Shared responsibility not to pollute the land

Consecrated religious in Ghana make time alongside their numerous other activities to help the wider community recognise the need to protect Creation, focusing especially on plastic pollution, which has become a major problem especially in suburban areas near cities.

Pollution is easily spotted in Donkorkrom, in the Eastern Region of Ghana, West Africa. Taking a leisure walk in Donkorkrom, from doorstep through the streets to the markets, plastic bags can be seen lying on the ground. Residents of Donkorkrom are frequently in the habit of drinking sachet water, and often, soon after consuming the water, the plastic is thrown anywhere on the ground.

It is not unusual to see plastic littered on school or Church grounds, despite numerous pleas by priests and religious to take more care.

Destruction caused by pollution

The indiscriminate dumping of plastic on the ground has serious effects on the environment. For instance, the rain collects the plastic from the ground and incorporates it into the land, which is often only discovered when one goes to plough the land for planting, and finds a dead land on which nothing can germinate as a result of plastic pollution.

Another problem with plastic pollution is that when the plastic gets choked in the gutters, and it rains, the water is not able to move, resulting in spillage and floods, causing enhanced damage to the community.

Plastic pollution is not only detrimental to the soil but to animals as well, which are part of God’s Creation. Some of the plastic carried by the rain or floods hangs onto the grass, and when animals accidentally happen to swallow it, they die.

Solution seekers

Consecrated religious have taken it upon themselves to sensitize the community on the need to protect the environment. They are doing this by engaging the community in talks and other activities on the subject, but mostly by their own lived realities. They undertake to take the lead so that others will follow.

Their goal is to continue to practice environmental care in their religious communities and parishes, so that when members of the local community visit their homes, they will see, become conscious, and follow suit.

The religious also believe that for this fight to be successful, there must be some kind of replacement to take care of the plastic pollution. In that light, they plan to produce shopping bags using fibre or material that can be disposed of, which they can consciously use for shopping instead of carrying numerous plastic bags from the shop, which only contributes to more pollution.

They believe that if the community sees them making this move, it will definitely effect a positive change in them, and they will become more conscious of preserving the earth.

Candle-light procession

In June 2024, Consecrated persons of the Apostolic Vicariate of Donkorkrom, marched across the town of Donkorkrom in a Candle-Light procession, with placards and a banner advocating the protection of the environment.

The procession was led by Fr Bernard Adjei Appiah, svd , President of African Religious Union, Ghana, and Cathedral Administrator of St Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral, Donkorkrom.

The candle-light procession was one of the activities earmarked by the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana, for the celebration of the Jubilee Year and special year for the Religious declared by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, under the theme, “Send Forth your Spirit and Renew the Face of the Earth” (Ps 104:30).

In a talk concluding the procession, Fr Bernard said, “As we are all journeying along, God has given us something very beautiful, that is, the Earth. We are supposed to take care of it and not to destroy, nor spoil it.”

He further urged the students and pupils present to take it as a duty to pick up any plastic they find littering the school compound, and called out a representative from each of the Church groups and institutions present, each one carrying a placard, and asked them to commit themselves to protecting the Earth.

Ongoing process of sensitisation

The sensitisation of the problem of plastic pollution is an ongoing process, and so far, it is bearing some fruits. Among these is the fact that one-in-two children in creche class is conscious of disposing their biscuit plastic in a trash bin and not on the ground. Sunday School children also know that they should pick up any plastic they find on the ground.

For the next step in sensitisation efforts, the religious plan to carry trash cans to pick up plastic along the streets instead of banners, in order to drive home the message to the community more easily.

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By Sr Sylvie Lum Cho, mshr