By Eric Habimana

It's more than an eyesore. Marine plastic pollution breaks down into microplastics and contributes to climate change both through direct GHG emissions and indirectly by negatively affecting ocean organisms.

In the community debate about promoting women inputs to prevent plastic effect on climate changes, some of the residents of shyogwe sector in Muhanga District are asked to protect the environment by avoiding harmful substances, instead , they should cooperate in maintaining it by digging engines and avoiding burning non-biodegradable waste because its smoke pollutes the air.

How is plastic connected to climate change?

As it does, sunlight and heat cause the plastic to release powerful greenhouse gases, leading to an alarming feedback loop. As our climate changes, the planet gets hotter, the plastic breaks down into more methane and ethylene, increasing the rate of climate change, and so perpetuating the cycle. Chlorinated plastic can release harmful chemicals into the surrounding soil, which can then seep into groundwater or other surrounding water sources, and also the ecosystem. This can cause a range of potentially harmful effects on the species that drink the water

After this debates, some of the residents of the Shyogwe sector said that they were already doing environmental damage without knowing it, but they said that after being informed about the environmental damage and how to protect it, they went to alert their friends to protect it because apart from affecting the environment and the environment, it also affects their livelihood.

Nyiraneza Felecia and Kubwimana Providence, are some of the participants in this debate, They say that there are activities that harm the environment that they used to do without knowing that it was bad, but after being told how the plastic materials are harmful to the environment, they are going to join the local authorities to encourage others to break the same line in preserving the environment.

They said that “,we know it but we didn't value it, much like grass, bottles were found everywhere, when you drink water and throw it where you see it, when you plant crops instead of growing in the ground, they grow in the bottles, the grass we burn when we plant is mixed with So the smog is polluting the air, what we are going to do is to discuss with our colleagues how they should use and store these waste materials so that the garbage collectors can take them to the right place”.

Dianne Mushimiyimana is the Managing Director of Urugoli media one of the partners of the government in fighting climate and environmental pollution mainly through women and girls, she says that they thought of doing this environmental conservation campaign because they saw that they also had a contribution to make in preserving it, but they chose to work with women because it would be easier for them to help them spread it to others through the groups they are part of and also women are considered to be the heart of the family and nation in protecting the environment.

She said that “when we talk about women, we talk about the country, even when we talk about the family, because we thought this activity is a good way to make the message against environmental activities that include plastic, means that those woman help us to spread this message through the groups they belong to and in their families and we see that it will produce results”.

However, Rwanda is among the countries that aim to develop an economy that damages the environment, where at least 50.9% of its are women and they play a major role in protecting environment, which is considered to be a sector that contributes significantly to the preservation of the environment.

Climate change, meanwhile, also impacts on plastic pollution. Rising global temperatures are linked to more extreme weather events, which can exacerbate the spread of plastic around the world. Heat can also cause plastics to break apart more rapidly, which accelerates the creation of micro- and nanoplastics.