Introduction
The joint objectives of Conversation Club are to enable cultural exchange through discussion, and to enable the participants to practice using their languages. French and English were the order of the day with nationalities represented from Senegal, France, the USA and the UK.
The starting questions to the floor were “Can art really influence our attitudes towards the environment?” and “What are our different cultural attitudes to the environment?”.
Art and the environment
It was felt that art’s main role is in touching people and thereby raising awareness of issues. Art that is specifically about the environment, such as the exhibition or art using recycled materials can do this. Not only that, pubic art, such as sculpture, can inspire people to take more care of public spaces. One participant suggested that our physiological environment can great impact on our psychological states.
Cultural attitudes towards the environment
It was generally considered that there was a large difference between Senegalese and French/US/UK attitudes towards the environment based on our differing schools systems. In Senegal, it is very unusual that the environment and associated issues such as waste management, including recycling, the ozone layer, rising sea levels etc are taught in schools, whereas in France, US and the UK it is a hotly debated topic from school up, and in the media.
An example was given that most Senegalese do not know that plastic is biodegradable, which is common knowledge in the other countries mentioned. It was also suggested that this is not only a curriculum issue, but part of the broader illiteracy problem in Senegal.
Responsibility for the environment
There was much discussion about the role of government and the role of individual citizens in taking care of the public environment.
Responsibility for the environment
There was much discussion about the role of government and the role of individual citizens in taking care of the public environment.
It was felt that in Senegal, the government doesn’t do enough, both in terms of providing public education and providing the necessary infrastructure to deal with waste and enable good environmental policies.
Someone suggested that whilst Senegalese people have very clean homes and often take responsibility for cleaning the street just outside their own homes, that the general attitude is ‘mbendi bi, mbendi bor’ – that outside belongs to everyone. Some people believe that everyone is responsible for keeping outside clean, but most believe that ‘outside’ is a common dumping ground and it is not done to criticize others or create rules for the management of the outside space.
Rubbish/garbage and the street
Most Senegalese people will throw their litter in the street without considering that it will affect the aesthetic or the long term health of the environment. In other cultures, dropping litter is illegal. One example was given of a policeman in Dakar who had fined someone for throwing rubbish out of a car window, but this was seen as an unusual example.
Rubbish/garbage and the street
Most Senegalese people will throw their litter in the street without considering that it will affect the aesthetic or the long term health of the environment. In other cultures, dropping litter is illegal. One example was given of a policeman in Dakar who had fined someone for throwing rubbish out of a car window, but this was seen as an unusual example.
Tourism and rubbish
It was suggested that tourism and the desire for the tourist dollar might impact on state attitudes towards rubbish collection. A specific example was given of Yoff beach which used to be cleaner, but not is covered in litter and has a sewage canal running through it.
It was suggested that tourism and the desire for the tourist dollar might impact on state attitudes towards rubbish collection. A specific example was given of Yoff beach which used to be cleaner, but not is covered in litter and has a sewage canal running through it.
The prevailing feeling however, was that there are specific clean-up operations in tourist areas before the tourist season(s). Tourist areas, like the eco-villages, are very clean and some also use environmentally friendly energy, such as solar power. These efforts don’t impact on the wider community where it is that most people live. There have also been some locally led clean up initiatives in the past, but it wasn’t clear whether these are ongoing.
Waste Management
It is clear that there are not enough public dustbins nor enough public rubbish collections or public tips in Senegal. There are some communal and private waste collectors, but the further issue is that there isn’t anywhere to put the rubbish afterwards. As a result, public spaces become dumping grounds for rubbish, waste, construction rubble and old cars. Beaches are often used as an informal landfill and an example was given of Saint Louis where rubbish is put in the foundations of new builds to combat flooding in the wet season.
Waste Management
It is clear that there are not enough public dustbins nor enough public rubbish collections or public tips in Senegal. There are some communal and private waste collectors, but the further issue is that there isn’t anywhere to put the rubbish afterwards. As a result, public spaces become dumping grounds for rubbish, waste, construction rubble and old cars. Beaches are often used as an informal landfill and an example was given of Saint Louis where rubbish is put in the foundations of new builds to combat flooding in the wet season.
It was generally felt that this issue was more to do with the high levels of political corruption and lack of volition to change attitudes at a state level rather than the low levels of tax that are paid.
The government tip at Bubliss, 50km from Dakar, has recently had a report published about it in the Senegalese magazine ‘Vert’. It appears that this landfill in an old river bed is radically impacting on the biosystem of the local area. The soil and water table have been affected, contaminating the local food chain. A national chicken feed company is in the area and thus the toxins have been brought into the human food chain.
Ultimately, it was suggested, only a big public health problem will push the government to deal with the infrastructure and public education issues.
Health and the environment
Health issues were discussed including the fact that African sheep and cows eat rubbish in the streets, bringing toxins into the human food chain.
Another participant suggested that it is unhealthy for humans and animals to live in close proximity as animals can carry diseases. Someone else suggested that this was one cultural attitude that would be very hard to change due to the Muslim belief that having a white African sheep in the house brings good fortune.
Another health issue that was raised was people using outside spaces as public toilets. It was commented that this is a particular issue for people who live in building sites, often immigrants who do not have sewage systems.
Health and the environment
Health issues were discussed including the fact that African sheep and cows eat rubbish in the streets, bringing toxins into the human food chain.
Another participant suggested that it is unhealthy for humans and animals to live in close proximity as animals can carry diseases. Someone else suggested that this was one cultural attitude that would be very hard to change due to the Muslim belief that having a white African sheep in the house brings good fortune.
Another health issue that was raised was people using outside spaces as public toilets. It was commented that this is a particular issue for people who live in building sites, often immigrants who do not have sewage systems.
Recycling
It was felt that in general the Senegalese reuse items much more than there French/US/UK counterparts who are much more wasteful. Food containers are resued in the home and water is often well managed, for example collecting water from the shower and reusing it for cleaning. Another example is that cares are repaired and repaired until they no longer work, though this did raise an issue about emissions.
In terms of separation of waste for recycling and industrial recycling, the industry does not seem to exist in Senegal.
Trees
The issue of deforestation was discussed as a challenge for those people who live from the money they make felling trees. One participant also suggested that more people could plant trees themselves, thereby talking more responsibility for the public environment.
In more general terms, it was suggested that the concept of public parks and leisure spaces was a relatively new one, and one yet to catch on in the general consciousness.
Overall, the topic inspired a lively discussion, but one that one was quite ‘one-sided’ in cultural terms as this is a theme which is relatively unexplored for most Senegalese people for the reasons set out above.
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