Despite the fact that waste is a main environmental menace which has ramifications on a people and their habitat, waste disposal is an activity that is relegated to the periphery in developing nations. A possible explanation for this relegation is the huge financial implication that waste management has, yet most of these developing nations have massive financial obligations in other more pressing sectors such as education and health. Additionally, there is limited political amity as well as inadequate institutional capacity to address the waste disposal problem. The burden of managing waste is increasing globally with developing nations struggling to remain afloat having had to bear the consequences of poor waste disposal. It is against this context that this study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of messages used to campaign against improper disposal of waste. Using Grice’s (1975) theory of implicature, the study investigated whether the messages used to campaign against improper disposal of waste obey or violate the maxims. It also sought to establish whether there was a difference in impact in the campaign messages relayed in English and Kiswahili. This study was carried out in Nairobi, specifically Kayole, a low-income residential estate. The study adopted a qualitative research design and both primary and secondary data were used. The study found out that certain conversational maxims were violated in both the spoken and written messages. However, the spoken messages were well communicated as compared to the written ones leading to better interpretation by the respondents. The study also found out that the impact of the messages conveyed in English was more significant in comparison to those in Kiswahili.
