A group of students from a school-college in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, formed an organization ‘ Together for Environment ‘. The objective is to create awareness in the implementation of clean, hygienic and green environment. Written by Zubaier Ahmed

Beginning of Together for Environment

In 2016, they used to study in class eight. Rudra and Ryan see a social organization working in a park in Malibag of Dhaka. They were talking about class. After watching the incident, they think that they can do something new. Wondering if something can be done about the environment! They shared the idea with Tanzim. He likes it very much. Other friends also agreed. Then Tanzim made an outline of the plan and everyone liked it. At that time they were students of National Ideal School of Dhaka. Altogether went out on a holiday in Taltala, Khilgaon, adjacent to the school building, wearing masks. Then they started the activities. A campaign to keep the environment clean and tidy. Some roads were cleared that day. Distributed awareness leaflets to keep the environment clean. This is how the journey of ‘ Together for Environment ‘ started.

Activities

The activities started on a small scale. They try to keep at least one activity per month. Although for various reasons it did not happen. Usually they select a place, clean it and give leaflets. This activity has been done in different places of the city including Khilgaon, Motijheel, Shahbag, Goran, Basabo, Bailey Road, Malibag. They planted trees on the premises of Khilgaon Girls School. Besides planting trees there, the pupils went to classes and talked about protecting the environment. Camped in a kindergarten in Kayetpara, they set up a dustbin there. Tree tubs were also distributed. They then teach the children how to use the dustbin. Then they arranged sessions with students and parents.

Together for Environment’ is working along with awareness for a clean and pure environment. In the May of 2019, leaflets were distributed among the buyers, owners and managers in the restaurants of Khilgaon. Because a lot of dirt is not thrown in the proper place.

Membership and cost

Now the total number of members of the organization is 25. The cost of leaflets or various campaigns is covered by their savings. Each member pays a monthly fee of fifty taka. They have been working on their own from the beginning. But once a teacher helped financially. They also have a plan for prevention of dengue. Leaflets will be distributed in several portion of capital city.

Friends are responding

There was little response in the beginning. Many thought that this work could actually be a loss of education. However, this idea has gradually faded. First, they had to try to convince their families that they are doing a good job. All the members have tried to deal with such problems from their respective places as much as possible. The teachers of the school have inspired their work. Miss Feroz and Shampa of English department encouraged them a lot. When they go to clear the road, many people say inspiring words. ‘It’s nice to be doing these things at such a young age when someone tells them they’re fascinated by it. And the biggest inspiration is when someone says I don’t throw dirt on the street after seeing your activities! What could be a bigger achievement than this”, said Tasnim Ferdous, a member of the organization.

Fun events

Once two lovers were walking to eat ice cream. Members of Together for Environment gave them leaflets and spoke. After a while, a packet of ice cream was thrown in the street. They ran and picked up the packet and threw it in the dustbin. Seeing this, there was a light quarrel between the two. They two were blaming each other, why he/she did not stop the other. Then they decided not to throw dirt on the streets. In fact, the habit of littering the streets has been around for a long time.

“It will take time to change.” said Ajmal Tanzeem, president of the organization. He added, “Our city and country are very big. It is not possible to fix such a big environment with a few people. This will be possible only if everyone is aware of their own place. Many of us think, what happens if I throw dirt in the dustbin alone? The rest of the people will not throw. We want to tell them that everything starts from one. Let it start from you. Why would you be if everyone was bad. We want to spread this awareness.”

Future plans

Their main plan in the future is to make the organization more active. Gather more volunteers. It wants to motivate students to protect the environment by planting trees and campaigning in some more schools in the capital. There are also plans for rooftop gardening. Their dream is to see an environment where no one has to press their nose to breathe. Wants to see a clean and tidy country. The color of the environment is green! The environment will be livable for human beings. The misery of not protecting the environment will be alleviated. There will be no unbearable heat. Nor will a disease like dengue take a terrible form.