Rid your house of waste the right way

Rubbish bins are best placed in the kitchen where most of the waste is generated. FILE PHOTO 

 

By TABITHA WAMBUI
Posted  Thursday, April 21 2011 at 00:00

A home in which people and their families live needs to be clean and organised. It has to be hygienic too if the family is to have good health. It is therefore important to make sure that waste is disposed off properly.

Ms Brenda Kalanzi who owns a house in Muyenga, a city suburb says that although she can afford to use electrical appliances, she prefers the traditional methods of cooking. She cooks her food using firewood and it is always prepared in banana leaves. However, you will not find splinters of wood or used banana fibres or leaves scattered in her compound. This is because she takes care to dispose the rubbish properly.

Kalanzi says that she burns off a full container of waste every day. “Every morning, I pour all the garbage on an iron sheet to dry up. I later set it on fire in the evening. When I have leftovers of food, I give it out to friends who have animals to consume,” she says. “I do not let my home get crowed with garbage.” She says that this has kept her home looking clean and conducive for hosting all kinds of people.

So what exactly is waste disposal and how can it be done? Mr Simon Muhumuza the Public Relations Officer, Kampala City council defines waste disposal as the management or getting rid of unwanted stuff to keep the environment, human beings and animals from harm. He says that it is essential to get rid of waste in a home regularly because it promotes health and hygiene standards of the people in the home and the surroundings. “It is very easy for a household to get health complications if the waste is not disposed well,” he says, adding that leftover food particles attract a lot of flies which can cause diseases like diarrhoea and cholera.

Waste disposal is of different types and these include composite, collection service and scatter.

Composite
Muhumuza explains that composite waste disposal is the type where one digs up a pit where they can pour away all related food particles. He says that “The waste disposed can be leftover food and peels. These can be used as manure in a garden after they have decomposed.” Muhumuza says that there is no standard measure for the size of a disposal site, however, the pit should be dug at least three metres from the main house and it should be behind the kitchen. “This pit should not be too deep because there is no way you will get out the manure when transferring it to the garden. It is also risky to human and animal life within the home,” he emphasises. If you are to use polythene paper to collect rubbish before pouring it in the pit, Muhumuza cautions you not to pour it along with the waste because polythene is dangerous to the environment. “Carefully separate them and burn them (the polythene bags) off. While shopping, try to minimise using polythene bags and use paper ones instead,” he advises.

Once the pit gets full, the owner has to remove the waste and transfer it to the garden.

Collection service
With the collection service, waste is disposed of by the homeowner collecting all his or her waste, piling it in a polythene bag or waste bucket and giving it to garbage collectors who pick it after a given period of time. The services are paid for by the home owner. The PRO adds that collection service is most commonly used in urban centres where residents have no space for pits. If one is using a waste bucket, it should be put behind the kitchen window. Once the polythene bag or waste bucket is full, it should be put in a suitable place where the garbage collectors can easily see it and pick it up.

Scatter type
The scatter type, Muhumuza says, is the most common way people around town dispose the waste. According to him, it is also the most dangerous type of waste disposal because it carries many risks such as diseases like cholera and other infections.

Maintenance tips
•Always cover the pit and the bucket after disposing any waste.
•For the polythene bag, tie the upper part to avoid flies from invading the home
•Sprinkle ash or soil on the pit to avoid flies and a bad smell.