Lautoka City Council’s Senior Health Inspector, Salen Singh says Koroipita is regarded as the model green community for the country and the region because they have several policies and it is enforced as well.
Singh highlighted this during the Global Recyclers Day celebrations organised by Waste Recyclers Fiji Limited in partnership with Communications Fiji Limited.
He says as a result of the partnership with Waste Recyclers, Lautoka City Council and JICA, 263 households in the community are sharing 55 home compost bins for recycling their home waste for better gardening.
He says this has resulted in every household having their own vegetable garden.
Singh says they estimate 41.7 tonnes of organic waste is recycled into compost annually in the area.
He says the community also manufactures their own fabric bags to avoid using plastic bags and also conduct regular clean up campaigns not only in their own community but in the other areas too.
Singh says it is remarkable that on average, each member of the community recycles about half a kilogram of waste a day.
He adds some of the obstacles they face in terms recycling and keeping the environment clean is that citizens in Fiji lack civic pride and there are not many incentives for recycling.
He adds a lot more work is required if we are serious about tackling climate change and the work must start from the homes and communities.
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