A group of students from College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) at Makerere University have designed garbage bins made from empty water bottles.

Under their Climate Change Association (MUCCA), the students from the department of environmental management displayed their invention at the launch of the annual Waste Awareness Week. This year’s awareness week runs from October 21 to October 25 under the theme “Innovative Waste Management to combat climate change and Pollution for a Sustainable green Campus through Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”.

Fred Manirakiza, the MUCCA president and a third year student of Environmental Sciences,  says the objective of the association is to engage in activities that are environmentally sound such as conserving the environment and enhancing proper disposal of waste. He says they came up with this invention in order to reduce the blockage of water drainage channels by these empty water bottles which are always poorly disposed of causing floods.

Manirakiza says that as the bottles are exposed to the ground they enhance global warming when they are exposed to the ultraviolet rays from the sun and due to their material that is made up of chemicals like carbon and acids. "As an association we also want to show the public that there is something valuable that can be made out of the bottle trash that is always exposed recklessly,” he noted.

Manirakiza explains that they intend to make as many bottle bins as they can so as to ease the pressure on the environment.

The bottle bin is made of plastic bottles which are joined together, wood where they use a saw to cut it in the required shapes of 2x4 size with the help of a tape measure, nails to join the wood and plastic paper that is put inside so that it is easily pulled out of the bin when it is full of rubbish.

In total the bin cost them thirty thousand Uganda Shillings since they are to buy the requirements. They also bought the sack of empty bottles at five thousand Shillings since they don't have time to collect the bottles themselves. It takes one hour for ten people to make one bottle bin.

Manirakiza looks at the project of making bottle bins as both an environmental issue as well as a business.

Makerere University Climate Change Association (MUCCA) is made up 45 students from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT).