In the sweltering heat of the afternoon sun yesterday, men, women, and children of all ages made a long queue in front of the Shaheed Minar on the Gurudayal Government College campus in Kishoreganj, each carrying plastic bottles and other discarded plastic waste.
They had come for a simple exchange: plastic waste for a sapling.
The initiative, organised by the local social organisation Green Humanity Society, witnessed at least a thousand people receive fruits, forest plants, and medicinal plant saplings in exchange for plastic bottles and other plastic waste.
Members of the organisation had arranged 1,000 saplings in front of the Shaheed Minar. Participants had to hand over two small plastic bottles and one large bottle, or an equivalent amount of plastic waste, to receive a sapling.
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Photo: Tafsilul Aziz/Star
Rani Akhter, a resident of Katabaria in Kishoreganj Sadar, came with her daughter Maisha carrying four discarded bottles. In exchange, she received guava and neem saplings.
“These bottles were lying around our house and would otherwise have been thrown away, adding to environmental pollution,” she said. “I am happy that we could exchange them for trees. I will plant the saplings in our garden.”
A group of seven second-year honours students of Gurudayal Government College also joined the programme, bringing plastic bottles and returning home with varieties of saplings.
Md Sakib, a botany student, praised the initiative, saying such efforts could help raise awareness about plastic pollution and incentivise people to keep the environment clean.
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Photo: Tafsilul Aziz/Star
The organisation said 30 of its members, mostly students, launched the programme with the aim of reducing plastic pollution and promoting tree plantation.
The organisation distributed 500 saplings in the first phase on August 14. Encouraged by growing public interest, it distributed 1,000 saplings yesterday. Organisers said due to the sheer size of the crowd and the overwhelming response of locals, they ran out of saplings to hand out.
Hence, they now plan to distribute 2,000 saplings in the next phase.
Members of the green initiative, who partly fund the organisation’s activities by saving money from their personal educational expenses, said they aim to ultimately distribute hundreds of thousands of saplings across the country.
Founder and convener of Green Humanity Society, Md Ashikuzzaman Ashiq, said one of the organisation’s main goals was to build a plastic pollution-free and greener Kishoreganj.
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Photo: Tafsilul Aziz/Star
“We have started this journey from Kishoreganj and plan to gradually expand our environmental and humanitarian activities to other districts,” he said.
Another member of the organisation, Khairul Bashar, a student of Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam Medical College in Kishoreganj, said they also conduct programmes on tree plantation, climate awareness, and environmental conservation.
The organisation is storing the plastic waste collected through the programme and plans to explore recycling options in the future, he added.
Gurudayal Government College Principal Prof Md Siddiq Ullah praised the initiative, saying it would help reduce plastic pollution while encouraging tree plantation and environmental awareness.
“This is an exceptional initiative that can send a positive message to society,” he said.
