Bring in plastic waste and take home a tree sapling. Prayas, a voluntary social organisation in Pakundia, Kishoreganj, has started the scheme to cut plastic pollution and get people planting trees. At its 'Trees for Plastic' event at the Pakundia Sadar Eidgah ground on Friday afternoon, 23 October, about 700 fruit, timber and medicinal saplings were handed out.
The rule was simple: three plastic bottles, or a set amount of other plastic waste, for one sapling. Women, men, students and children came with bottles and plastic they had saved at home. Abir, a ninth-grade student, handed in six bottles and took two saplings. Ayesha, a housewife, brought 12 bottles; she said she had seen the event on Facebook, and that bottles and polythene thrown anywhere after use harm the environment.
The organisers say careless use and dumping of plastic and polythene are a major threat to the environment, and the aim is to go beyond awareness talks and change how plastic waste is handled by involving people directly. Speakers urged people to keep plastic in set places, separate recyclable waste and plant more trees.
Convener Nurul Jannat Manna said the goal is to build awareness of proper plastic waste management and encourage tree planting. The response was unprecedented, he said, and the group plans to hold more such events.
Mahfuzur Rahman, a former executive director of Bangladesh Bank, said plastic and polythene can take hundreds of years to break down in soil, and plastic waste is harming rivers and seas in Bangladesh and elsewhere, so it must be collected and disposed of properly rather than dumped.
The report is by SK Russell of Channel i Online.
Photo: Arm.434 / Wikimedia Commons (CC0); a plastic bottle floating in a pond in Ramna Park, Dhaka.
Source: Channel i Online
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