Charcoal - Free Reportby Justice Obiri | 13-03-2022 12:10 |
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 Charcoal which is obtained from a burnt wood (trees), is very essential to the daily lives of many Ghanaians in the country. It is a form of coal that is mostly used in various homes for cooking. The processes involved in obtaining this material is very environmentally unfriendly and I will take you through it. In order to get charcoal the first thing needed are trees. Lots and lots of trees are felled without any proper plans of replanting new ones to replace the felled trees. They are then arranged in piles and covered with sand. A small space is left as an entrance for fire to be set into the trees. They are covered with sand to maintain the heat that would arise after fire has been set into the felled trees. This enables the trees to bake very well to produce the charcoal. After the covering, fire is set into the trees and it is allowed to burn for about two days or more. The trees are frequently monitored to ensure that they do not over burn. After a few days and upon careful inspections, the fire is quenched, the sand; removed and the whatever is left behind (charcoal) is collected. Charcoal is less expensive and in a developing country like mine (Ghana) where the price of LPG (25 litres) can literally consume almost 50% of a salary, it can be deduced as to why many people opt to use charcoal. In the procedure to extract charcoal, trees are felled which in turn contribute to increase pollution and climate change. In the burning of the trees, air pollution is experienced for days and after the charcoal has been collected, the debris are mostly left behind leaving the place very dirty and unclean. What can be done to help this menace? 1. Education is key here. In a country where education is a priority, more emphasis could be placed on pollution stating its immediate and long term effects. This could be infused in the curriculums studied by learners in school and could be extended to the general public. 2. There could be adverts on TVs, radios, social media etc. on the huge negative side effects of charcoal usage and people could be encouraged to desist from using charcoal. 3. People could be encourage to use other alternatives for cooking such as good electric stoves which consume less energy, LPG stoves (smaller ones) to enable individuals to be able to purchase the gas without much effects on their finances. 4. Innovations such as solar and biogas could be invested into. These are alternate sources of energies that could studied and materials could be invented to be able to use these energies instead of the charcoal. An example is a solar powered cooking stove which is very uncommon here. 5. There could be enforcement in the laws protecting the environment against pollution and damage. Huge punishments should meted out to flouters to scare them and others who may want to indulge themselves in such acts. In all, a change in attitude towards how we treat the environment and the reciprocal response from the environment such as climate change, could be taken as a clue and the right thing, be done to help save mother earth. Green Cheers from Ghana!
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