Douala, Cameroon's economic capital is home to more than 3million people generating at least 2000 tons of waste daily. With only one waste management company most of these waste ends up in the natural environment causing pollution and being a nuisance to the people. Most of the waste at homes are not collected regularly and women bear the brunt of this unhygienic condition as they have to live almost 24 hours on seven days with the waste posing a threat to their health. In Cameroon the concept of recycling is very rare. According to Ministry of Environment, only 2 percent of waste is recycled in Cameroon. Recycling efforts are marred by lack of knowledge on waste separation. Most of the waste generated by households are jumbled up in one place making it difficult to sort and recycle. Aware of this challenge, Trashnkap loosely translated in Cameroonian local lingua franca as trash money seeks to provide at least 100 households with four trashcans each with the labels Plastic, Organic, Glass and Other representing the different types of waste. The waste will be collected and handed over to companies in charge of recycling. Households will be given a minimum fee for their well separated waste. The reason why we monitisze waste is to motivate people to manage their waste better. Once people understand money can be generated from plastics otherwise thrown into the environment, they wont throw it around because no one throws money away.. We intend to put women at the forefront of this initiative not just because they are more affected but because we want to empower them to know they can be at the forefront in finding solutions to their problems. In addition, the income generated from the activity will help support their livelihood. In addition the initiative will transform the organic waste into compost which will be used in fertilising farms mostly cultivated by women.
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