Community Perceptions on the Ramifications of Mono-use Plastic Shopping Bags and Bottles Consumption on the Environment in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania

Abstract

Tanzania, as it is the case for many countries in the world, is suffering from increased mono-use plastic shopping bags and bottles besieged into the environment. This article explores the social perceptions of monouse plastic shopping bags and bottles consumptions and the potential that those perceptions offer in mitigating the negative environmental impacts associated with their use. The article is a result of a mixed method research design that mainly relied on interviews, focus group discussion and household survey with Morogoro inhabitants. The fundamental argument of this article is that local communities in Morogoro Municipal Council perceive excessive use of mono-use plastic shopping bags and bottles negatively due to their dilapidating environmental impacts. As such, they recommend environmentally friendly choices like greater use of multi-use plastic shopping bags and bottles to substitute excessive use of mono-use plastic shopping bags and bottles for curbing the environmental impacts. Equally, restrictions on usage of mono-use plastic shopping bags coupled with voluntary actions aimed at reducing the same were deemed vital for sustaining negative effects of said plastic materials in and on the environment.