A problem we walk all over

By Eline GADEGBEKU 

What does pollution mean to you?

Does it mean leaving your bofrot rubber on the floor? Or when people down your street burn their waste in the open, letting thick black smoke rise? Maybe you’re thinking more intensely, like the e-waste scrapyards that once operated at Agbogbloshie.

Whatever your definition, we all share one thought when hearing the disliked word – some form of discarding waste. What if I told you that sometimes correctly discarding waste can still have the same effect on the environment — detrimental? Whether the shopping bag lands in your bin or on the road, it still causes damage. But why should we care, we’ve done our part, haven’t we?

A biography of a waste product

Let’s imagine two sachet water wrappers (fun fact: they make up over 50% of plastic litter in landfills and drains). One wrapper ‘accidentally’ slipped out of its owner’s hand as they crossed the street, the other wrapper was saved in a pocket to later be disposed of at the nearest bin.

The first wrapper, now desolate on the busy street, has an adventurous journey ahead. After lying on the road, it may drift toward the sidewalks. There, it may stay put. Or, depending on the wind, it could make its way to a grassy patch where it collects water and becomes the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.

I n the worst — yet most common — scenario, rain sweeps the plastic into a gutter, where it joins countless other nuisances choking the flow of water. If it isn’t strong enough to clog, it will be carried into an unsuspecting river.

An evil wrapper may instead rest quietly in the soil, breaking down into fragments under the hot Ghanaian sun, releasing microplastics. But if unlucky, its journey could be cut short — either by being swept into a roadside trash pile and burned, or by ending up in the mouth of a hungry goat.

The other wrapper, however, has a shorter story. After being properly disposed of, it usually ends up in a landfill — or, more often in Ghana, an open dump. There it stays, making new friends year after year. With the help of rain and moisture, they sometimes cause mischief by creating a toxic liquid called leachate that seeps into soil and water.

A boring piece of plastic may live its long life buried in waste, overstaying its welcome for centuries. An unlucky wrapper in an informal dump often meets a fiery death in open burning. The rare “lucky” plastic packet, however, is picked out by waste pickers or machines and repurposed, given another chance at commercial life.

This is without mentioning wrappers — discarded and polluted alike — that escape into the ocean, causing eyesores along beaches, headaches for fishermen and deceiving unsuspecting fish who mistake them for snacks. I think we can all agree it is better to throw away plastics and face the more controllable side-effect than to litter and give your trash the liberty to live a vivacious life on the very ground where our animals feed and our food cultivates.

99% human, 1% microwaste

But would you agree if I told you we are slowly turning into beings made up of microplastics, heavy metals, and other waste? I’m just kidding — sort of. Research actually  shows that the way we discard waste comes back to bite us in the long run!

Different waste types leave us exposed to different problems:

• ~ Burning waste releases poisonous smoke that harms the environment and lungs – raising risks of asthma, lung disease, and cancers while also increasing the effect of Global Warming.
• ~ Batteries, e-waste, and paints release heavy metals like lead and mercury that seep into soil and water. Over time, these toxins contaminate crops, fish, and groundwater. Prolonged exposure damages kidneys, the nervous system, and brain.
• ~ Organic waste, when left to rot, becomes a breeding ground for flies that spread diseases such as cholera and typhoid.

And plastics? Microplastics (what plastics consist of) now have countless pathways into our bodies — from the meat we eat to the air we breathe. A 2023 University of Ghana study detected microplastics inside common fish from the Densu River, showing that Ghanaians eating these fish are also consuming fragments of plastic.

Global research backs this up: early studies, including one in BMC Gastroenterology, suggest that microplastics can disrupt gut health, weaken the body’s protective barriers, and in more severe cases — damage major systems like the respiratory and digestive tracts. Scientists are still studying the full impact, but the evidence already raises serious concern.

The waste that we throw away today unknowingly becomes what we walk all over, eat and breathe tomorrow. I could never end on a pessimistic note. Just as the complications of waste took a whole article to unpack, the improvements, change-makers, and future possibilities deserve one of their own. So stay tuned for part two of A Problem We Walk All Over.

In the meantime, start small: reuse or reduce what you can. When you must throw waste away, support local recycling initiatives and dispose of it responsibly. Change is not just possible — it’s necessary! And for those especially curious about this topic, check out: documents.worldbank.org, journals.plos.org, undp.org/ghana, and environment360gh.org. You can also contact me at [email protected] to share what you have noticed about pollution in your community! 

>>>This article is dedicated to Aunty Tina Fynn for always being such a positive encouragement in my literacy club’s journey and with every article I write. Love you!

>>>Eline Gadegbeku is a 13-year-old student, writer, and literacy advocate. She is a member of her school’s newsletter club and the founder of Titanic Beach Readers, a community reading program she created to help children in her neighborhood fall in love with books. Eline is passionate about storytelling, empathy, and helping kids discover their voices through reading. Through her writing, she shares her thoughts and experiences from a young person’s point of view—speaking to both kids and grown-ups with honesty, curiosity, and hope.

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