As part of its Plastic Free Campus (PFC) project, the Environment and Social Development Organization—ESDO—organized an environmental education camp at St. Joseph Higher Secondary School on September 19 and 20, 2023. These kinds of initiatives play a crucial role in raising environmental awareness and educating young minds about sustainability. Throughout the two-day environmental education camp, students engaged in a variety of activities that were led by the ESDO team members with enthusiasm.
The inclusion of lessons about plastic pollution, its impacts, the history of plastic usage, single-use plastic alternatives, the zero-waste concept, and the 4R concept (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Refill) demonstrates a holistic approach to environmental education. These topics provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the issues and potential solutions. The use of role plays, poster presentations, and storytelling sessions is an effective way to make the learning experience interactive and engaging. Role plays, for instance, allow students to empathize with real-life scenarios, while poster presentations encourage them to visually communicate what they’ve learned. Activities like home composting and plastic waste collection, identification, and segregation activities equip students with practical skills that they can apply in their daily lives. These hands-on experiences are essential for promoting behavior change. By providing students with the tools and knowledge to address plastic pollution and adopt sustainable practices, these programs empower them to take concrete actions and become responsible citizens.
The cooperation between the Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) and Mutual Trust Bank Limited to support the plastic-free campus (PFC) initiative is a commendable example of public-private partnership for environmental conservation. Engaging 500 students in 10 schools across 5 divisions of Bangladesh is a significant outreach effort to prevent plastic pollution and raise awareness about sustainable practices.
Mehedi Hasan Zahid, the assistant manager of Mutual Trust Bank, participating in the camp at St. Joseph Higher Secondary School underscores the importance of collaboration between the corporate sector and nonprofit organizations in addressing environmental challenges.
