In 2020, an activist called Phyllis Omido led a group of residents from Jomvu, Mombasa in defeating a lead acid battery recycling company in court.

This factory had been doing the right thing – recycling lead acid batteries – but in the wrong way – while making the environment risky.

The levels of lead in the air surrounding this factory were astonishingly high.

Residents of the nearby settlement of Uhuru Owino bore the brunt of the pollution.

Men, women and children had blood lead levels that could rival one who lived in a highly polluted dumpster.

So Ms Omido took it as a challenge to search for legal assistance and front a case on behalf of these helpless residents.

And the case paid off.

Omido – and others – are among a group of courageous environmentally conscious people who have chosen to do advocacy work.

ADVOCACY

Advocacy – as the word tells us – is all about advocating – advocating for best practices that do not destroy our environment and endanger our health.

Several people have walked this path.

Perhaps the most prominent one is Kenya’s only Nobel laureate, the late Prof. Wangari Maathai.

She was a bastion to contend with in those heydays when the Kenyan government was trying to overturn forest conservation policies. 

Environmental advocates don’t just see a danger in the environment.

They also see the danger such degradation would expose us to.

And this is why Ms Omido took the path she took.

HEAVY METAL POISONING

Lead is considered a toxic heavy metal.

These are substances with four – or more – times the density of water and our bodies have no use for them.

However some of these metals are by-products of industrial processes such as battery recycling, metal smelting, welding, mineral fertilizer manufacture etc.

Environmental protocols call for safe disposal of liquid and gaseous wastes bearing heavy metals for a couple of reasons.

First, they destroy the ecosystem…

Plants, animals and fish which thrive in certain areas are adversely affected.

But secondly – and more important – is their effect on us – humans.

Toxic heavy metals such as lead and mercury are documented neurotoxins which slow down mental development in kids.

Mind you, these are irreversible effects.

Secondly, they are known to accumulate around major organs – kidneys, the brain, the liver – leading to organ failure.

But lastly, exposure to other toxic metals such as cadmium, arsenic and hexavalent chromium is a risk factor to development of cancer.

So Ms Omido wasn’t just fighting for the environment…

She was fighting for the lives of innocent people who were suffering because of a selfish business person.

Mind you there are many opportunities to practice environmental advocacy.

It only takes one to identify an environmental problem that affects a community of people, document it with facts and scout for legal help to get the case going.

Infact the legal practice has a special name for such cases – they are called class action cases.

But this is just one of the ways to engage.

WRITING ARTICLES

Some environmental advocates resort to using their pens to make a statement or two.

Some start blogs, newsletters, magazines or social media pages to bring out the plight of communities suffering under the weight of careless industrial practices.

We see this often when investigative journalists who write articles or do news features on the same.

Advocacy might not generate an immediate income.

However over time, interested parties will take notice and possibly fund the initiative.

That’s how some advocacy magazines are born.

But there’s a catch…

Engaging in advocacy may mean challenging existence of some businesses…

It may lead to closure of some companies…

It may lead to loss of jobs and opportunities which were provided by these same companies doing business in an unsustainable way – e.g. the closure of the lead battery recycling plant in Mombasa, Kenya.

Threats are therefore part of the package – many environmental advocates  take utmost care of their safety.

Indeed some have even lost their lives in the line of duty.

But this shouldn’t deter one from doing good.

If this is your conviction, then go for it.

It’s for a worthy cause because you’ll be a voice to the voiceless.