The Green Globe Initiative (GGI), an environmental NGO, has trained students of some selected secondary schools in Ilorin on up-cycling of plastics into flowerpots to address plastic pollution in Kwara State.
The schools were Molly’s School, Pipeline; and C & S College, Sabo Oke, both in Ilorin.
The Executive Director, GGI, Mr Akintola Akinyemi, stated this during the Craft and Plant Education Programme on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, in Ilorin, the state capital.
Akinyemi said the essence of the programme was to reduce the number of plastics ending up in waterways and drainages, thereby causing pollution.
“We discovered that thousands of plastics are produced daily and they are hardly recycled, thereby end up causing harm to the society because they are non-degradable.
“So, we think if the plastics can be up-cycled, it will make us have a safer environment and at the same time make provision for another need,’’ Akinyemi said.
He said the choice of conducting the trainings in schools was to ensure knowledge transfer and ensure the students were able to pass the knowledge gained to their friends and classmates.
The Proprietor of Molly’s School, Mrs Omolara Olanrewaju, said the project was in line with the school’s Montessori curriculum that teaches about recycling of products.
“So when this idea was brought to us, we were excited that it is a step further on our own teaching of separation of waste products into a tangible thing.
“A programme like this reduces the number of waste that enters the environment, so that we can have a clean oxygen to breathe in,” Olanrewaju said.
The Vice Principal, Special Duty, C & S College, Mrs Eunice Gana, said the programme was a laudable one as the up-cycling would serve dual purposes.
Gana said the students would find a source of income from making the products and also make the society an environment friendly one.
She commended the organisers for the repeat of the programme, saying it is beneficial and rewarding.
One of the participants, a JSS 3 student at Molly’s school, Feranmi Okunade, said she was unaware that a beautiful piece could be made from “what is considered as trash’’.
“I feel great participating in this craft because I didn’t know we could make something beautiful like this with a plastic bottle.
“With what I have learnt here today, I will never dispose of any bottle again without up-cycling it,’’ she said.
Another student, Oluyole Beatrice, said the training had posed a challenge to her as she would surely put what she learnt into use.
She promised to make a replica of what was taught and possibly sell to make money.
The Craft and Plant Education Programme is said to be one of the GGI activities towards addressing plastic pollution crisis in Kwara.
By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus
