By Ogar Monday/Grace Orok
In the fight to eradicate toxic waste materials, the Global Impact SAGE Team (GIST), a team of young ‘teenpreneurs’ in Calabar has been produced an Eco-friendly Inter-locking paving tiles, called GI (Global Impact) Interlocking, made from plastics and glass.
The GIST team, a subsidiary of Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE), an organization that brings together in and out of school teenagers for the purpose of innovative and enterprising entrepreneurship, stated that they have decided to work with the theme for the world environment day; “Beat Plastic Pollution”.
Speaking to CrossRiverWatch, Daniel Orok, Ceo GIST said that “Due to the rising and pressing menace of plastic and glass pollution in the environment today, GIST has decided to effectively tackle and eradicate the problem by sustainably changing plastic and glass waste to comfort and wealth.”
Adding that, “As social ‘teenpreneurs’, we have been able to meet the world’s most challenging environmental problem by producing Composite Interlocking Paving stones from plastic and glass waste.”
Daniel also explained that the GI interlocking reduces the problem of limestone exploitation and that it offers better and durable aesthetics at a very affordable price.
According to him, the project which makes use of community waste resources, has been able to receive participation, involvement and interest from several agencies and organizations including NEASRA, Teck Shack, CRWatch Resources, Lift Hub, Forty Households, 25 bars, 18 restaurants and 22 hotels.
They are also going to be competing among other projects from different SAGE teams at the National level, from the 25th to the 28th of June in Abuja, Nigeria.
The prelim is scheduled to hold at Barcelona hotels, Wuse II, while the finals is to take place at the Presidential villa, all in Abuja, Nigeria.
SAGE allows its subsidiaries to voluntarily come along with two teams each, with each to compete at two categories; Social Enterprise Business (SEB) and Socially Responsible Business (SRB), after which the two most outstanding teams, one from each category will compete at the international level every year.
Below are some pictures of the raw materials and the manufacturing process.
