26 September 2008
Maputo — Mozambique's Deputy Environment Minister, Ana Paulo Chichava, has urged Mozambican society to lay the foundations for sustainable consumption of natural assets.
She was speaking in Maputo on Thursday, during the closing ceremony of a week-long "Environmental Fair", at which 35 exhibitors displayed a variety of goods made from recycling materials that are normally discarded as rubbish
The fair, that ran under the theme 'The Art of Transforming Rubbish to Fight Against Poverty', gathered exhibitors from Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, and Sofala provinces.
"The idea behind the fair, organized by the government's Environment Fund, is to create bases for a society that consumes sustainably", said Chichava, adding that for a third edition of the fair more provinces that did not take part in this event will participate.
She insisted that Mozambicans can recycle mush more of their waste products than is currently the case. By recycling, material can be used a second time, the amount of waste that must be disposed of is reduced, and there is less pollution of the environment.
Recycling, Chichava said, has created millions of jobs throughout the world, and produces goods of excellent quality, using less energy, less water, less raw materials, and thus causing less damage to the environment.
"In fact, what we often dump in landfills as rubbish has great potential to be transformed into useful things", said Chichava.
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I visited Maputo in 2005 for a month for a short term missions trip and was stirred to start up a recycling project for the suburb of Zimpeto; It's an excellent concept. Think of the employment that could take place! Part time work and full time work for anyone.... Employment - income - food on the table - health - education - infrastructure rebuilt - dreams for a future - hope - !!