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The Waste to Wealth <\/em>program, started in 2012, has trained more than 300 women in northeastern Nigeria to recycle plastic waste into mats, bags and other colorful accessories.\u00a0 \u201cThis has really helped me.\u00a0 Now I can pay my children\u2019s school fees, I can buy food for my family and also help my relatives,\u201d says one woman.\u00a0 Another woman puts it: \u201cWe are working towards doing the right thing, so whenever we see plastic bags we pick them up; it has become a valuable thing now.\u00a0 Because of us there are few plastic bags in the streets compared to how it was before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0The bags sell for between $3 and $47, depending on size and quality.\u00a0 \u201cOne woman made over $6000 because she was extremely good,\u201d says the Waste to Wealth program coordinator.\u00a0 \u201cShe has bought land, she\u2019s got a computer, and she has paid for her children\u2019s schooling, so we\u2019ve seen the economic benefits the women are having spread back through the community.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Nigeria, Africa\u2019s most populous nation, is struggling to find efficient ways of managing its waste problems just like countries around the world.\u00a0 Inventive initiatives like this tackle this problem as well as helping women find ways to earn an income and provide for their families.\u00a0 A win-win idea.\u00a0 What innovative solutions to waste problems in our own communities can we come up with?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Good News Counts,<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Marty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![](\"http:\/\/192.168.195.175\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Plastic_waste_pic_2.png\")
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