The impact of environmental education and awareness on the effective management of solid wastes among residents of Jos-Bukuru Metropolis, Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined the impact of Environmental Education and Awareness on the Effective Management of Solid Wastes among residents of Jos-Bukuru Metropolis, Plateau State, Nigeria with a view to making recommendations on environmental awareness and education for the area. It is by examining the existing policy on environmental awareness and its effect on people’s attitudes to solid waste management. It is by determining the relationship between attitude and solid waste management practices and also evaluating the influence of the level of environmental awareness on the solid waste management practices among residents. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from 400 respondents, selected through a systematic random sampling technique from six zones namely; Fari-gada, Angwan-Rukuba, Tudun-Wada, Rantya, Rayfield and Bukuru in the Jos-Bukuru metropolis. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analysed using spearman’s rank correlation (rho) and analysis of variance (F-ratio) statistical techniques. The results obtained showed that there was a provision for a policy on environmental awareness and its effects on people’s attitudes to solid waste management. Also, there was no relationship between attitude and solid waste management practice in Jos Metropolis and there was a low level of influence of environmental awareness and education on people’s attitudes towards solid waste management in Jos Metropolis, Nigeria. Based on these results a set of recommendations was made to help policy makers, practitioners and the academia in solid waste management.