Using plastic to fight pollution
Bangladesh ranks 10th in the world as the biggest plastic polluters, according to Earth Day Network, with the country producing a mammoth 800,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year.
But a group of students at Jahangirnagar University (JU) have taken an approach to fight pollution – using plastic.
Some 10 garbage bins, made out of discarded plastic bottles (mostly of beverages), have been placed at most-frequented places on the campus including the main entrance, Shaheed Minar and the Old Transport site since the start of October.
YES Bangladesh, a voluntary organisation, came up with the idea of these – named “Yes Bin” -- ahead of this year's undergraduate admission tests when the campus sees a large number of visiting admission seekers, creating a spike in littered garbage.
During the tests that ended on Wednesday, the waste bins caught the attention of visitors and students alike, and it is helping raise awareness on using garbage containers to save the environment.
Tabia Islam, a third-year student of environmental sciences at JU and founder of YES Bangladesh, said the campus environment is getting polluted due to littering, and the garbage -- from banana peels to plastic bags and bottles -- is ending up in the lakes.
Volunteers of YES Bangladesh wanted a pilot project that would draw attention of all, and the multicoloured bins were successful in serving the purpose, he said.
“We collected discarded bottles by different means. We collected at least 2,500 bottles from street children by paying them Tk 1 for each bottle. This way they earned some money instead of begging,” he said.
Imran Hossain, a member of the organisation, said plastic bottles that pose a threat to the environment are being used to make the garbage bins. “This bin is tolerant to all weather conditions and easy to clean.”
YES Bangladesh has plans to set up 100 more such bins on JU campus, he added.
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