Age
14
Country of Residence
Kenya
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?
One day at Lokitang Primary School, I noticed [plastic bottles lying all around the school compound]. At the same time, I saw [a classmate who had no exercise book or pen and was sitting quietly at the back, feeling ashamed]. That is when I had my "Aha!" moment: the bottles that make our school dirty could help children like my classmate. I remembered that [I once saw someone make a flower pot from a plastic bottle], and I thought, "If we can make useful things from waste and sell them, we can buy books and pens for children who need them." I shared the idea with my friends Ariane, Charline, Billyve, Aristophane, Jack and Leontine, and with our teacher, Mr. Kanyaha Jonas. They liked it, and together we decided to start the Recycle for Books Club. We believe it can succeed because bottles are free, there are many students who want to help, and every product we sell helps a child stay in school.
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.
So far, 7 students, our teacher and a parent have joined our project. Happy, Sifa and Maman Samy have also helped us, and together with other students and families we have collected 1,000 plastic bottles. How we encourage others to join and learn: Talk to students. We visit classes and speak at school assembly (with the head teacher's permission) to explain how bottles can become flowers, toys and books for children in need. Show, don't just tell. We display our first products and before-and-after photos of our clean school so that people can see what is possible. Make it easy and fun. Anyone can help by bringing bottles, joining clean-up days or learning to make crafts. We give everyone a role so they feel important. Involve families and the community. We ask parents, neighbours and shops to give us bottles and buy our products. Every purchase teaches them that waste can help children stay in school. Celebrate and share. We will thank helpers, share results each term, and use posters and word of mouth. Teach other schools. We will explain our steps to students at other schools so they can start their own clubs. Our goal is to grow from 7 students to 30 members in the first year and to inspire many more people to care about a clean environment and every child's right to learn.
How many people are on your team?
8
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Our project has started. So far, our team of 7 students (with our teacher's support) has collected 1,000 plastic bottles at school and in our community. We have not started selling yet. Our next step is to turn the bottles into flowers, flower pots and toy cars, and then sell them. Our story: Many children at our school cannot afford exercise books, pens or uniforms, and they feel ashamed and left out. At the same time, plastic bottles litter our school. We want to solve both problems together. Our goals for the first 12 months: 30 student members learning teamwork and leadership 5,000 bottles recycled 500 products made and sold 100 children receiving books and pens 20 children receiving school uniforms 70% less litter in our school compound Impact we hope to see: Children who receive supplies and uniforms will feel included and proud, attend school more regularly and keep trying in class. Our members will learn to run a small business and solve community problems. The school will be cleaner and healthier. Why it will work: Bottles are free, so our costs are very low, and we already have many of them. The club will earn its own money from sales. We keep records, share results each term, and a teacher guides us
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Growth (We’ve moved past the very first activities and are beginning to have consistent weekly or monthly impact)
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
We turn plastic waste into school supplies: our student club makes and sells flowers, toys and crafts from bottles to keep our school clean and help poor children get books, pens and uniforms.
Project title
Recycle-for-books-project
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
In our school and community in Kakuma, plastic bottles and other waste are thrown on the ground and in open spaces. This makes our school dirty and can make children sick. At the same time, many children cannot afford exercise books, pens or school uniforms. They feel ashamed and sad when they see other children who have these things. Some stop coming to school, and they begin to believe they cannot learn because they are poor. This matters to me because I am a student here and I see these problems every day. Every child deserves to learn with confidence and dignity. I believe the waste that makes our school dirty can become the solution: by recycling bottles into products and selling them, we can clean our school and help children stay in school
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.
We have already collected 1,000 bottles. Over the next year, our plan is: Months 1-2: Learn and practice making flower pots, artificial flowers and toy cars with help from our teacher and local craftspeople. Make our first products and hold our first small sale at school. Months 3-4: Use the money from sales to buy exercise books and pens and give them fairly and privately to children in need. Invite more students to join so the club grows toward 30 members. Months 5-8: Sell at school events, parents' meetings and community gatherings. Ask local shops and families for orders. Start making bigger items like stools. Keep collecting bottles toward our goal of 5,000. Months 9-12: Save money and buy school uniforms for children who need them. Share our results with the school and community. Train another school to start its own Recycle for Books club. Throughout the year, our treasurer will record all money, our secretary will keep notes, and we will report our results to the school every term. We will also look for partners, such as teachers, parents, local businesses and community groups, who can give materials, training or places to sell. Our goal is a club that keeps running on its own income long after this challenge.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
Many programs either clean up waste or give school supplies to poor children, but they usually do these as separate projects, and most depend on donations from outside. Our project joins both in one simple cycle: the waste that makes our school dirty becomes the money that keeps poor children in school. What is different about our project: Waste becomes products, not just trash. We do not only collect bottles. We turn them into things people want to buy, like flower pots, artificial flowers, toy cars and pencil holders. This gives plastic a new value and gives our community a reason to keep bottles instead of throwing them away. We earn our own money. Instead of waiting for donations, our club creates its own income. When we sell products, we can buy books, pens and uniforms again and again. It is led by children. Students, not adults, run the club. We collect, make, sell, keep records and decide how to help. This teaches us leadership, teamwork and money skills while we help others. It protects dignity. Many children feel ashamed because they are poor. By giving supplies and uniforms fairly and privately, we help them feel included and confident to learn. It uses what we already have. Bottles are free and we need almost no money to start, so any school in a similar community can copy our model. We plan to teach other schools to start their own Recycle for Books club. We are applying a simple idea, recycling, in a new way for our own school community: to protect the environment and children's right to learn at the same time.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
We started the Recycle for Books Club at Lokitang Primary School. Our solution has three simple parts: collect, create and give back. Collect: We place labelled bins around the school and hold weekly clean-up days. Families and shops also give us used plastic bottles and caps. We wash and sort everything. Create: In small groups, members turn the bottles into flower pots, artificial flowers, toy cars, pencil holders and bottle-cap crafts. Later we will make small stools. Everyone has a role, so we learn teamwork and new skills. Give back: We sell our products at school events, parents' meetings, community gatherings and to neighbours. All profit buys exercise books and pens for children who cannot afford them. As our savings grow, we will also buy school uniforms. Our teacher helps us choose children fairly and we protect their privacy. Our treasurer, Ariane, records every shilling, and we share results with the school each term. Our teacher, Mr. Kanyaha Jonas, guides us. In the first year we aim to collect 5,000 bottles, make 500 products, help 100 children with supplies and 20 with uniforms. The school becomes cleaner and children feel included and confident to keep learning. Bottles are free and new students can join each year, so the club can continue. We also plan to help another school start its own club.
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Our team has 7 students. Amisi is the project lead. Ariane is treasurer and records all money. Charline is secretary and keeps meeting notes. Leontine is adviser and helps solve problems. Billyve, Aristophane and Jack lead collecting bottles and making products. Our teacher, Mr. Kanyaha Jonas, guides us. We share leadership by meeting every week, deciding together, and giving everyone a role
