Does Awareness Influence Choice of Waste Disposal Methods? A Case of Migori Town, Kenya

Rapid economic growth, urbanization and population increase have fueled the production of large amounts of waste to the environment. Even so, the management of such waste has become a huge problem in many towns in developing nations. This has also led to the emergence of different methods of dumping waste such as; dumping in the dustbins, by the roadside, burying and even burning. This paper sought to give insights and inform policy on waste disposal methods and the level of awareness on proper garbage disposal practices. The research was carried out in Migori County in Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to select the county while random sampling was used to select the respondents. Probit regression model was utilized. The findings indicate that awareness of proper waste disposal, education, age, gender and household size were the key determinants of the method one settles for while disposing waste. The most used waste disposal method was disposing off in the dustbins which was influenced by respondents being more aware and sensitized about the importance of proper waste disposal methods. The paper concludes that more information on proper waste disposal methods should be aired on radio and TV. Since public awareness and attitude has an impact on all stages of the waste management process, the government as well as NGOs should make efforts to increase public awareness on waste disposal methods and participation regarding waste management challenges in developing countries. Keywords: Knowledge of waste disposal methods, Choice of disposal methods, Multivariate Probit model DOI: 10.7176/CER/11-7-04 Publication date: August 31st 201