(Previously posted at DailyKos and Get Energy Smart Now)
The road between Kampala and Entebbe
Larry Rhodes joined Rotary International four years ago after visiting Tororo, Uganda, where Rotarians were meeting to discuss their rocket stove project.
“One of the enduring images from my first trip four years ago was the huge amount of plastic “grocery” bags discarded along the road and in particularly at the trading centers,” says Rhodes. “The multi-nationals had introduced them in Uganda only a few years before. As they have no infrastructure for hiding their waste, it was just dumped alongside the road.
“The impression I had was that there was no recycling of the plastic bags–with the exception that children would wrap them tightly into a ball and use them as a soccer ball. To its credit, the Government outlawed the use of these plastic bags about two years ago.”
Kampala and Environmental Justice
Travel with me to Kampala and its environs to examine the issues confronting east African communities as they battle towards attaining environmental justice.
Throughout this virtual journey, I will be incorporating a few of the 17 principles of environmental justice authored by Robert Bullard, who is recognized by many as the “Father of Environmental Justice.”