Feature

Healthy Campus-
Campus Cleaning Day

Mehruba Islam

IT was a warm day and the sun was strong. But the enthusiastic students of the department of Geography and Environment were at the annex compound (kazi Motahar Hossain Bhaban) in order to clean their compound.

In today's environmentally conscious yet economically challenged society, the need for proper guideline is felt strongly. It is the continuation of 16 February, the Inauguration day of "Healthy Campus” a project run by the Department of Geography and Environment, University of Dhaka. The entire department came forward to raise funds to set trash boxes in the compound. Kazi Motahar Hossain Bhaban is opposite the central shaheed minar. So it is much difficult to maintain its cleanliness.

It was a tedious job to select the appropriate model for the trash box. We had to cogitate about the seasonal issue like rainfall. As 3R-Reduce, reuse, recycle - are the core concept lying behind the project, the team had to contemplate several factors.

Alongside, the labeling and coloring were also an issue. At the early stage, trash boxes of six different colors - red, blue, brown, light green, pink, orange were placed centrally in the department's corridor for separate waste collection papers, glass, metal, organic elements, plastic bottle, plastic pack. Around nine trash boxes of three different colors were placed at three different corner of the annex compound.

At the beginning of the campus cleaning session, Dr. Towhida Rashid, Prof. Nasreen Ahmad, Prof. Hafiza Khatun were at the compound to encourage the students. Prof. Nasreen Ahmad stressed on placing trash boxes on the field in front of the science annex building on the inauguration day. She mentioned that most of the time students want to put disposable items in a trash box but due to unavailability they cannot do that. Therefore, if a trash box was placed in the corners of the annex ground, it will definitely encourage students of other departments as well.

Students were divided into small groups consiststing of 15 members. All of the Students were well equipped with gloves and masks. They had to collect papers, plastic, glass, metal, organic elements, plastic bottle, and plastic pack. All the garbage were collected into white plastic sacks. It was not very long ago since we were habituated littering here and there. But now all of us are trying our best to use the trash boxes placed in the compound. We are requesting all our friends to come forward to make a healthy campus. Let's join the clean green team!

(The writer is a student of DU)