Country of Residence
Nigeria
Age
18
Project title
KEEP UNEC CLEAN CAMPAIGN
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
We're changing the culture of indiscriminate waste disposal among students in 3 ways. 1. Changing people's behavior through campaigns, videos, posts etc. The goal is to make indiscriminate waste disposal absurd to anyone in the school environment. 2. Providing the infrastructure and systems necessary i.e. bins for proper waste disposal. 3. Transforming indiscriminate waste disposal sites, to sit outs, bus-stops that can act as statement infrastructure against indiscriminate waste disposal.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
thenigeriandreamshow
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Pilot-Stage (We’ve tried an activity or two)
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 spark moment came from realizing that a problem we had talked about for so long could actually be solved. Growing up, proper waste disposal was something we were taught to take seriously in secondary school. When I came to the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, however, I encountered a very different reality. Indiscriminate waste disposal had become common, with too few waste bins, inadequate waste collection, and disposal sites scattered around the school environment. During rainfall, waste from these sites is often carried into gutters, clogging drainage systems and creating even bigger environmental problems. My fellow students and I noticed these issues repeatedly. We talked about them, complained about them, and wondered why nothing seemed to change. Then came the simple question: Why don't we solve it? That question became the spark for the Keep UNEC Clean campaign. A small group of us came together and built a community of about 100 students who shared the same concern. Instead of stopping at conversations, we began taking action. We have organized a cleanup exercise, held an awareness walk, and continued educating students about responsible waste disposal and environmental stewardship. For me, the spark was realizing that we did not have to wait for someone else to fix the problem. If we could see the problem, we could be part of the solution.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
The problem I am trying to solve is the culture of indiscriminate waste disposal in Nigeria, starting with my own university community. At the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, inadequate waste-management structures, too few waste bins, and irregular collection have made indiscriminate disposal common. Large waste sites can be found behind some hostels and around campus. Waste accumulates, maggots and microorganisms thrive, and rainfall carries waste into drainage systems, clogging them and causing dirty water to overflow. This is more than an environmental problem. It is a health, dignity, and learning problem. A university should provide a clean and conducive environment for learning, not one where students face accumulated waste, unpleasant smells, blocked drains, and potential health hazards. But the deeper problem is behavioural. We want to challenge the mindset that indiscriminate disposal is simply “how things are done.” Through the Keep UNEC Clean campaign, we combine education, awareness, and community action to show students why responsible waste disposal matters and encourage them to take ownership of their environment. We want every student who passes through UNEC to carry these habits beyond campus and think twice before littering. Ultimately, we want UNEC to become an example to other communities that changing this culture is possible.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
We are tackling the culture of indiscriminate waste disposal among students through a three-part solution: 1. Change Behaviour. We use campaigns, videos, social media posts, and community activities to educate students and make indiscriminate waste disposal feel unacceptable even absurd in the school environment. We want proper disposal to become the norm. 2. Provide The Infrastructure. Behavioural change must be supported by the right systems. We want to increase access to waste bins and promote better waste-disposal and collection systems so students have practical alternatives to littering. 3. Transform Waste Sites. We plan to turn existing indiscriminate waste-disposal sites into useful public spaces such as sit-outs and bus stops. These spaces will serve as visible “statement infrastructure” showing what a clean community can look like while reclaiming spaces that were once used for dumping waste. Together, these three approaches create a sustainable solution. We are not simply cleaning waste that has already been dumped; we are addressing why it is dumped in the first place. By changing behaviour, providing the necessary infrastructure, and transforming problem areas, we can prevent the cycle from repeating. Our goal is to create a model that can be sustained within UNEC and eventually replicated in other communities.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
So far, we have seen clear signs that our campaign is changing behaviour. Students have approached us to share how the campaign has made them more conscious of how they dispose of waste. One student told us that after eating a biscuit, instead of dropping the wrapper on the floor, they now keep it in their pocket until they find a waste bin. Others have told us directly, “Because of you, I no longer dispose of waste indiscriminately.” These moments have shown us that behaviour can change. Even with our current low-budget campaign, our messages are reaching people and influencing their everyday choices. However, we know we need to do more and reach more people. Beyond individual behaviour change, we have also built a community of over 100 students who believe in this cause and are willing to work towards a cleaner environment. They actively support our activities and share our vision for a cleaner UNEC. Our impact so far is therefore not only the waste we have collected or the activities we have organized. It is the growing number of people who are beginning to see proper waste disposal as their responsibility. We have proven that change is possible; now, we want to scale it.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
Our solution may not be completely different from existing approaches, but what sets it apart is our focus on addressing the problem at its root and creating a sustainable system that can continue working even after the campaign ends. Rather than relying solely on periodic cleanups or awareness campaigns, we are combining behavioural change with the infrastructure needed to sustain that behaviour providing waste bins in strategic locations, improving waste collection, and consistently educating students and members of the school community on proper waste disposal. The goal is therefore not just to clean up the environment, but to make it easier and more natural for people to keep it clean. We want to build a system where the positive behaviour we are trying to encourage can actually be maintained over time. In that sense, our approach is geared towards a long-term, sustainable solution rather than a temporary cleanup exercise.
How many people are on your team?
10
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
• Bonaventure – Team Lead & Overall Coordination • Gift & Chukwemelie – Content & Ideation • Patience – Content Manager • Nelson – Community Manager • Aris – Mobilization & On-ground Activities • Valentine – Stakeholder & Authority Engagement • Chidimma – Publicity & Distribution We are a student-led volunteer team with diverse skills, united by a shared commitment to making the project successful.
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.
We are currently deep into the first phase or trial phase of the project. We started with little to no funding, despite initially planning around securing funding, but we decided to start anyway. This has given us valuable experience and a clearer understanding of what the project could look like on a larger scale. Moving forward, we want to build on the stakeholder engagement we have already started by involving as many people within the university community as possible—students, lecturers, non-teaching staff, school authorities, and other relevant stakeholders. We want everyone to actively participate in the cleanups and other activities, because we believe that participation creates a sense of ownership and makes the behavioural change more sustainable. At the same time, we want to put the necessary waste-management infrastructure in place to support that change. Ultimately, we want to develop a sustainable model that can be replicated in other schools and communities. By combining infrastructure, behaviour change, and meaningful stakeholder involvement, we hope to create a practical template for solving similar community problems.
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 are currently deep into the first phase or trial phase of the project. We started with little to no funding, even though we had initially planned around securing funding, but we decided to start anyway. This has given us a lot of experience and a better idea of what the project can look like on a larger scale. Going forward, we want to build on the stakeholder engagement we have already started and involve as many people as possible students, lecturers, non-teaching staff, school authorities, and other relevant stakeholders. We want everyone to participate in the activities and be part of the change we are trying to create, because we believe that when people are involved, they develop a sense of ownership, which makes the change more sustainable. At the same time, we want to put the necessary infrastructure in place to support the behavioural change. Ultimately, we want to create a sustainable template that can be copied in other schools and communities. We believe that combining infrastructure, behaviour change, and stakeholder involvement can create a solution that doesn't just solve the problem temporarily, but can actually be sustained and replicated.
