Free Essay on the Impacts of Public Attitude on Municipal Solid Management

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In spite of sudden modifications in levels of the economy and infrastructure, research on the residents’ trash behaviors and perception has shown the comparisons of aspects that may motivate as well as demoralize the involvement of the communities in managing the disposal of wastes sustainably, in both developed and developing countries (O'Connell, 2011). Besides, Bulkeley and Gregson (2009) mention that there is a variation of what is taken as waste across socio-economic statuses and cultures, however, the emotional reaction to what is considered as garbage tends to be similar across social classes and cultures. O'Connell (2011) adds that waste in some sense provokes direct or indirect feelings of fear, humiliation, and rejection.

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If the public clearly understand about the connection between their habits and destruction of the environment, there is a likelihood that this knowledge will enhance participation in pro-environmental initiatives. Therefore, to promote this knowledge, the authorities try to allow adequate information on waste education to the public (O'Connell, 2011). For example, a government directive on recycling engagement can foster a lot of public participation. On the contrary, Butu and Msheila (2014) demonstrate that Kano residents suffer from the lack of knowledge of the principles that operate in the environment, and thus, contribute to huge heaps of garbage in the capital state. Furthermore, Kano metropolis has a high estimate of illiteracy, and most of the people affected are women. Therefore, creating awareness on the negative impact of the municipal solid litter as a reason for illnesses, Butu and Msheila (2014) pointed out that majority will respond “Allah ne mai kiyaye wa” which means that “Protection is provided by God” (p. 8).

O'Connell (2011) argues that it is natural for human being to be afraid of anything that puts their health and survival at risk, and the management of waste that includes hazardous gasses and chemicals, are a huge threat to people.

In her research, Jessica McAllister (2015) discusses attitude and behaviour and concludes that waste can be conceived in various ways depending on individuals, for instance, garbage collectors in Kano area view “trash” as a substance to generate income in situations where unemployment is high. Whereas, the majority of the residents in developing nations regard waste as an obstacle and challenge where intervention is needed. Both scenarios are very much applicable, and thus, however, acknowledge that waste as a challenge has not eliminated the littering or rather irresponsible behaviour involving the management of wastes (Moore, 2012).

According to O'Connell (2011) the attitude-behaviour space usually appears and can be influenced by other components of social values, convenience, inadequate engagement of people as well as the absence of awareness and knowledge of appropriate skills in waste control. An inconsistent behaviour, according to McAllister (2015), that is readily linked to free waste disposal, is dumping, which is evident in the developing world. The author outlines some reasons that trigger the dumping habit such as lack of law and enforcement, inadequate support from societal institutions, and illiteracy. Moreover, the convenience of waste disposal bins has been suggested by many authors as a priority component, but people have opted to unmanaged disposal methods due to unavailability of enough waste bins (McAllister, 2015).

In other cases, the community gets acquainted with littering trash on the roadways or only unfitting areas because of lack of suitable programs to better waste management. Eventually, this becomes a habit and hardly do people change their behaviour of dumping waste (McAllister, 2015). However, societies can exert some form of influence to their people in corrective measures such as recycling. According to O'Connell (2011) by application of clear bins, determination for recycling can be estimated and visible to the public, and through this observation of fellow residents, recycling of waste becomes a norm, and therefore, enhances public participation in the due administration of solid garbage disposal.

Benefits of public participation in municipal solid waste reduction or prevention practice

Community involvement in MSWM comprises of various operations helping the public through assistance in planning and execution of garbage control initiatives. The public with a strong sense of participation provides trash collection tasks, through self-help techniques, in collaboration with private sectors or rather cooperative work for such activities (Bernstein, 2004). According to Butu and Msheila (2014), a great benefit for engaging the private sector in the management of solid garbage in Kano metropolis is the source of employment. The fact that unemployment rates are high, the highly challenging work of waste control provides a source of unemployed youth. It is possible through decentralization of operations from local areas. Likewise, there will be sharing of indigenous knowledge and consequently, enable sustainable management undertakings.

Moreover, the involvement of stakeholders establishes reasoning for fairness and justice as well as maintaining low and reduced political influence and legal authorities. It is important to ensure all strata of the public gets represented and also, covering the entire municipal, requires formation of wards, particularly, Kano urban areas with rapid growth (Nabegu and Mustapha, 2015).

Public participation is beneficial to contributing social assessment as discussed by Bernstein (2004), whereby it creates styles of existing norms and provides resources for social engineering to get incentives for needed modifications. Therefore, through social evaluation, determining challenges in practices of resident wastes is easier, including people's needs and preferences.

Similarly, with engagement processes, communities and stakeholders are converged from various interests and power, brought together for a common advancement project, whereby conflicts can be managed. MSWM can easily trigger conflicts among several institutions and eventually, opt for external intervention.