EMP410: ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

PURPOSE

The primary goal of Environmental Education is to equip the student with environmental
knowledge and skills to enable him/her participate individually and collectively towards
achieving and /or maintaining a dynamic equilibrium between development, the quality of life
and the environment.

Course Objectives

1. Provide the student with knowledge which can enable him /her make ecologically and
environmentally sound decisions for sustainable development.
2. Create awareness of the inter- relationship between human population environment and
development
3. Provide students with basic skills and techniques of imparting environmental knowledge
to Kenyan children and communities where graduate teachers will be working.
4. Encourage students to develop positive altitudes, behaviours and appreciation of Kenyan
environment and to participate in its protection and management for future generations.

Course content

1. Environmental Education Perspective.

- Definition of concepts – ‘Environment’ and ‘Environmental Education’
- Historical development of Environmental Education
- Goals, objectives and guiding principles of Environmental Education
2. Teaching of Environmental Education
- Incorporating Environmental Education into the curriculum
- Approaches/models of teaching Environmental Education
- Methods of teaching for ‘classroom’ and ‘outside classroom’
- Rationale for teaching Environmental Education
3. Essential ecological knowledge of Environmental Education
The concept of the natural environment
 - Atmosphere
- Lithosphere (Crust)
- Biosphere
- Hydrosphere

Ecosystem structure and function

Ecological implication of anthropogenic activities

4. Environment and sustainable development

- Definition of the concept ‘sustainable development’

- Dimensions of sustainable development
- Aim of sustainable development
- Characteristics of sustainable societies
- The role of human resources in sustainable conversation strategies
5. Population education, Human settlement and Environment
- Define the concepts ‘population’, ‘environment’, ‘population distribution’
- Population management education
- Environmental issues of settlement
- Management of human settlement
6. Environmental health.
- Source of pollutants and environmental pollution
- Interaction of pollutants
- Issues in environmental health of pollutants
- The concept of waste and waste management
- Emerging concept in waste management
7. Emerging global environmental issues
- The wood fuel and energy crisis
- Stratospheric ozone layer depletion
- Global warming and climate change
- Degradation of Bio-diversity
- Technology transfer/appropriate technology
 8. Environmental management
- Environmental management principle
- Legal aspects of environmental management
- Integrated approach to environmental management
- Environmental awareness and public participation
- Research and training
- Management and conservation efforts in Kenya and the world (selected international
environmental agreements and conventions)

Course Assessment

CATS 30%-

Sit in-15%

Take away 15%

EXAMS 70%

Section A-Structured Compulsory Questions 30%

Section B- Two essay questions out of 40%

References

1. Otiende J. E, Ezaza W.P Boisvert R(eds).(1991). An introduction to Environmental

Education. Nairobi University Press, Nairobi –Kenya
2. UNESCO (1980). Environmental Education in the light of Tibilisi Conference. Stockholm,
Sweden 1972
3. Hughes E.D (eds).1977. Environmental Education Key issue of the future. Great
Britain
4. GOK (1999). Sectional Paper No 6 of 1999 on Environment and Development, Ministry of
Environmental conservation.
 THE CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENT

This is the surrounding and must be viewed in its totality as a set of interlocking systems that is
natural, biophysical and man-made or social surrounding in which all living things interact.
The natural environment consists of the physical and biological environment. The physical
environment includes the atmosphere hydrosphere and lithosphere.
The biological environment includes plants, animals and micro organisms. The living organisms
and the physical surrounding form an ecosystem
In an ecosystem, materials essential to life circulate from the physical to the living and back to
the physical system, forming dynamic relationships referred to as natural circles
The social environment results from the effects of human actions on natural environment
The human habitat emerges as a result of people changing or re-arranging their surroundings to
meet their needs.
Technology is used to change the environment and organize the world plants and animals into a
man – made environment influenced by people, social, cultural, economy, political systems and
institutions.
The concern for environment should be viewed as an interacting code, when stress is exerted on
any one environmental system physical, biological or social (repercussions are felt in other
systems)

Atmosphere Biological Flora & fauna

Physical environment
Lithosphere environment Environment

Hydrosphere
totaly
Social; cultural activities,
Physical
environment Economic systems & institutions

physical built up areas

N/B Whatever befalls the environment befalls us, environment doesn’t belong to people, people
belong to the environment. All things are connected like blood that unites one family. Human
beings did not weave the web of life, but they are merely a strand in it. Whatever men do, they
do it to themselves.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Definition – it is learning process that increases people’s knowledge and awareness about the
environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and expertise to address
these challenges and fosters appropriate altitudes and motivations to make informed decisions
and take responsible actions.

-It is a dimension in the educational system that deals with the environment. It adopts a
methodology that does not only teach about the environment from the environment but it also
teaches for the environment by requiring that learners carry out positive actions towards the
environment.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

The roots of Environmental Education can be traced back to as early as the 18th century when
Jean-Jacques Rousseau stressed the importance of an education that focuses on the environment
in Emile: or, On Education, several decades later, Louis Agassiz, a Swiss-born naturalist,
echoed Rousseau’s philosophy as he encouraged students to “Study nature, not books.” These
two influential scholars helped lay the foundation for a concrete Environmental Education
program, known as nature study, which took place in the late 19th century and early 20th
century. Disinger (1985) identifies three antecedents to Environmental Education: nature study,
conservation education, and outdoor education. Nature study gained prominence in the USA
during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

The nature study movement used fables and moral lessons to help students develop an
appreciation of nature and embrace the natural world. Anna Botsford Comstock, the head of the
Department of Nature Study at Cornell University, was a prominent figure in the nature study
movement and wrote the Handbook for Nature Study in 1911, which used nature to educate
children on cultural values. Comstock and the other leaders of the movement, such as Liberty
Hyde Bailey, helped Nature Study garner tremendous amounts of support from community
leaders, teachers, and scientists and change the science curriculum for children across the
United States. A new type of Environmental Education, Conservation Education, emerged as a
result of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl during the 1920s and 1930s. Conservation
Education dealt with the natural world in a drastically different way from Nature study because
it focused on rigorous scientific training rather than natural history. Conservation Education was
a major scientific management and planning tool that helped solve social, economic and
environmental problems during this period.
Holsman, (2001) posited that the modern Environmental Education movement, which gained
significant momentum in the late 1960s and early 1970s, stems from Nature Study and
Conservation Education.

During this period, many events – such as Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War –
placed Americans at odds with one another and the U.S. government. However, as more people
began to fear the fallout from radiation, the chemical pesticides mentioned in Rachel Carson’s
Silent Spring, and the significant amounts of air pollution and waste, the public’s concern for
their health and the health of their natural environment led to a unifying phenomenon known as
environmentalism.

The writing and public speaking of John Muir and Enos Mills popularized wild nature as a
source of recreation, replenishment and solace throughout the early 1900s (Nash, 1989;
Drummond, 1995). The Cornell University biologist, Liberty Hyde Bailey perpetuated that
growth well into the first half of the twentieth century (Hammerman et al. 2001). Anna Botsford
Comstock a student and protégé of Liberty Hyde Bailey became the first female faculty member
at Cornell University and her 1911 publication, Handbook of Nature Study remains a valuable
teaching resource (Chase, 1985).

Conservation Education extended the ideas of enjoyment, relaxation and health embodied in
nature study while emphasizing the need to conserve natural resources so that both non
consumptive and extractive pursuits could be maintained in perpetuity. Conservation, as
proposed by Aldo Leopold, espoused responsible resource consumption balanced with
maintaining habitat quality, even to the point of leaving some wilderness intact for its own sake
(existence value), (Lorbiecke, 1996). As Conservation Education began to grow and develop,
the Dust Bowl stamped an indelible conscious arousing situation on the need for just such a
discipline. The problems predicted by Leopold and Marsh came to pass in a swift and highly
visible manner. On April 14, 1935, in Washington, D.C., Hugh Bennett, director of the US Soil
Erosion Service spoke to Congress about the need to end destructive farming and ranching
practices.

As if on cue, the chamber was blackened by a cloud of soil that had blown in from the Great
Plains states, a distance of 2,000 miles. Bennett’s point had been made more powerfully than
any words could express. Less than 2 weeks after that episode, the US Congress passed the bill
creating the Soil Conservation Service (Lookingbill 2001). Conservation, and the education for
its need, had finally become a cause célèbre in the USA. Conservation education steadily gained
momentum throughout the middle of the twentieth century and remains a robust part of the
educational mosaic today (Swan 1975; Roth 2008).

Whereas nature study and conservation education are generally considered to be content areas,
outdoor education is more often viewed as a teaching method that draws from both nature study
and conservation education (Disinger 1985). Outdoor education’s underlying philosophy can be
traced back to John Amos Comenius (1592–1670) and his emphasis on sensory learning
(Hammerman 1980). In the years immediately following World War II, outdoor education
combined elements of nature study and conservation education with what at the time was
known as school camping. The links between school camping and outdoor education were
further developed throughout the postwar years as outdoor education became a more common
aspect of the regular school experience (Sharp & Partridge, 1947). Outdoor education,
conservation education, and nature study, remain active fields of endeavor that continue to
contribute to the knowledge base of Environmental Education, while benefiting from
Environmental Education’s own products and practitioners. The links between these varied
fields of practice are both permanent and mutually beneficial.

Environmental Education taps into a broad range of source disciplines for its content. Science,
Geography, biology, mathematics, language arts, social science, politics, and philosophy make
up just a part of the mix. It also draws from a broad base for its pedagogy. As previously noted,
its historical roots can be found in nature study, conservation education, and outdoor education,
but, at its best, Environmental Education also draws from a deep well of pedagogical best
practice (Archie 2003). A major contributor to the Environmental Education knowledge base is
environmental science. But in recent years educators have often had difficulty distinguishing
environmental science from Environmental Education. In daily practice they often blend almost
seamlessly, while theoretically and conceptually they remain very different. Part of the issue is
the variability found in definitions of these terms. While environmental science is concerned
with the collection and analysis of data and its interpretation, Environmental Education is major
concerned with how this analyzed and interpreted data can be disseminated to the public.
Review Questions

i) Enumerate the FOUR course objectives of this course (4 marks)

ii) Define ‘Environment’ and ‘Environmental Education’?
iii) Identify the THREE goals of ‘Environmental Education’?
iv) Elucidate the SIX objectives of ‘Environmental Education’?
v) Examine any SIX guiding principles of ‘Environmental Education’?
vi) What are the target groups for Environmental Education?

Activity 1
Identify and Reflect on one environmental issue of concern in your locality and
begin to think on how you can solve that issue. Identify the knowledge and skills
you need to have in order to resolve the issue
 Environmental Education Goals Objectives and Guiding Principles

During the intergovernmental conference on Environmental Education 1977, at Tbilisi. Kenya

and other countries represented adopted the goals, objectives and guiding principles on
environmental education as proposed in 1975 in Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

Goals of environmental education

- To foster/create awareness of and concern about economic, social, political and

ecological interdependence in both rural and urban areas.
- To provide every Kenyan with an opportunity to acquire knowledge skills and altitudes,
values and commitments needed to protect and improve the quality of the environment.
- To create new ways of behavior in individual, groups and communities towards the
improvement of the environment.
N/B The general aim of Environmental Education is to develop a word of people that is
aware of and concerned about the environment and its associated problems and which has
the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations and commitments to work individually and
collectively to provide solutions to current problems and to prevent a new one.
Objectives of Environmental Education
1. Awareness

To help individuals and communities to acquire awareness and become sensitive to the total
environment and its associated problems

2. Knowledge

To help individuals and social groups acquire basic understanding of the total environment, it’s
functioning; it’s associated problems and humanities responsibility in it.

3. Attitude

To help individuals and social groups to acquire, strong feelings of concern for the environment
and the motivation for actively participating in its protection, solving problems and improving
the quality of life.

4. Skills
To help individuals and social groups acquire the skills for indentifying and solving
environmental problems.

5. Evaluation ability

To help individuals and social groups evaluate environmental measures and educational
programs in terms of ecological, political, economic, and social, aesthetic and educational
factors.

6. Participation

To help individuals and social groups develop a sense of responsibility and urgency regarding
environmental problems and to ensure appropriate action is taken to solve those problems

Environmental Education-Guiding principles

Principles are rules of action or conduct to guide a process.

1. Environmental Education should consider the environment in its totally i.e Natural,
Man-made, Ecological, Political, Economical, Technological, Social, Cultural and
Aesthetics.
2. It should be a continuous life-long process taught in school and out of school.
3. It’s should be inter-disciplinary in its approach where it borrows from the content of
other disciplines.
4. It should emphasize active participation in preventing and solving environmental
problems.
5. It should examine major environmental issues from a world point of view while paying
due regard to regional differences.
6. It should focus on current and future environmental situations; this is the consideration
of a historical perspective.
7. It should examine all development and growth from an environment perspective that is
considering environmental aspects in development projects.
8. It should promote the value and necessity of local, national and international co-
operation in solving environmental problems.
 9. It should help learners discover symptoms and real issues of environmental problems
and be able to suggest mitigation measures.
10. It should emphasize the complexity of environmental problems which require critical
thinking and problem-solving skills.
11. Utilize diverse learning and teaching approaches which stress practical activities and
first hand experiences.

Formal Preschool, school primary secondary, higher

Target groups sector education, environmental professions and training
institutions.
Informal
Youths, individuals, family workers decision makers in
sector environmental and non-environmental fields

Target Groups

The main audience is the general public and within this global framework; the major categories
are: -

a. The formal sector: it includes the school, pre- school, primary, secondary and higher
education students as well as teachers and environmental professionals in training and
re- training institutions
b. The non-formal education sector: includes; the youth, individually and collectively
from all segments of the population such as family, workers, managers and decision
makers in environmental and non- environmental fields.
 Specific approaches used in Environmental Education

An approach is a set of broad guidelines on how to plan an action or process

i. Interdisciplinary approach
It is a single subject model of teaching, in which various disciplines and objects are presented as
inter connected. The aim is to achieve the objectives lying in the areas where the subjects
interact. It presupposes a thorough knowledge of the various concepts in the disciplines being
linked.
It requires re-orientation and re-articulation of the various disciplines and subjects involved. It
also advocates the integration or linking of Environmental Education within existing school
subjects. Each school subject contributes in some way to the realization of objectives of
Environmental Education.

Physical sciences
Environmental
Life sciences
Education

Mathematics
Social studies
Arts/humanities
communication

In this approach a discipline links to the study of environmental issues, its particular vocabulary,
approach and its instruction process independent of others.
Teachers then single out relevant points of which to concentrate. It requires some specialized
training of the teachers in order to enable them to teach a wider variety of topics within a
discipline
ii. Multi –Disciplinary approach
It is a model where environmental education components are infused into relevant disciplines.
These disciplines use environment as a resource for their teaching. All subjects are linked
through Environmental Education. For instance, art as a subject reveals itself when as a result of
communing with the environment, and the learner comes to appreciate its aesthetic value and
expresses it through songs, paintings and poems.
The arts products help persuade people to admire, cherish and conserve the environment, the
appropriateness of this approach depends on the nature of the learners and the resources
available.
Teachers need to have a wider general background of the knowledge and specialized training

Vocational studies

Physical
Life science
sciences
Environmental
Life sciences Education Mathematics

Social studies Arts/humanities

Communication

iii. Problem solving approach

It is a practical oriented approach and aims at findings solutions to specific problems of the
environment or making the participants better equipped to provide solutions. It focuses on the
problems more than learners and therefore it is contrary to the traditional certificate-based
approach. It requires a through re- thinking of the educational process and a new orientation of
teaching strategies, towards solving environmental problems, rather than academic knowledge
on what they are and how they affect us
- It requires the following: -
• Discussion groups
• Guided environmental interpretation
 • Clarification of values
Inter- disciplinary

Approaches Multi- disciplinary

In E.E Problem solving

Community based

Education extension

• Environmental demonstration workshops

• Practical action projects
• Action research /applied research
For instance, in discussion groups participants have access through a facilitator to information
needs to active participation. The group then aims at creating awareness of the problems
analyzing the situation to find the most effective solutions and remedies, searching for
improvement after discussion of the means available and the expected results, applying the
solutions and evaluating their effectiveness. The particular strategy to be followed depends on
the nature of environmental problems, nature of participant’s, competence of the teacher and
teaching-learning resources available.

iv. Community based approach

This is effectively used in non-formal and non-adult education. Community here means, all
those affected by a given environmental problem. It involves action by the entire community
towards the solution of the problem. It is a learning process for all those concerned.
Community participation as a process of teaching environmental issues can either be defensive
(guard against change) or developmental (attempt to alter the situation)
The strategy for action dependents on how large the community is, at the national level it may
include identification of community problems, to be studied with full community participation,
developing an appropriate curriculum, training teachers and facilitators and evaluating the
environmental education curricular.
It could also include a mass media program directed at a particular target group, in order to
create environmental awareness
v. Education – Extension model
This involves carrying out educational campaigns on environmental issues. People can be
advised /trained to help disseminate the information. It can also involve government officials,
institutional support e.g. use of Members of Parliament, influential persons, administrators etc

Using this method, one can employ;

-Case-study demonstrations

- Field trips

- Lab experiments

- Workshops

-Seminars

The Methodology for Teaching Environmental Education

Environmental Education is practical and it is vital that is should, inculcate knowledge skills
and attitudes that will help improve the quality of the environment. Thus, a comprehensive
methodology must include a variety of overlapping pedagogical approaches

i. Inquiry Method

The teacher plays an active role in the educative process. It is a discovery-oriented method
where the educator largely guides the learner to define the problem, formulate the hypothesis,
collect and analyze data, report findings, make conclusions and attempt to solve the program

ii. System method

Consideration is given to broader environmental issues i.e. the concept and ecological
interrelations in the learner’s environment. The learner will be exposed to environmental facts
and he will use them proper solutions to environmental problems.
 iii. Relevance method

The criteria for drawing inquiry of environmental programs are governed by issues of social
relevance to authority e.g. pollution and environmental waste management

iv. Process method

Environmental education programs are designed with greater emphasis on scientific approach
irrespective of the discipline.
It involves the interrelationship between human kind and the implication of these activities in
the ecosystem.

v. Value clarification method

Consideration is given to an understanding of the cultural connotations of Environmental

Education e.g. In matters related to population growth and control, due care should be taken to
learn and understand, the traditional or accepted cultural values in order to treat vital topics in a
manner acceptable to the target group.

vi. Active –learning method

It advocates for a shift from the previous learning process, where the teacher was the sole (only)
authority in a class setting and learners were expected to listen quietly, write notes for revision,
in preparation for a test / exam. This method was found to influence very little change in
attitude and behaviour.

Characteristics of Active Learning Method

1. Dialogue

Both learners and a class teacher actively participate in discussing ideas and offering
suggestions on how to solve environmental problems

2. Reflection

The learners get time to think criticality on how to deal with environmental issues. As they
reflect, they conceptualized and explore alternative ways of problem solving and taking action.
 3. Encounter

The learner gets first-hand experience on environmental issues active / participatory learning is
quite effective in changing attitude and behavior.

Environmental Educational Learning Resources/Aids

Whenever possible teaching resources should be to used to reinforce the teaching methods

• Newspapers cuttings
• Specimen from local environment /Realia
• Written materials of all types
• Locally produced low cost equipment (3-D model)
• Films/Videos/Slides and TV
• Library facilities
• Broadcast /Pre-recorded materials
• Local-national /Institutional publications
• Museum facilities and specimen
• Experimental work
• Fieldtrips
• Action research
• Displays and exhibitions
• Human resources / Resource persons

ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

It simply refers to social and economic progress to satisfy human needs and improve the quality
of life. It is achieved through modification of bio-physical environment

Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present generation
without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs (Bruntland
Commission, 1987)
N/B This development requires that people in all countries and all walks of life should work
urgently towards restructuring national and international policies institutions that can be
described as environmentally compliant.

In this case both the goals towards environmental quality and economic growth would no longer
be viewed as incompatible but rather as complimentary targets achieved towards recognizing
the concerns for ecology and needs for economy

The Green Adage say; “We did not inherit the earth from our fore fathers but we borrowed it
from our grandchildren, so if we are borrowers and not owners, It becomes incumbent upon us
to live the world as beautiful, productive and stable as it was lent to us”.

Evolution of the Sustainable Development concept

The origin and meaning can be traced to concerted efforts of preservationists and
conservationists in the late 1960 which were directed towards preventing pollution, especially
from the western world. There was also concern that pollution would become a third world
problem too if developing countries, followed the pattern of development that the west had
taken and which had the least regard for environmental protection.

These issues were:

- Overpopulation
- Poverty
- Inefficiency that led to mass resource wastage
- Degradation of support system
- Poor political and economic management of environment resources leading to pollution
- Undervaluing natural resources
- The urge to dominate and control nature using advanced technology
Before the adoption of modern technology, human societies had developed sophisticated
environmental measures that ensured proper sustainable utilization of natural resources. The
indigenous conservation methods included: -
• Shifting Agriculture /cultivation – to allow soil replenish / restore itself.
 • Social Systems- which prevented over-exploitation
• Religious and cultural systems which valued nature/ sacred trees
• The rationalized harvesting of wildlife

Industrial revolution greatly increased the ability to control the environment, bring enormous
technological changes, based on increased energy use, mechanization and chemical used in
synthetic material and medical advances. These activities led to:

• Massive production of goods and services

• Increased specialization
• Increased urbanization
• Cultural dis- integration
• Inequitable distribution /share of resources and social well being etc
• Natural resource depletion and degradation
• Pollution of water, air and land
• Global climate change and ozone layer depletion
• The world wide loss of Bio-diversity
In 1992 in the Rio de Jeneiro (Brazil) summit, sustainable development was the main agenda
and the key outcome was agenda 21 which addressed sustainable development at both local and
international level.
It was a blueprint for sustainable development that encompassed poverty eradication and
environmental protection
The basic idea of agenda 21 was that people must live within the limitation of planet earth and
share its resource equitably and use them sustainably. In the world submit on sustainable
development in Johannesburg in 2002, three key components of sustainable development were
identified;
i. Poverty eradication
ii. Changing patterns of production and consumption
iii. Protecting and managing the nature resource base

The Aim of Sustainable Development

 1. To help the very poor and vulnerable groups who without necessary help are left with no
option but to engage in self destruction of the environment

2. Pursuance of a pattern of economic development that leads to self reliance in the

utilization of available resources.

3. Cost –effective develop process that does not degrade environmental quality nor reduce
the productivity of its resources

4. Provision of health care, clean water and shelter for all

5. Promotion of people centered initiatives in which people are key resources

N.B. Within the self-perpetuating limits of the environment such society recognizes the limits of
sustainable growth by seeking the best means of achieving desired growth while avoiding
aimless growth.

Dimensions/ Goals of Sustainable Development

To address complex human needs, aspirations and enable societies of the world to tackle their
social economic and environmental challenges. The following dimensions are critical.

i. Economic dimension

It involves wise use of natural resources for economic growth to meet human needs. It is also
involves increased support for locally based enterprises and development processes that protects
a society from any detrimental forces of international markets

ii. Social dimension

It involves improvement of the quality of people’s lives through provision of healthcare and
human rights, education and provision of employment. It demands that a society has basic needs
and it has equal access to service and should involve in decision making process in matters
affecting it. It also demands respect for individuals’ cultural values thus it enabling developing
countries to avoid the whole application of western life styles and free market values.

iii. Environmental dimension

This is the maintenance of the environmental system that supports life .It demands that the
environment and the species which are on it are valued on their merit not just because of their
usefulness, that animal and plant species have a right to exist and appropriate action is taken to
prevent loss of species in their natural habitats

Economic

Dimension
Social
dimension
Environmental
dimension

Characteristics of a Sustainable Society

1. A society that lives within environmental sustainability where environmental

considerations are entrenched in policy formulation and development projects i.e.
societies of the world have to address their respective environmental issues as they seek
to undertake their developmental activities with harming the environment
2. Equity: It emphasis not only the creation of wealth alongside resources conservation but
also on the fair distribution of resources in the nation and within communities i.e. A fair
distribution of environmental benefits among generations and between generations.
3. Uplifting social economic status of the people where economic advancement is
accompanied by non –financial components of improving people’s health, educational
level, the quality of work, existence of cohesive community and vibrancy of cultural life
none of which can be measured by the Gross National Product (GNP)
4. Satisfying basic / essential human needs e.g. of the poorest and the neediest in the
society without the harm done to the natural and cultural heritage
5. Citizen participation: a satisfactory number of people who want be affected by a
development process should also be involved through their voluntary participation in
 project formulation and implementation. In this case, participation is much a goal of
sustainable development as it is a means of achieving sustainability.
6. Self reliance: This is a unifying objective, a confidence building factor emphasizing on
dependence on one’s own resources including man-power. It refers to independence
achieved through rational use of a nation’s natural and human resources, in the process
of a nation’s sustainable development. It also refers to the ability and freedom of
ordinary working people to choose their lifestyles based upon their culture and available
resources.

POPULATION EDUCATION

The importance attached to human settlement is increasing and achieving a global dimension.
Human settlements, provide the framework for social cultural and economic interactions among
people and are therefore an integral part in the peoples, hence human settlement provides a
central topic in the context of environmental education

The pursuit of sustainable development requires the development of human settlement as a vital
component of national development. There should be consideration how human settlements can
be planned and managed in such a manner as to provide proper shelter, adequate food, water,
energy and recreation for the inhabitants of present habitants for future development.

To a large number of people, the term ‘settlement’ indicates a house or shelter. This notion is
partiality correct. Human settlements have been defined as: -

Organized space - irrespective of their varying densities and levels of infrastructure where
human activities take place. A Greek expert referred to them as territorial arrangements by
Doxiaads 1976. Yet the dictionary geography referred to them as any form of habitation, usually
implying more than one house thought some would include single isolated building.
(Monkhouse, 1965)

These definitions indicate a perspective in which form both a tented nomadic group and modern
city qualify to be called ‘human settlement’. The term includes people and their interactions,
buildings (schools, hospitals, recreation centers) networks (roads, water supply, communication
and the natural environment in which they are situated including land, water, and air.
The purpose of human settlement is for human survival and welfare. Consequently, they reflect
the way a group of human beings shelters themselves, work and interact.

They are the social cultural elements of the total environment which modify and influence,
climate, traditions, skill and natural resources. They in-turn are modified by climate and
traditions.

Environmental Issues in Rural Settlement

- Rapid population growth

- Over- exploitations of resources – this comes from a long population with a managing
resource
- High levels of poverty
- Lack of / Inadequate basic needs (clean drinking water, quality shelter, social amenities
and infrastructure)
- Migration of skilled labour to urban areas- (rural-urban migration).
- High malnutrition (Kwashiorkor, Rickets)
- Serious land degradation- reduced crop production
- Deforestation leading to loss of bio-diversity
- Inadequate education and health facilities

Mitigation Measures to Environmental Issues in Rural Areas

1. Developing a human development policy that facilitates suitable development in rural

areas.

2. Enforce environmental impact assessment on developmental projects in rural areas

3. Developing and promoting alternative energy sources

4. Improve access roads in rural areas.

5. Promote community participation and involvement in all stages of project cycle.

6. Design and implement environment programmes on management in both high potential

and low potential areas (ASAL)
 7. Expand rural electrification programs to promote development of light industries.

8. Incorporate indigenous resources and the use of knowledge in the management of

environmental resources.

9. Promotes research on environmental issues in rural areas

10. Intensify family life education on women literacy

Environmental Issues in Urban Areas

The most significant trend in human settlement in the 20thCentury is rapid urbanization.
Research by the World Resources Institute in 1989 showed that while the urban population of
the world development was high, the growth rate of urban population remained only 2 percent
per annum between 1920s and 1960s.
Projections indicate a growth of 0.8% per annum in the 1990s and 0.9% per annum in the early
21st Century. Quite the opposite is happening in developing counties where urban growth is 3%
per annum in where all categories of areas are growing in number
Africa is projected to have the highest growth of 4.8%per annum up to the year 2000 according
to (WRI-1988-1989)

Environmental status and facts about urban settlement in Kenya

- Rapid increase in urban population

- Urbanization is not accompanied by economic growth hence increase in poverty and
cases of unemployment
- Urban centers depend on rural areas for food, raw materials, energy, water etc
- Urbanization competes with agriculture for arable land.
- Qualified personnel migrate to urban areas in search for employment and better social
amenities
- Urban areas have heavy and light industries that produce goods &services required in
the rural areas
- Most urban workers have families in rural areas and spend their salaries in developing
rural areas
- Urban centers transform resources in ways that contribute to economic development and
social welfare; however, they generate wastes that pollute the area, water and land. It
also contributes to the degradation of the renewable resources. This has led to the
following: -
• Inadequate housing - poor housing, people live in slums, shanties and ghettos
• Poor sanitation especially in slums – poor sewage system
• Poor solid waste disposal – inappropriate dumping sites
• increase in social problems such as crime &prostitution
• urban congestion
• High pollution of air /water &land
• Inadequate urban &town planning
• Shortage of clean water for domestic &industrial use
• High level of unemployment and under-employment
• Social stress caused by lack of leisure, open space and insecurity
• Street children and families
• High poverty in slum areas
Unique Problems of Slums;
• Overcrowding –high birth rate with high population
• Rapid population growth
• Increase in cases of environmental diseases such as Typhoid, Dysentery, Malaria,
Meningitis and HIV/AIDS
• Poorly designed shelters-Shanties and Slums
• lack of basic requirements such as Hospitals, Cinema halls, and other social
amenities
• Slums are built in hazardous areas like dumpling sites, abandoned quarries etc
• Increase in drug trafficking, crime, and prostitution
• Joblessness
• A high number of single families, mainly headed by woman
Recommendation for improvement of quality of life in urban settlement:

- Slum upgrading programmes and provision of essential services

- We can revise building by-laws and planning regulations
- Provision of incentive and opportunities to small and medium scale entrepreneurs that
generated employment in order to reduce poverty
- Improve planning and management capacity of local authorities
- Development and implementing guidelines through legislation and informal settlement
improvement programmes.
- Provide sewage facilities for all municipalities in urban canters
- Improve sanitation and environmental management in all urban centers
- Empower urban communities to participate in decision making on issues affecting them
- Promote cooperation with the private sector and international community to boost
entrepreneurship i.e engage in public –private partnership programmes.

POPULATION EDUCATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Population education means the use of education in order to increase and promote knowledge
and understanding of not only the number of people and their distribution in a given area but
also the implication of the population on the natural and social economic environment. Such
education usually focuses on the implication of the nature of the population situation for the
individual, society and the total environment. It should involve learners in population decision
making at a variety of levels, ranging from the individual to the national level.

Population Education has three objectives, namely;

i) To impart knowledge on population characteristics, basic demographic concepts

methodology, national and international population policies and programmes.
ii) To help learners develop skills to analyze population related issues and problems, give
the learner practice in decision making regarding alternative population situations,
appropriate utilization of natural and human resources and population policy
formulation.
 iii) To help learners develop responsible altitudes towards family well being, national
population programmes, national population resources and environment, these
objectives can contribute to reduce environmental degradation.

Population data

This is the information we have on the population, the purpose of collecting population data is
to provide planners with vital statistical information for planning and decision making at all
levels. It becomes important that individual co-operates with government officials by giving
accurate information while requested to do so.

Sources of population data

- Population censes

- Sample surveys

- Vital registration of births and deaths.

N.B. The population censes remains the major source of population data

Types of Census

a) De facto census
b) De jure census
i) De facto census

This is where people are counted wherever they are found at the specific time of counting.
Eg in August 1989, all visitors in Kenya were counted and Kenyans who were outside the
country were not counted.

ii) De jure census

Here attempts are made to reach the people wherever they are. Visitors to a town will be
assigned to their home districts those who are abroad are sent cards to fill to that they are
counted with those in the country

The USA conducts a de jure census in that they try to reach their citizens wherever they are
 Term used in population

1. Fertility– this is the actual reproductive performance of an individual, couple or

population

Fertility = number of living births per woman

2. Crude Birth Rate: - this is the number of live births per 1000 of the population
CBR= Number of live birth x 1000
Total population
3. Crude Death Rate – this is the number of deaths per 1000 of the population

CBR= Number of deaths x 1000

Total population

4. Total Fertility Rate – this is the average number of children an average woman should
have if the current age specific fertility rate remains constant during her reproductive
years
5. Age specific fertility rate – this is the fertility rate for specific age group

Number of five births to woman x1000

Age 15-19
No of women age 15-19years

6. Infant mortality rate – This is the number of babies dying under 1 year of age per 1000
live births in a given year

= No of deaths of infants
Under 1-year x 1000
Total live births
7. Life Expectancy – The average number of additional years a person can expect to live
at birth based on the age specific death rate for a given year e.g in Kenya the life
expectancy is (45 years)
8. Migration- The movement of people from a city or county to another for settlement.
 9. Immigration –The number of people moving into a country per 1000th population in a
given year.
10. Immigration rate –number of people moving out of an area of origin per 1000th
population of that area in a given year =
No. of immigrants x 1000
Total population
11. Net migration rate – the net effect of Migration and Emigration on an area’s population
expressed as increase/ decrease per 1000th of population of that area in a given year =
No. of migrants x 1000
Total population
12. Emigration rate – Number of people moving out of an area of origin per 1000 of
population of an area in a given year =
No of emigrants x 1000
Total population
13. Population change –This is an interplay of fertility mortality and migration
14. Rate of natural increase – this is the rate at which a population is increasing or
decreasing in a given year due to an excess or deficit of births over deaths expressed as a
percentage %
CBR-CDR
100
15. Growth rate – this is the rate at which a population is increasing in a given year due to
natural increase and net migration expressed as % of the net population
GR= Rate of population increase + Net migration x 1000
Total population

Population composition

It simply refers to age and sex structure, occupation, education, rural –urban and ethnic make –
up. The most significant and most relevant to this structure is the age structure of a population
as it has a potentially great impact on the environment.
Age and sex structure of a population is graphically represented in a population pyramid as
shown below:

Population pyramid- Population pyramid for Developing Countries shows more youths
and more old people, the working population has less people hence the dependency ratio is
high as opposed to the population pyramid of developed countries which have less youth
and less old generation and a higher population of the working class hence lower
dependency ratios.

Population distribution

The pattern of settlement and dispersal of a population is expressed in terms of population

density, which is measured by the average number of persons per unit area. The unit arrived at
should be viewed with caution as the world population is not evenly distributed. This is due to
unevenness in the distribution of resources and the resulting productivity of the land.

A large part of the earth is inhospitable to human beings. Regions such as Sahara Desert,
Antarctica and very high mountains have very few people. Consequently, 50% of the world
population lives in about 30% of the earth. China alone has a third of the worlds’ total
population.

Population management

There are two schools of thought where the population question is concerned. One school of
thought insists that population growth should be stabilized through special population
programmes and policies before sustainable development can be achieved. The other school
of thought claims that concern should not be placed on the population, in terms of weather
it is growing fast or not. After all population has a tremendous potential as a resource for
development. The problem they argue lies in lack of proper management of the resources
coupled with inequitable distribution of resources. This situation results in very few rich nations
that consume 2/3rds of the world’s resources and very many poor nations consuming 1/3rds of
the worlds resources (UNEP, 1986).
 Population Education and Environmental Education

In view of the population related problems, inherent in the technological problems in the world
today, many countries have opted to introduce Population Education in the school curriculum.
Other countries such as Kenya have attempted to infuse content into related subjects e.g Home
science, Geography, Social Education and Ethics etc. The content of population education is
part of the curriculum in Environmental Education. This avoids repetition and due competition.
Basic population messages are easily and meaningfully put across while teaching
Environmental Education.

Energy Crisis

The energy crisis is defined as either a large drop in the supply of energy or large drop in the
supply of energy available or a large rise in the price of energy. More often than not it refers to a
shortage of oil and electricity, as well as other natural sources of energy

Causes of energy crises

- Indiscriminate use of coal and petroleum

- Growth of population thus demanding space and place to live in.
- Energy production and use
- Deforestation; large scale cutting of trees and forests lead to loss of natural habitats of
living organisms.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

The structure of the earth consists of a series of layers both internal and external that vary in
composition and thickness. These layers are:

• Atmosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Lithosphere /Crust
• Asthenosphere /Mantle
• The Barysphere /Core
The atmosphere and the hydrosphere form the external structure of the earth, while the
Lithosphere, Asthenosphere and barysphere from the internal structure of the earth.

The External Structure of the Earth

1. Atmosphere – This is an envelope of transparent and oduorless gases held to the earth
by gravitational attraction. The furthest limit of the atmosphere is 330km. The
atmosphere consists of four layers
a) Thermosphere
b) Mesosphere
c) Stratosphere
d) Troposphere

2. Hydrosphere - The hydrosphere is part of the earth surface covered by water masses,
oceans, rivers, lakes, and swamps. The hydrosphere occupies about 75% of the earth’s
total surface area. The distribution of the water masses on the earth surface is uneven.
The southern hemisphere is predominantly covered by water (81 % of the total surface
area) while the Northern hemisphere has 64%water of its total surface area.

The Internal Structure of the Earth

This is the outer shell of the earth’s crust. This region is made up of rocks of great variety. The
crust has an average thickness of 16-24km but in mountainous areas it is about 70km thickness.
In some parts of the ocean, some parts of the crust go to a thickness about 6 km.

a) The Lithosphere – is composed of a series of plates which are constantly in motion.

The continental crust and oceanic crust both form the crust. The continental crust is
made up of rocks that have Silica and Aluminum (SIAL) while the oceanic crust has
rocks that are made up of Silica and Magnesium (SIMA). The crust is separated from
the mantle by a discontinuity known as mohorovicic discontinuity or in short Moho. A
zone named after a geologist who carried a research about the behaviour of seismic
waves causing earth quakes in 1909.
 b) The Mantle /Asthenosphere

Composed mainly of silicate rocks, rich in iron and magnesium, the upper mantle is
made up of hard rigid rocks, while the inner mantle is made up of liquid ultra-basic
rocks, the upper mantle therefore is kept afloat in this semi molten material. The mantle
o
extends up to a depth of 2900km and temperatures rise up to 5000 C. The high
temperatures generate convectional currents responsible for the Earth’s movement. The
Mantle and the Core are separated by a level of discontinuity known as the Guternberg
discontinuity.

C) Barysphere /Core /Centrosphere

Composed of rocks made up of Nickel and Iron. The Core can be divided into two zones
the outer Core and the inner Core, the outer Core is in a semi-molten state while the
inner core is solid and it is made up of hard rocks. The temperatures at the center of the
earth are about 55000C, it is believed that the interior of the earth especially, the Core
has high temperatures because of the following 3 reasons: -

a) The process of cooling after breaking away from the Sun- The interior of the earth
cooled at a slower rate than the outer part. Therefore, much of its original heat/
temperature is still retained.
b) The weight of the overlying burden/material exerts pressure on the core resulting into
high temperatures.
c) Radio activity- This is the process of breaking up the nucleus of an atom, it is brought
about by bombarding the nucleus with a stream of neutrons, a process known nuclear
fusion.

Ecological knowledge of Environmental Education

Definition of terms;
Ecology; this is simply the study of how living things and non living things relate to each other.
Ecosystem; this is a dynamic entity composed of a biological community and its associated
 abiotic environment. Or an Ecosystem can simply be defined as a natural unit
comprising of biotic and abiotic factors.
Community; this is all interacting population of a species in a habitat at a particular time.
Population; A group of interacting organisms of the same species in an ecosystem.
Species; A group of organisms where all members do and have potential to interbreed and
produce viable offspring’s

Ecosystem structure and functions

All ecosystems in the world can be classified into two categories; -
I Aquatic ecosystems [H20, bodies]
II Terrestrial ecosystems [Grassland savanna]
All ecosystems exhibit a series of biotic components that are linked together and thus interact
with one another.
Components of all ecosystems
i. Producers [autotrophs]
ii. Consumers [heterotrophs]
iii. Decomposers [deterotrophs]
iv. Non- living/ abiotic components are wind, temperature, soil e.t.c

Properties of ecological communities

1. Productivity

Production of biomass (biological material in a given area at a given time)

i) Primary productivity –conversion of solar energy into chemical energy by producers

through the process of photosynthesis
ii) secondary productivity – this is the manufacture of biomass by consumers

2. Complexity and connectedness.

This refers to the number of species at each trophic level and the number of trophic levels in
a community
3. Abundance and diversity

Abundance is an expression of the total number of organisms in a biological community,

while diversity is the measure of the number of different species /genetic variations present.

4. Resilience and stability

This is the capacity to recover from disturbances. It can be natural /anthropogenic (as a
result of human activities). Many biological communities tend to remain relatively stable
and constant overtime because the species that make it up have self-perpetuating
mechanisms

5. Age and boundaries

An ecological community structure exhibits a boundary between one habitat and its
neighbours. These relationships are called age relationships.

6. Ecological niche

This is a role that the species plays in a biological community describing how it obtains
food, what relationships it has with other species.etc
 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Sources of Pollutants and Environmental Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse
change. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances / energy such as noise, heat or light.
Pollution is often classified as point source or non point source. Air pollution has always
accompanied civilizations. Pollution started from the pre historic times when man created the
first fires.

Forms of Pollution

The major forms of pollution are

• Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Land pollution
i) Air pollution

Air pollution is the release of chemical particulates into the atmosphere. Common gaseous
pollutants include; Carbon Monoxide (CO), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCS) Nitrogen Oxides produced by industries and motor vehicles. Photo chemicals and
ozone gases, smoke and hydrocarbons that react to sunlight.

ii) Noise pollution

Noise pollution encompasses roadway noise aircraft noise industrial noise among others

iii) Light pollution

Induces light trespass over illumination and atomized interference

iv) Littering

This is the animal throwing of inappropriate manmade objects which are deposited into the
environment and into public and private properties.
 v) Soil contamination

It occurs when chemicals are released by spill or underground leakage among the significant
contaminates are hydrocarbons and heavy metals

vi) Radio –active contamination

Resulting from the 20th century activities in atomic physics as nuclear power generation and
nuclear weapons research manufacture and development. This has become a very serious form
of pollution. It also includes disposal of electric gadgets such as mobile phones and computers.
Western nations have a tendency of disposing their radio-active wastes in developing countries.
Some of this comes inform of computer donations that have become absolute in their countries.

vii) Thermal pollution

Is a temperature change in nature and water bodies caused by human influence, such includes
the uses of water as coolants in power plants.

vii) Visual pollution

This can refer to overhead power lines, huge motorway billboards, municipal waste storage
bins, bill boards advertisements and anything else that hinders clear vision especially on our
roads.

viii) Water pollution

This is caused by the discharge of waste water from community and industrial waste. This may
be through spills into surface water. Discharge of untreated domestic sewage, release of waste
and contaminants into surface runoff, flowing into surface water including agricultural
pesticides which may find their way into surface waters.

Sources and causes of pollution

Air pollution comes from natural and human made /anthropogenic sources. However, globally
human–made pollution from combustion mining, agriculture and warfare are increasingly
significant in the air pollution equation.
motor vehicle emissions are one of the leading causes of air pollution. China, USA, India,
Russia and Japan are the world’s leading countries in air pollution. Plant emissions such as that
in Pan Paper in Webuye, coal power plants, oil refineries, petrochemical industries, nuclear
disposal activities, incinerators, large livestock farms, metal factories, plastic functionary and
heavy industries. Agricultural air pollution comes from contemporary practices e.g Tree felling
and burning of vegetation as well as spraying of pesticides.

About 400 million metric tons of hazardous wastes are generated each year. The USA alone
produces 250 metric tonnes of this waste. Americans constitute less than 5% of the world’s
population, but produce roughly 25% of the words carbon dioxide and generate approximately
30% of the world’s waste

In 2007 china had overtake the USA as the world’s biggest producer of carbon dioxide while
still far behind based on per-capital pollution ranked 78th among the world nations.

EFFECTS On POPULATION

EFFECTS ON THE HUMAN HEALTH

1. Adverse air quality can kill many organisms including the human ozone layer depletion
can cause respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases, chest pain and congestion.

2. Water pollutions caused 14, 000 deaths per day mostly due to contamination of drinking
water and untreated sewage.

3. An estimated 500,000 Indians have no access to proper toilets and 580 Indians die of
water related pollution every day.

4. Nearly 500 million Chinese lack access to safe drinking water, a 2010 analysis estimates
that 1.2 million people die prematurely in a year in china because of air pollution.
Studies have estimated that the number of people killed annually due to air pollution in
USA is 50,000.

5. Oil spills can cause skin irritation and rashes, noise pollution induces hearing loss high
blood pressure, stress and sleep disturbance.
 6. Older people are more exposed to diseases induced by air pollution. Those with heart
/Lung disorders are also at an additional risk. Children and infants are also at serious
risks. Lead and other heavy metals have been seen to cause neural problems.

7. Chemical and radio –active substances can cause cancers as well as birth defects e.g the
Chernobyl reaction

EFFECTS TO THE ENVIRONMENT

1. Carbon dioxide emissions cause ocean acidifications, the decrease of Ph of the earth’s
oceans is as a result of Co2 dissolving in them.
2. The emission of greenhouse gases leads to global warming which affects the ecosystem in
various ways
3. Nitrogen oxides are removed from air by rainwater and fertilize land which can change the
species composition of the ecosystems
4. Smog and haze can reduce the amount of sunlight received by plants to carry out
photosynthesis and lead to the formation of tropospheric ozone which damages plants
5. Soil can become infertile and unsuitable for plants; this will affect other organisms in the
food web.
6. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can cause acid rains that lowers the Ph value of soil
7. Bio–magnification- describes situations where oxides (such as heavy metals may pass
through trophic levels thus becoming exponentially more concentrated in the process)

THE CONCEPT OF WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste Management is the collection, transportation, processing /disposal managing and

monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human
activities and the process is gradual.

Waste management is a distinct concept from resource recovery which focuses on delaying the
rate of consumption of natural resources, all waste materials, weather solid, liquid, gases
/radioactive etc fall with the sphere of waste management

Waste management practices can affect from developing to develop urban and rural areas and
for residential and industrial products management of non –hazardous wastes, residential and
institutional waste in metropolitan areas is the responsibility of local government authorities.
Management of non-hazardous, commercial and industrial waste is the responsibility of the
county and national government authorities in various countries.

The brief history of Waste Management

Throughout history the amount of waste generated by humans was insignificant due to low
population density and low society level of exploitation of natural resources.

Common waste products during pre- modern times was mainly ashes and human bio-
degradable wastes and this were released back to the environment. Tools made out of wood /
metal were generally re-used or passed down through the generations.

Following the onset of industrialization and the sustained urban growth of population centers in
England the buildup of waste in the cities caused rapid deterioration in the level of house
construction, congestion and the general quality of urban life. The streets become filled with
filth due to lack of waste management.

However, it was not until the mid-19th century triggered by increasingly devastating cholera
outbreak and the emergency of the public health sector that the first legislation on waste
management emerged in Europe.

Methods of Waste disposal

1. Landfill
Disposal of waste in a land fill involve burying waste. This is a common practice in most
countries’ landfills were established in abandoned quarries, mining voids or pits. A
properly designed and well managed landfills can be hygienic and relatively an inexpensive
method, older and poorly designed land-fills can create a number of adverse environmental
impacts
2. Incineration

This is a disposal method in which solid organic wastes are subjected to combustion so as to
contract them into residue and gaseous products. The method is used for disposal of residue of
solid wastes and other products. This process reduces the solid waste by (20%-30%) of the
original volume. Incarceration and Other high temperature treatment systems are sometimes
referred to as thermal treatment.

3. Recycling

It is a resource recovery practice that refers to the collection and re-use of waste materials such
as empty beverage containers. The materials from which the containers are made can be
reprocessed into new products for use. Materials for recycling can be collected separately from
general waste using waste bins and collection vehicles.

4. Sustainability

This is a key component in any business entity. The ability in maintaining 1S0 accreditation
through resource recovery. Companies are encouraged to dispose their environmental effluence
each year by eliminating waste through resource practices like recycling materials such as
glass, paper, cardboards and plastics.

5. Biological Reprocessing

This is by using an active composed heap. Recoverable materials that are organic in nature
such as material food scraps and paper products can be recovered through compacting and
digestion process to decompose the organic matters. The resulting organic materials are then
recycled as mulch/compost for agricultural/ landscaping purposes. Waste gas from the process
(methane) can be captured and used for generating electricity and heat. The intention of
biological processing in waste management is to control and accelerate the natural process of
decomposition of organic matter.
6 Energy Recovery

The energy content of waste products can be harnessed by using them directly as combustion
fuel or indirectly by processing them into another type of fuel. Thermal treatment ranges using
waste as fuel source for cooking / heating and using the gas fuel for large boilers to generate
steam and electricity

7 Avoidance and Reduction

This is an important method of waste management. It is the prevention of waste materials from
being created/ waste reduction. Avoidance includes use of second hand products instead of
buying new ones. Other examples include selling bread without the wrapping paper and selling
milk from Milk ATM machines where one drinks the milk using a cup instead of buying milk
wrapped with paper or other containers.

8 Repairing broken products

Instead of buying new machines one can repair broken products which can be reused.

9 Designing products to be re-used /refilled

Encouraging consumers to use disposable products such as disposable cutlery, removing any
food from cans and avoiding packaging of products.
 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGENTMENT AND CONSERVATION

Environmental conservation are measures and controls taken at individual and community level
direct environmental conservation to ensure that resources are allocated and utilized in a
manner that will improve the quality of life for present and future generations (UNESSO) 1983

The aim of environmental management is to ensure long term productivity of the

environmental resources so as sustain development

The aim of environmental management is to ensure long term productivity of the

environmental resources so as sustain development

Environmental mgt should ensure that in the process of develop interlard with nature are
maintain this can be done by applying ecological and economic principle in utilization
resources

Relationship between environment and development

The reality of the environment and development are related on one hand, environment provides
the natural resources for the process of development and on the other hand the development
process modifies the natural resources and environmental quality to meet human needs

The goals of both environment and development is the same: to improve human well being
However the type of develop adopted can cause problems that destroy the environment that
sustains it and lower the quality of life.

If the present and future generations are to be assured of quality living, then development be
sustained by the environment and must in turn destroy environmental resources.

Consequently, people should stop viewing environment in one light and development in
another light, they should address the two.
Ways in which the Kenyan Government and NGO’S are managing the environment

Government and NGOS most work towards managing the environment by providing the
resource and co-operation so as to achieve the goal of environment. The government of Kenya
has attempted to do this by

1. Coming up with environmental development policy aimed at implementation and

enforcement to protect the environment
2. Coming up with legislations on management and conservation
3. The government has come up with the Ministry of Natural Resources that take care of
environment
4. The government has come up with (NEMA)
5. Support of environmental management and conservation movements e,g the Green Belt
Movement
THE END