Turning CUSAT campus clean with ‘Trash tag challenge’

Turning CUSAT campus clean with ‘Trash tag challenge’
The students of CUSAT campus who took part in the 'Trash tag Challenge.'

Kalamassery: In a path-breaking initiative to rid the CUSAT campus of garbage, a 20-member collective of students launched ‘Trash tag challenge’ recently. They clicked photos of the garbage dumps before and after cleaning and posted them on social media. In fact, the challenge seeks to spread awareness against dumping of waste in public places.

The students have chosen the road to the Radar centre on the campus for the challenge. Anti-social elements had turned the road and its sides into a huge garbage dump. The students conduct the challenge between 6.30 am and 8.30 am every day. On the first day itself, they collected 150 sacks of waste items from the area. The items were sorted and packed into three groups - plastic materials, plastic bottles and bottles made of glass.

With a good response on the opening day, the challenge attracted more students on the following days. Several more sacks of garbage were removed on the subsequent days. The photos of each day were tagged on social media.

The students also traced some of those who had dumped the garbage and gave awareness classes. The culprits realized their mistake and promised not to repeat it. “This assurance gave us much satisfaction,” said Rameez Rahman, a research student who is leading the challenge.

However, some people panicked over the challenge and set fire to the shrubs in the area. Fire and Rescue services and the students doused the fire.

The municipal authorities have agreed to take away the garbage every week. The students have also urged the Vice-Chancellor to set up surveillance cameras and bins on the campus.

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