Country of Residence
Nigeria
Age
19
Project title
Trash It
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Trash It is an environmental sustainability initiative that plans to reduce plastic waste in Nigeria by collecting at the point of consumption (houses, offices, etc) to recycle while giving economic incentive to individuals who remit these waste per weight.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
Project Category
My project is a brand new / emerging idea
Project Stage
Idea (We’re hoping to get started in the future)
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?
The first time i had the consciousness to stop littering was when i was 7 years old and my elder brother had an a great role to play in that and ever since that moment I have made it a point to educate other on this issue as well. Last december i conducted an experiment on the amount of plastic bottle i as a single unit consumed for two weeks and i got a total of 51 bottles. This experiemnt was my wake up call in visualizing the problem at hand. I though if just me as a unit create 51 bottles of plastic waste in 2-weeks, how about 200 million other Nigerians? and on a smaller scale, the 200,000+ persons that resides in my community.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
Now plastic pollution contributes to a very prominent problem that affects Ugbowo: Flooding. Edo state where Ugbowo is located experience a very high amount of rainfall compared to other regions as it lies within Nigeria's humid tropical rainforest belt. During the rains the drainage systems are usually blocked by plastic waste hence contributing greatly to flooding and also polluting water bodies such as the Ikpoba hill river that is currently experiencing alot of pollutions from plastics. This problem matter to me and my community as the presence of this issue has greatly reduced our quality of life as properties are constantly being destroyed during floods and water sources are contaminated.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
Trash It aims to address plastic pollution in Ugbowo by collecting plastic waste before it ends up on streets, in drainage systems and in water bodies. In my community, accessible waste disposal options are limited, contributing to practices such as open dumping, disposing of waste in drains and burning. Trash It proposes a practical alternative that combines waste collection, recycling and financial incentives. The model works in five stages: Educate, Store, Collect, Pay and Recycle. First, we educate households and businesses on plastic pollution, its environmental consequences and how to separate and store recyclable plastics. Next, participants store their plastic waste instead of discarding or burning it. Trash It then organises scheduled pickups, with monthly collections for households and twice-monthly collections for businesses. The collected plastics are weighed, and participants are paid according to the weight they submit. Finally, the recovered plastics are delivered to recycling companies for proper processing and repurposing. This approach is designed to make responsible waste disposal more convenient and rewarding. Rather than relying on awareness alone, Trash It gives residents a practical way to act on what they learn while creating an economic incentive to keep recyclable plastics out of the environment. By intercepting plastic waste before it enters streets and drainage channels, Trash It hopes to reduce plastic accumulation that contributes to blocked drains and flooding, as well as pollution in rivers and other water bodies. The initiative is still in development, and I am collecting community data to assess participation and refine the model.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Trash It is currently in its early stages, with data collection underway to assess community interest in recycling. In a survey conducted to understand community attitudes, 71% of respondents indicated that they would be more likely to participate in recycling activities if given the opportunity. This response has strengthened my hope that Trash It can address a real need by making recycling more accessible. The goal of Trash It is simple: to tackle plastic pollution by recovering and repurposing plastic waste. In Ugbowo, impact would mean less plastic clogging drainage systems, helping to reduce one contributor to flooding. It would mean cleaner rivers and other water bodies, a community culture that rejects littering and over 70% of the community educated on the effects of plastic pollution and climate change. Beyond waste collection, I want Trash It to inspire a generation of young people who care about the environment they live in and feel empowered to protect it. Although these outcomes are still goals rather than achievements, the survey results provide an encouraging starting point. My vision is to turn this community interest into measurable action, one collected bottle, one educated resident and one changed habit at a time.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
With Trash It, the innovation is not the idea of recycling plastic waste, but the system designed to make it work. Rather than inventing a new concept, Trash It adapts existing waste recovery practices into a structured, accessible and incentive-driven model tailored to my community. The model operates in five stages: Educate, Store, Collect, Pay and Recycle. First, we educate residents on plastic pollution and proper waste disposal. Households and businesses then store their plastic waste instead of discarding or burning it. Trash It collects the plastics on scheduled pickups, with monthly collections for households and twice-monthly collections for businesses. The plastics are weighed, and participants are paid according to the quantity they contribute. Finally, the collected materials are delivered to recycling companies for processing and repurposing. The innovation lies in connecting these five stages into one convenient process. Instead of relying solely on environmental awareness or expecting residents to find recycling centres themselves, Trash It brings collection closer to them and provides a financial incentive for consistent participation. It also creates a link between waste generators and recycling companies. Designed around Ugbowo's waste disposal challenges, Trash It aims to prevent plastic waste from reaching streets, drainage systems and waterways. My goal is to demonstrate how an incentive-based collection model can turn plastic waste management into a practical community habit and eventually be replicated in communities.
How many people are on your team?
1
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Trash It is currently an individually developed idea, and I am leading its research, community surveys and model development. As the project progresses, I hope to build a team with expertise in environmental education, community engagement, logistics and recycling partnerships. I want to foster shared leadership where team members contribute their expertise, participate in decision-making and take ownership of their respective responsibilities.
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 three months, my priority is to move Trash It from an idea a tested plastic collection model in Ugbowo. First, I will get more responses on my community survey and analyse the responses to better understand residents' recycling habits, willingness to participate and preferred collection arrangements. The provides an encouraging starting point. Next, I will identify and approach recycling companies to establish partnerships for collecting, processing and repurposing the plastics. I will also develop a practical collection and payment structure, considering weighing methods, pickup schedules, operating costs and how participants will be compensated. I then hope to launch a small pilot within the student community in the University of Benin. This will help me test the five-stage model: Educate, Store, Collect, Pay and Recycle. I will track the quantity of plastic recovered, participant engagement and the operational challenges encountered. I will also partner with other SDG based organisations within the community to reach an even wider audience. Finally, I intend to build a small team with expertise in community engagement, logistics and environmental education to support implementation. My goal is to use the pilot results to refine Trash It's model, demonstrate its feasibility and develop a roadmap for expanding
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.
I believe that getting people to care about an environmental problem starts with helping them understand how it affects their everyday lives. Through my environmental advocacy, I have used education and conversations to encourage young people to see themselves as active participants in climate action rather than passive observers. In November, I hosted a virtual webinar themed “Youth, Law and Climate Justice: Turning Awareness into Action”, which engaged over 100 participants. The experience reinforced my belief that young people are willing to learn about environmental issues when given accessible platforms to engage with them. With Trash It, I am taking this approach further by gathering community responses through a survey to understand people's attitudes towards recycling. As Trash It develops, I plan to engage households and businesses through community sensitisation, conversations and educational campaigns about plastic pollution and its contribution to blocked drainage systems and flooding. I also hope to involve young volunteers who can help spread awareness and encourage proper plastic storage and disposal. By combining education with a convenient collection system and financial incentives, I want to turn awareness into sustained action and inspire residents to take collective responsibility for a cleaner Ugbowo.
