Zimnyama women in fight against pollution and poverty

Jane Nkiwane

Solid waste management is one of the most topical environmental challenges of our time. Over the years, filthy waste dumps have mushroomed in Zimbabwe’s major towns, cities, growth points and villages, posing  a ticking health time bomb.

According to a report issued by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), plastic waste remains a challenging issue in the country because it is non-bio gradable. The report revealed that in 2010 plastic waste killed over five thousand animals including donkeys, cattle, sheep, and goats.  

To encourage the public to adopt environmentally friendly packaging, the government introduced Statutory Instrument 98 of 2010 (Plastics and bottles packages regulation) which prohibits the use of certain plastics in packaging. Section 3(1) bans the commercial distribution and importation of plastic packaging with a wall thickness of less than thirty micrometres.

A group of 10 women from Zimnyama Village Ward 12 Mangwe District in Plumtree have taken it upon themselves to fight the pollution crisis in their community by turning waste into useful products.

 In 2017 the women formed a cooperative called Sibambene Self Help Group. The initiative has not only alleviated poverty among the women and their dependants but also helped to reduce land pollution in their community. 

During the formative stages of the project, the group received funding from the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises and initially ventured into selling basic commodities like food and toiletries before they diverted to recycling.

 According to the group’s Vice Secretary Sindisiwe Ndiweni most of their products are manufactured using old cardboards, cloth scraps, used plastics and sacks picked around their community.

“Our products include sunhats made from bread plastics or old video and radio cassette tapes and we sell them for usd $5. We also manufacture re-usable shopping bags which sell for R100 as we encourage the public not to use disposable plastic bags which pollute the environment. From old rags and clothes we make beautiful door mats and we also decorate sandals, handbags and necklaces from these.”

Ndiweni said her co-operative uses the colourful threads of orange sacks to decorate cool drink bottles, reed mats and baskets. 

“Usually after eating snacks like jiggies, biscuits and sweets people tend to throw away the plastic wrappers but we have come up with a solution to reuse the plastics in decorating our reed mats, and handbags,” she added.

“This project has uplifted our lives and enabled us to grow our business, because from the profits, we manage to buy materials like beads, wool, cloth and other different materials which we use to make premium handmade materials like handbags, and outfits.  

We can now send our children to school and feed them. We can  afford afford to meet our family needs despite the fact that some of the members in our group are widows and or unemployed.”

Chairperson of the group, Mcabango Tshabangu contended that the group has relieved community members from the effects of land pollution because the raw material to create their merchandise is acquired through picking up scraps and waste from the environment. 

“Used cardboard boxes and plastic containers are a breeding ground for mosquitos during the rainy season Children tend to pick up waste which exposes them to diseases like diarrhoea. We reduce land pollution in our environment by recycling waste into useful items,” she argued.

Tshabangu called on the public to desist from dumping disposable baby diapers everywhere as they have become an eyesore in the environment and also pose danger to humans and animals when left idle.

 “These disposable diapers popularly called “pampers” are a menace to our environment. We have not yet come up with a solution on how we can use pampers to create useful products given their state when they are disposed. So we appeal to community members to stop disposing them everywhere,” she said.

With the advent of technology, most mothers have ditched the traditional method of using reusable cloth nappies in favour of disposable diapers. 

However, EMA has repeatedly raised concern over the issue, stating that 14%  of solid waste consists mainly of sanitary wear and diapers.