More than 150 students from various schools and institutions participated in the Bhutan Ecological Society’s Plastic-Free Rivers hackathon on 8th September. During the competition, the participants devised solutions to reduce plastic waste in their schools and communities.
The hackathon is aimed to empower youth to take the lead in addressing Bhutan’s plastic pollution challenges.
“When we teach them what the scope of the problem looks like, what potential solutions look like, and then think, OK, this is how the plastic situation in my school or community looks. This is what other people across Bhutan are already doing to solve this issue. Why cannot I do something similar in my school? So, that is when they start solving the problem in their schools. And one of the components of the hackathon we are putting together is how much the students also promote plastic waste literacy in their schools,” said Phub Dorji, organiser.
The team members worked together and brainstormed strategies to reduce plastic waste.
Participants included teams from monastic schools and Wangsel Institute among others, highlighting the engagement of students from different educational backgrounds.
“The solution that we came up with to reduce plastic waste in our school was to collect the waste and make mini furniture. We also wanted to replace the wood carving material with materials made out of plastic. So, with this project, we hope to be able to create awareness in our community about things that we can make from plastics. So, in the future, we hope that our school and the community people can work collaboratively to reduce plastic,” said Dorji Dema, a student at Wangsel Institute for the Deaf.
The team from the College of Natural Resources won the hackathon with their circular economy idea. They were followed by the Motithang Higher Secondary School which presented a plaspater storage idea.
“The concept of circular economy is that when we use any kind of items, it looks at how long we can make use of it, without becoming waste. And our concept is to ensure this,” said Wangdi Rigsel, a student at the College of Natural Resources.
“We have come up with the idea known as plaspater storage. So plas means plastic, pa means paper, and ter means litter. So, this plaspater storage has a sensor that will analyse if that waste is plastic or paper. So if it is plastic then it will dump it in the plastic section and if it is paper then it will dump it in the paper section. So, that people do not need to segregate the waste manually and then it is very convenient and easy,” said Tenzin Doelma, a student at Motithang Higher Secondary School.
The winning team from the College of Natural Resources not only received a cash prize but also earned the opportunity to represent Bhutan at a regional hackathon organised by the World Bank in Sri Lanka, later this year.
Deki Lhazom/Pema Tshomo
Edited by Sonam Pem
