Branding and Environmental Management

I attended an event on branding last weekend and boy did I experience so many brilliant shades of awesome! I got to listen to vibrant people expand on the true meaning of being or owning a “brand” and how we can make our local ingenuity have a global appeal. After many enlightening sessions, I had a light bulb moment as regards advocacy for the environment in Nigeria and these questions came to me:

1.      “What does the average Nigerian understand by environmental sustainability?”

2.      “What do they feel about waste materials?”

3.      “What comes to mind when they think of waste disposal?”

These questions border on the perceived understanding AKA “brand perception” of waste materials in Nigeria. It has been said times without number that “You cannot give what you do not have”. This means that if you do not value something enough to learn about it or own it, you cannot then pass that value on to someone else. This principle applies to proper waste management in Nigeria – people CANNOT and WILL NOT properly dispose of waste materials if they DO NOT know the value they hold.

The average Nigerian thinks that once an item is no longer of value to them, it should be thrown in the trash. And, once the trash leaves their possession, it is no longer their problem so it is not their concern where it ends up. This is a very short-sighted thought process. Here is why. Yes, you have paid the price for the "mai-bola" or "kole kole" man to carry your “trash” away from your building but he has just walked to the culvert down your street or to the dump site two streets over and dumped it. After a few months, the much-anticipated rains come and the drainage system filled with your trash is blocked. It overflows into your home, destroying property and washes away whatever is left of your street. As a keyboard ninja that you are, you jump on social media and call out all the government agencies you can recall blaming them for not planning the city better and not building adequate storm drains. You never spare a thought for your contribution to the mess you helped create. The very next day, you call another informal waste disposal guy and the cycle continues yet again.

We need to come to a point in our existence where we are able to practice the adage paraphrased “One man’s useless junk is another man’s prime raw material”. Where we are able to give the things we no longer need to people who can reuse or recycle them into useful items or in the worst case scenario have them properly disposed of.

To understand and respect trash, we need to rebrand it in our minds

We must begin to think of our “waste” as “wealth”

We must be able and willing to educate others as well

Rebranding our waste and the protection of our environment in the eyes and minds of the average man and woman on the street will not happen overnight, or in a few months or a few years. But one thing is for sure, if each of us changes our waste disposal system at home and we go on to teach our kids, family members, friends, and neighbours to do the same, we will kick start a ripple effect that will make our natural environment, home to all.

What say you? Are you in?