Francis Githui and the Stormwater & Environmental Management Forum are making headlines yet again. Last time we featured Francis for his conservation efforts through the Edible Rivers’ Initiative and the Fruit Tree School Project. This time, we sat down with Francis to discuss his efforts in the reclamation and rehabilitation of the 13.5 Acre Nanyuki dumpsite.
Francis is an advocate for a Sustainable Circular Economy. A sustainable circular economy involves designing and promoting products that last and that can be recycled, reused, repaired, renewed, and re-manufactured.
This approach retains the functional value of products, rather than just recovering the energy or materials they contain and continuously makes new “products”.
It is estimated that the garbage in the Nanyuki dumpsite constitutes up to 2500 tons of post-consumer waste. The lack of an elaborate waste handling and management system in many major towns and cities countrywide poses a major environmental and health hazard. Francis has over the years worked relentlessly to ensure that this is not the case for Nanyuki town.
How does Francis deal with the waste at the Nanyuki dumpsite?
Tree Nurseries
Francis has been working towards establishing a tree nursery at the dumpsite by planting various tree species including avocado seedlings, loquats and sunflowers at the dumpsite.
The trees are planted using old milk, juice and sugar packets as shown.
A sunflower sprouting from one of the reused milk packets(photo by Francis Githui)
Francis has also designed an innovative way to re-use old tires by converting them into “tower gardens”.
One of the tower gardens made from old tires (photo by Francis Githui)
Manufacturing Tiles, Fencing Posts and Cabros
Francis also makes tiles, poles and cabros from glass and plastic waste materials at the dumpsite. This has become a rather effective way of dealing with the heaps of waste at the dumpsite.
Samples of the Cabros made out of recycled waste from the Nanyuki Dumpsite (photo by Francis Githui)
For instance, 1 square meter of the Cabro block, reuses up to 70 kg of waste (20kg of plastic wrappers, 20kg of plastic bottles and 30kg of crushed glass).
Francis is also working on other products including.
- Briquettes made from market waste
- Biogas production from the landfill
- Making organic fertilizer
Francis dreams of one day establishing an Environmental and Agricultural Circular Centre, which he believes will be one of a kind in our country.
The Center is designed to share more knowledge on sustainable waste management practices as well as create livelihoods for numerous people in our county.
Should you be interested to learn more about these efforts or to lend Francis and the Storm Water and Environment Management Forum a hand in any of his initiatives, give him a call at 0724769750 or email: swemfcbo@gmail.com.
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