Environmental pollution in Owerri municipal-chemistry education to the rescue

Abstract

This work focuses on the application of the knowledge of chemistry education to the solution of environmental pollution in Owerri Municipal council area of Imo State. Four - itemed structured opinionnaire and six - itemed structured interview questions were used to collect data from the five hundred and eighty four workers of Ministry of Petroleum and Environment (MPE) and Environmental Transformation Committee (ENTRACO). The analysis showed that the knowledge of chemistry education is highly required to proffer solution to the problem of environmental pollution, but regrettably these two agencies MPE and ENTRACO do not have education chemistry graduates in their employment neither do they have functional laboratories or facilities for treatment and recycling of wastes into useful products. The only mode of disposal of wastes by these agencies is dumping into landfills and this method constitutes more pollution. Education chemistry graduates should be employed by environmental agencies to help ease unemployment and also to help treat and recycle wastes into useful products such as biogas and bio-fuel which are alternative renewable energy sources.

Keywords: Pollution, chemistry education,wastes, renewable energy.