International Journal of Social Sciences and Management Research Vol. 3 No. 6 2017 ISSN: 2545-5303 www.iiardpub.org IIARD – International Institute of Academic Research and Development Page 1 Cultural Beliefs on Waste and the need for Integration into Present Domestic Waste Management: Evidence from Selected Communities in Rivers State, Nigeria Ogheneriere Ibodje Roberts & Chukwunenye I. Okereke Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, East West Road, Choba, P.M.B. 5323, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria riere2000@yahoo.co.uk Abstract In recent years, there has been a campaign for the integration of culture into development programmes particularly environmental management programmes for its success and sustainability. Culture is held, maintains a balance between humans, society and the physical environment and provides the context within which human activities occur. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine, from three communities, the cultural beliefs and practices on waste so as to identify aspects that underscore present domestic waste management (DWM) practices as well as those that can be integrated into present intervention methods to alleviate the problems of DWM in Nigeria. Hence, questionnaires, oral interviews and focus group discussion were employed for data collection, while descriptive statistics, bar charts and Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to analyse the quantitative data and the matrix table to present the qualitative data. Findings showed that while their cultural beliefs and practices which curtailed indiscriminate practices are no longer shared by majority of the residents, some aspects colour present methods of DWM. Also, while there has been no deliberate inclusion of their cultural practices into DWM interventions, consultation visible to relatively more percentage of residents at one of the communities reflected in a relatively less indiscriminate DWM practice. As a result, the study concluded that, though disappearing, the cultural beliefs and practices on waste should not be ignored as it still influences present DWM methods and practices and has aspects that if integrated could contribute to alleviating problems of indiscriminate disposal of waste. Keywords: Cultural Integration; Culture; Domestic Waste Management; Cultural Beliefs INTRODUCTION There is an increase in the promotion of the importance of culture to achieving sustainable development. The rationale for this, according to Akpabio & Subramanian (2012), is that culture maintains a balance between humans, their society and their physical environment as well as helps the re-integration of people into the society ( p.8). It is also held to maintain “global cultural diversity” (Maffi 2001, Maffi & Woodley 2010, as cited in Bohensky & Maru 2011, p.1). Thus, understanding areas in which cultural beliefs and practices can be integrated into environmental management programmes, in particular, is held to be not just important but vital to sustaining economic activities for a sustained development. However, according to Head, Trigger &Mulcock (2005, p.252) despi te the “widely disseminated” awareness on the cultural imperative to environmental management and its