Restore fundamental human dignity and see the attitudinal change towards environmental issues, is a profound statement made by Adenike Akinsemolu,the founder of Green Institute, a sustainability research and education institution, in this interview by PAUL OMOROGBE. She also speaks about making waste management in Nigeria effective, funding education from recycling and other issues.
There are quite a number of institutes in Nigeria teaching environmental studies. Why was yours set up?
Environmental studies could be seen as an autonomous discipline, yet to get the best out of it, a multidisciplinary approach must be applied. The environment exists as a component of society, together with other components, including people, animals, plants, microorganisms, and the economy. The Green Institute teaches the environment in conjunction with these components in the context of sustainability. As a social enterprise, The Green Institute outlines the benefits of sustainability education, which has the environment as a fundamental tenet. Sustainability education should lead to measures geared towards the adoption of the knowledge, skills, activities, and attributes necessary to use resources in a way that does not compromise future generations. This is what is meant by going green, the motivation for the Green Institute. Fueled by this motivation, the Green Institute deploys education and resources to empower people, drive innovation, and build resilient communities.
You recently held a World Environment Day event with several international speakers. What was the main take away from that event for you?
Global challenges like the coronavirus pandemic are real and should not be seen from a nationalistic perspective. While the coronavirus reminds us how fragile and unprepared we might be, the efforts deployed on a daily basis serve as a reminder of what we’re capable of when we work together towards a common goal. We must act together in solidarity #ForNature. There is mostly consensus on the need to develop proactive measures to protect and preserve the planet’s finite resources. This level of agreement on anything is rare, and we must not waste this opportunity to work together to solve our greatest problem(s).
Education leads to informed choices. Therefore, the epistemic community has a leading role in educating civil society and influencing government policies on sustainability. We can’t continue to stare at each other as the world burns. But action requires change, and change requires proper education, and this process must start now.
How has teaching on environmental matters been in a country where basic survival is foremost on people’s minds?
It’s been onerous. We can’t talk about environmental matters without ‘Going Green.’ You see, Going Green doesn’t come to us naturally as humans today as it once did. Today, it is a new and complex way of thinking. You are familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He arranges human needs in a pyramid from most basic and necessary at the bottom to more complex and life-fulfilling at the top. The need for food and shelter comes first, then the need for love, relationships, and lastly, self-actualisation. Going Green falls under self-actualisation. When we have provided for ourselves all of life’s necessities, we put our energy toward leaving a legacy and doing something great. Some would argue that Nigerian society is at the basic level of this hierarchy. Hence, the urgency to eradicate extreme poverty in a country like Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. People are less likely to respond to environmental matters when the struggle between life and death is a daily occurrence. Restore fundamental human dignity and see the attitudinal change towards environmental issues. Though the journey to collective self-actualisation seems daunting, The Green Institute more than ever is propitious and confronting this issue by fixing her gaze on the youths. Despite survival challenges, the Strength, Energy, and Enthusiasm (SEE) of the youth cannot be underestimated. It is this ‘SEE’ that The Green Institute leverages on to give eco-vision and chart a promising course of sustainable development to the youth. We must think and act to self-actualise our aspirations.
Why should studying the environment be a priority for young people?
Young people are tomorrow’s leaders. The lessons from previous generations on environmental degradation cannot be overlooked. Aside from being custodians of the environment, youths should understand the imminent threat of climate change on their collective futures. To manage what is unavoidable (adaptation) and avoid what is unmanageable (mitigation), youths must prioritise environmental studies as fundamental to their education.
One of our goals is to change the attitudes of young people towards their environment. To achieve this, we have to start from childhood. We have to teach kids to be ‘eco-conscious’. In this time of gadgets and social media, kids are no longer kids; they are always online. Let kids go outside to play, to read, to discover new things. Let nature inspire them to create, to innovate. Let them feel the sun on their faces and count the stars at night. As a matter of fact, a recent study conducted by the Green Institute shows that kids that spend more time in nature are usually healthier and happier.
How has paying for studies from the proceeds of waste management work for your institute?
The Trash for Education initiative, as an innovation of The Green Institute, strives to simultaneously reduce waste and provide basic sustainability education for participants. Though a daunting innovation, Trash for Education has proven to be workable and scalable. The Green Institute has brought about the inclusiveness of locals by providing educational materials for students in the community. Moreover, the reduction of plastic wastes and scrap tyres in the community is a huge milestone of this initiative. These plastics and tyres are upcycled into other meaningful products with economic value. For example, the scrap tyres are used in making furniture that provides similar comfort to new furniture made from raw materials. Although still in its early stages, the Trash for Education initiative shows the propensity to drive social impact and generate returns from impact investing.
What’s missing in Nigeria’s approach to waste management?
Behavioral change. According to ‘The Principles of Green and Sustainability Science’, “the global technology revolution will transform the way people think regarding waste management.” Until we change our thinking towards waste management, our behaviors will remain indifferent. We are yet to fully grasp and appreciate the dynamics of waste management. This is a typical scenario where benefits far outweigh the cost, but people are unable to see it due to behavioral indifference. When we become conscious of reducing waste from kitchens to households, and on the streets, it is only then they will realise the health, environmental and economic benefits of waste management.
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