By Saidu Dumbuya
In a bid to help reduce plastic pollution in the country, one of the leading none-governmental advocacy organizations, the Society on Environmental Pollution in Sierra Leone (SEPSiL) outreach team on the 18th and 21st July 2025, conducted awareness raising and sensitisation engagements on plastic pollution in schools across Freetown.
The team covered the Government Technical SecondarySchool, Madongo Town in the West of Freetown, Huntingdon Secondary School and Children in Crisis Primary School both in the East of Freetown.
The purpose of the engagement was to increase the knowledge of school pupils and teachers on the dangers of plastic pollution on human and animal health, as well as on the environment.
Plastic materials are very useful in the daily lives of people. They are used for various purposes including packaging, production of medical equipment, furniture, toys, building and construction materials, among others.
However, it is also true that plastics are the basis of widespread environmental concerns, due to their slow decomposition rate in natural ecosystems. Most plastic materials produced have not been reused; some are unsuitable for reuse but can be recycled into varied forms and sent back to the market. These mostly single-use materials find themselves in waterways, on roads, etc. and form a huge percentage of the course of flooding in communities when it rains heavily. The aftermath of such incidences are most times catastrophic.
SEPSiL, being an organization that focuses primarily on combating environmental pollution, therefore, saw the need to engage communities and schools especially at this time when Freetown is experiencing heavy rainfall.
The Principal of the Government Secondary Technical School, and Treasurer of SEPSiL’s Board, Madam Francess S. Moiforay thanked the team for what she described as “a very timely engagement “. She encouraged the pupils and teachers present to fully utilise the flyers that were distributed to improve on their knowledge on combating plastic pollution in their respective communities. “Let me also request that SEPSiL considers establishing a School Nature Club in my school. This will go a long way in supporting your work”, Madam Francess appealed.
The team lead, Abdul S. Conteh thanked the school authorities in the three schools for giving SEPSiL the opportunity to engage their pupils on the day of closing of schools. He assured all and sundry that SEPSiL would continue to work with them and other schools in order to strengthen their capacities on environmental protection and climate resilience.
