Young people in Ghana have committed to help promote a sustainable environment by reducing the amount of waste they generate, both at home and in school.
“Reduce, reuse, recycle,” was the theme when the advocates met the UNAIDS Ghana Country Director, Angela Trenton-Mbonde, in Accra, Ghana. The advocates took turns to make personal pledges to adopt better waste management practices in order to promote environmental sustainability.
“I commit to acquiring a personal reusable water bottle and to avoiding single-use plastic bottles. This, I believe, will safeguard the planet for everyone,” Pricilla Addo said.
Another advocate, Samuel Nyarko, said, “I pledge to personally ensure that waste generated in my household is well separated so that plastics can easily be collected and recycled. I will educate my schoolmates and community to do the same.”
Ms Trenton-Mbonde encouraged the young people to ensure that their commitments to the planet are fulfilled. “For a sustainable environment, each of us must take personal responsibility and make one commitment, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem in the beginning, because in the end we are all connected: people and planet,” she said.
The youth advocates comprised young people from Hope for Future Generations, a Ghanaian not-for-profit nongovernmental organization focused on empowering women, children and youth.
