Okisho students devise recycling campaign: ‘high schoolers can contribute to SDGs too’
The pair express their gratitude with artwork made from the 40,000 plastic bottle caps they collected. (Photograph credit: Riara Kishimae)
August 28, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
Sora Koki, 16, and Riara Kishimae, 16, are second-year students at Okinawa Shogaku High School and are the masterminds behind the Eco Cap Campaign, a school-wide project to collect and recycle plastic bottle caps. The campaign was tied to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 3: good health and the wellbeing of all, and SDG 12: responsible consumption and production. The campaign collected approximately 40,000 bottle caps between June 8 and July 6.
Koki and Kishimae have lived in Okisho’s school dorms since April 2019. The pair love volunteering and wanted to help others, and thus devised the Eco Cap Campaign. They teamed with the late Vice-Chairman Masaichiro Nashiro to involve the entire school to raise awareness of the UN SDGs and of the campaign itself.
Koki said cheerfully, “The two of us planned and executed the campaign, which helped build our independence.” Kishimae commented, “Coming to Okisho, I got to work on projects I was interested in. It’s been fun and I learned a lot.” She added, “high schoolers can contribute to SDGs too.”
The masterminds behind the Eco Cap Campaign, Riara Kishimae (left) and Sora Koki, (right) pose for a photograph at Okisho High School in Kokuba, Naha City, on August 25.
The Eco Cap Campaign is designed to collect and recycle plastic bottle caps into new products. The proceeds from the sales of those goods will be used to pay for vaccinations and provide medical support in developing countries. Students, parents and guardians, as well as the staff of the Naha Sakura Mother and Child Livelihood Support Center, have participated in the campaign.
The accumulated plastic bottle caps will be collected by Okinawa Clean Kogyo for recycling around September.
(English translation by T&CT and Monica Shingaki)
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