Age
15
Country of Residence
Nigeria
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
My “aha!” moment came from seeing waste everywhere—plastic bottles, sachets, and other discarded items dumped along roads, in drains, and in open spaces. It was not just unpleasant to see; the smell from illegal dumping and the effects it has on the environment made me wonder why things had to be this way. I started thinking: What if things could be different? What if, instead of asking only, “Where do I throw this away?”, we asked, “What useful thing can happen to this next?” That question changed how I saw the problem. I realized that not everything people no longer need is actually waste. A student may have used textbooks they no longer need, while another student cannot afford them. Someone may have a calculator sitting unused at home, while another person needs one. A plastic bottle could be reused or recycled instead of ending up on the ground. That became the idea behind Climatica: creating a platform where people can give unwanted items a better next destination—whether that means selling them at an affordable price, donating, reusing, recycling, or connecting them with the right waste solution. We didn't just want to build another platform. We wanted to change what happens next.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
We believe people are more likely to change their habits when they understand the problem and have an easy way to take action. So far, we have engaged people around the idea through conversations, team discussions and sharing the problem of waste and unused items with others. As Climatica develops, we plan to take this further through schools, youth groups and community activities. We will use simple, relatable examples—such as what happens to a plastic bottle after it is thrown away, or how an old textbook could help another student—to show that responsible choices can be practical and valuable. We will also encourage people to participate directly through Climatica. Users will be able to list items they no longer need for sale or donation, identify waste, find appropriate disposal or recycling options, book waste collectors and earn rewards for responsible actions. We want users to become part of the solution rather than simply receive information. We will encourage them to share useful items, invite friends, participate in clean-up activities and spread awareness about better ways to handle unwanted things. As we grow, we hope to build a community of young people who do not just talk about sustainability but actively practice it and encourage others to do the same.
How many people are on your team?
4
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Climatica is still at an early stage, so our impact so far has mainly been in turning a common community problem into a practical solution. We have developed a prototype and started shaping a platform that can help people make better decisions about unwanted items. Our first impact goal is to change the way people think about what they no longer need. Instead of automatically throwing something away, we want people to consider whether it can be reused, sold, donated, recycled or passed on to someone who needs it. As Climatica grows, we aim to reach students, households and communities, particularly young people who deal with everyday waste and unused items. We want to make affordable second-hand items easier to find while reducing the amount of useful material that becomes waste. We will measure our impact through the number of users reached, items reused or resold, donations made, recyclable materials diverted from dumping, and connections made with waste collectors. Our long-term vision is to make “What can this become next?” a normal question before “Where do I throw this?” We believe that by making sustainable choices easier, affordable and convenient, small individual actions can add up to meaningful community impact.
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Pilot-Stage (We’ve tried an activity or two)
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Climatica is a youth-led climate and waste innovation project helping people identify waste, discover whether it can be reused, recycled, sold or donated, and find responsible disposal options—turning everyday waste from something we throw away into a resource we can act on.
Project title
Climatica
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
In many communities, unwanted things quickly become waste because people do not know what else to do with them. Plastic bottles, sachets, food containers and other items are often dumped on roadsides, in drains and in open spaces. This creates unpleasant smells, contributes to blocked drainage and harms the environment, while materials that could still be useful are wasted. But the problem goes beyond waste. Many useful items also sit unused in people’s homes because their owners no longer need them. A student may have textbooks they will never use again, while another student needs those same books but cannot afford new ones. Someone may have a calculator, clothes, furniture or other items they no longer need, while someone else could use them. The problem is the missing connection between what one person no longer needs and what another person needs. This matters to me because I have seen how dumping and unnecessary waste have become normal around us. I believe things can have a better next destination. Climatica aims to make that possible by helping people reuse, sell affordably, donate, recycle or responsibly dispose of unwanted items. Instead of asking only, “Where do I throw this?”, we want people to ask, “Who could use this, or what can it become next?”
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next year, we plan to move Climatica from a prototype into a working platform that people can use in their everyday lives. Our first step is to test the prototype with students and community members. We will collect feedback on how easy it is to identify an item, choose what to do with it, list or donate useful items, and find appropriate solutions for waste. We will then develop our key features: item identification, a marketplace for selling and donating useful items, recycling and disposal options, nearby solution points, waste-collector booking, and rewards for responsible actions. We also plan to build partnerships with waste collectors, recycling organizations, schools and community groups. These partnerships will help us provide reliable local options and reach more people. As the platform develops, we will run small school and community activities to encourage reuse, donation, recycling and responsible disposal. We will measure our progress through users reached, items reused or donated, waste collected or diverted from dumping, and responsible actions completed. Our goal is to build, test and improve Climatica until it becomes a practical tool that helps people give things a better next destination.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
Climatica is different because it does not assume that everything a person wants to get rid of is simply “waste.” It looks at what the item is and what can realistically happen to it next. For useful items someone no longer needs, Climatica creates opportunities to sell, donate or reuse them. A student can sell an old textbook at an affordable price, donate it to someone who needs it, or find another way to give it a second life. But when an item has already become waste and cannot be sold, donated or reused, Climatica does not stop there. Users can identify the waste, learn the appropriate option, find a nearby disposal or recycling location where available, or book a waste collector to pick it up. Another part of our innovation is making responsible action rewarding. Users can earn points or rewards for actions such as listing items for reuse, donating, recycling, using proper disposal options or booking waste collection. This turns sustainable behaviour from something people are simply told to do into something they can actively participate in and benefit from. Rather than being only a marketplace, recycling directory or waste-collection service, Climatica connects these different solutions into one journey: Identify → Decide → Connect → Act → Earn. Our innovation is using existing ideas—reuse, resale, donation, recycling and waste collection—and bringing them together in a simple, locally relevant platform that helps people know not just what they have, but what they can do with it next.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
Climatica is a platform designed to help people find a better next destination for things they no longer need—whether those things can be reused, sold, donated, recycled or responsibly disposed of. Here is how it works: a user can take a photo of an unwanted item and upload it to Climatica. The platform helps identify the item and suggests possible next steps. For example, a used textbook that is no longer needed can be listed for sale at an affordable price, making it accessible to another student instead of leaving it unused. A calculator, piece of clothing or household item can also be listed for someone else to buy or receive. For items that are waste, Climatica helps users understand what they can do with them. A plastic bottle, for instance, could be marked for reuse or recycling rather than being dumped. Users can find relevant waste collection or recycling options where available and connect with waste collectors. Climatica will also create a community marketplace where people can post items they no longer need and others can discover useful items around them. This creates a simple connection between people who have something and people who need it. Our goal is to make sustainable action practical, affordable and accessible. Instead of expecting people to search across different platforms to figure out what to do with an unwanted item, Climatica brings the options together in one place. We are building Climatica around one simple idea: before something becomes waste, give it a chance to become useful to someone else.
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Our team has four members with complementary strengths. I lead Climatica’s vision, coordination and sustainability direction. Umar handles web development and technical implementation. Nimi contributes communication, public speaking and ideas, while Samuel focuses on brainstorming, research and problem-solving. We share leadership by bringing our perspectives to discussions, assigning tasks according to our strengths, and making important decisions together.
