Is it possible for people who are very poor to embrace the best practices of environmental protection of other countries? Is it fair to say that for ordinary Liberians the quality of their environment is more important than simple survival: getting enough to eat, having shelter that protects them from the torrential rain, and having potable water in the heat of the middle of the day? As the saying goes, first things first.
Post-conflict Liberia is one of the most socially fragile countries in Africa. Liberia, which now has a population of approximately 4.3 million, was embroiled in a civil war between 1989 and 2003 which destroyed much of its physical and social infrastructure. More recently it has just barely survived the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic. Among national priorities is the provision of electricity to more of its citizens; it has the lowest access to electricity in the world.
There are many environmental problems in Liberia. Many trucks and cars emit dark clouds of smoke into the atmosphere. There are few public toilets and those few are not kept clean, so hygiene is an issue. Public defecation means that one must always watch carefully where one walks. But one issue with international and long term consequences is the problem of plastic.
Drinking water is not readily available in many places in Liberia. For three Canadian cents or five Liberian dollars a person can purchase a plastic bag containing 0.5 liters of cold water. Notwithstanding the fact that this is a commodification of a natural resource that is the right of all to enjoy, a little bag of water is well worth the price, if one can afford it, because thirst is a suffering that is hard to endure. Having quenched one’s thirst for the moment how does one dispose of the small bag? Trash cans are few and far between. Most people simply throw their empty plastic bag along the street which is already littered with thousands of these problematic items that remain in the world’s oceans or local land-fills for many years into the future.
In the markets and retail outlets every item one purchases enjoys its own plastic bag. In fact the name for “bag” in Liberia is “plastic”. It is estimated that 70% of the waste collected in the environment is plastic.
It is not the case that municipal authorities in Monrovia are indifferent to the plastic menace. In 2015 the Monrovia City Corporation launched its “Operation Attack Plastic” in collaboration with 13 schools in the area. The students were given gloves and sanitizers to collect plastic in the streets and take it to their respective schools to be weighed. After the plastic was weighed the school which had collected the most plastic was given a trophy.
The project was done in collaboration with Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency and was funded by UNICEF. While most would agree that this was a good beginning to deal with a serious problem, if they could get a regular supply of electricity for their homes and places of business they would be even happier than to have seen the plastic problem begin to be tackled. Once again, one has to say: first things first.
Coming from a country like Canada that has taken environmental protection as a priority at first I found it unacceptable to toss a plastic baggie to the side of a street. For me, it was an environmental “sin”. But, sad to say, out of personal convenience within a year I became a sinner with everyone else. I know that giant sea turtles and other marine species swallow these bags thinking them to be food and then choke and die. I know that plastic needs to be recycled because otherwise it remains with us, if not forever, then for a long time. I know all this but thirst and convenience have combined to tempt me to throw the baggie on the way side.
Liberia has taken seriously beach front erosion in several communities caused by rising ocean levels, but there are many other issues that it has chosen to ignore at least for the present moment: first things first.