste collectors if they even come or we throw it away ourselves.
But lately, I’ve been thinking more about it. I asked myself, “What actually happens to all these things I throw away?” And I realized that many of them can be used again. Plastic bottles, sachet water bags, paper cartons, and even old clothes these things don’t have to go to waste. I saw a video on social media and I saw how these things are been transformed into new objects.
The sad truth is that Nigeria doesn’t really have a solid or reliable recycling system. In some big cities like Lagos or Abuja, I guess there should be recycling centers but I am not 100% sure of it because I have not been to any of them before or maybe they’re usually far from residential areas, and most people don’t even know they exist. In rural areas or small towns, it’s almost like recycling doesn’t exist at all.
So what do most people do? We burn our waste or we dump it somewhere by the roadside or in a gutter. In my village we always dump it behind the house and burn them later I’ve done it too. We’re not proud of it because the smoke always cause sickness for me, it also pollute the air but we need to survive, not everything is bad.
People are trying to make a difference. For example, those young boys called iron condemn always who go around collecting plastic bottles and cans? They are doing more recycling than many government agencies. They collect, clean, and sell them to small recycling companies or plastic factories. They don’t call it recycling, but that’s what they’re doing. I once gave my saved plastic bottles to one of them. He was so happy. He thanked me and told me he would sell them to feed his younger siblings. That touched me deeply.
Sometimes I also try to reuse things in the house. I use old containers to store leftover food. I keep cartons to arrange my books. I even use old glass bottles as flower vases. These little efforts might seem small, but they count. At least, they help reduce the amount of waste I throw out every week.
Sometimes I wonder, is it that we Nigerians don’t care about the environment? Or is it just that we have bigger problems to face like food, shelter, and money? If you’re struggling to eat, you won’t care whether a bottle ends up in the gutter or not. That’s the painful reality.
Recycling might seem like a big task, but it starts small. Instead of throwing everything away, we can start separating things. Keep plastic bottles in one bag and old papers in another. Then look around for people who collect them. Even in small communities, there’s always someone who needs these things.
We can also learn to reuse more. Instead of buying new nylon bags every time, I always carry the old ones when going to the market. Instead of throwing away old clothes, I give them out or turn them into cleaning rags. These little steps go a long way for me.
I also believe that if our leaders take recycling seriously, things will get better. We need policies, we need awareness. Imagine if every street in Nigeria had a recycling bin or if children were taught in school how to recycle. It would change a lot.
Recycling may not be easy in Nigeria, but it’s possible. I believe we can change the story slowly, Bit by bit, and One bottle at a time. This is my response to this episode of hivelearners community prompt of #hl-w160e02 which the topic is tagged RECYCLING PRACTICES
