Environmental Literacy and Solid Waste Management in the Jos Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

The need to understand environmental systems, connections, patterns and root causes and evolve practicable solutions to environmental degradation has brought to the fore the relevance of environmental education and literacy in environmental management. Yet, the systematic study of the level of environmental education and literacy among urban dwellers in Nigeria is minimal. This study, therefore, examines the use of environmental education and literacy for solid waste management in Jos, Nigeria. Using a stratified random sampling technique, a sample of 1200 respondents was drawn from the three local government areas that formed the Jos Metropolis for questionnaire survey. Survey questionnaire elicited information on socio-economic and demographic characteristics of respondents, the level of awareness, knowledge, understanding, attitude and skills in solid waste management practices and factors responsible for such practices.  Percentages, mean and mode were used to summarize the data. Results revealed a yawning gap between environmental knowledge and practice as over 70.0% of respondents claimed awareness of the environment but only 65.9% claimed to be knowledgeable about the environment while only 30.0% had translated the awareness, knowledge and skills into concrete solid waste management practices. Furthermore, variations in the applications of the environmental education in solid waste management across the three LGAs were observed. It is, therefore, important that future environmental education focuses on translating knowledge into action in order to achieve the goal of environmental sustainability.