Michael M. KRETZER, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) & University of the Western Cape (UWC), Germany
Abeer ABDULNABI ALI, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Germany
Stefan SCHWEIGER, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Germany
The usage of plastic is ubiquitous for all societies, continents and seemingly within all economic areas. Due to its broad usage and beneficial features, plastic littering occurs extensively and increasingly in the environment. Such littering hampers not only animals but can affect the livelihood and health of humans as well as entire ecosystems. Since the 1960s public awareness regarding environment increased significantly. In 1968 Roth used the term ‘environmental literacy’, such was followed by the term ‘ecological literacy’ in 1968 by Risser and ‘ecoliteracy’ by Capra in 1997 just to name a few. Up until today no overall unified accepted terminology exists. The critique by McBride et al (2013) about such terminologies for being too vague and too all-encompassing can be seen as an illustration. This study focused on plastic usage and its dumping as an example. Therefore, to get a better understanding of all kinds of plastics being used in households and its final disposal over 200 pupils at public secondary schools in Maseru district in Lesotho participated in this survey. The Environment Act of 2008 emphasized environmental education as well as the very recent Social Science Syllabus stated under ‘Values and attitudes’ Environmental concern. The pupils are confronted by the severe challenges of plastic pollution in Maseru on a daily basis. The results reveal the dilemma of plastic materials, being omnipresent in everyday life and seemingly intricate to avoid. This research study gives the youth of Lesotho a voice on one of the most urgent future challenges. Results revealed the awareness and individual initiatives to reduce, re-use and recycle plastic materials from various pupils. Contrary pupils highlighted the on-going overall environmental challenges which are not limited to plastic pollution, but include in general the lack or faulty waste management with its severe health related consequences for animals and humans.
Mots clés : Environmental education|Lesotho|Plastic|Secondary schools|Ecoliteracy
A104684MK