[STORY] Another day, another war against plastic

Last weekend, I had one of the strangest but most life-changing experiences of my life—right in the middle of what I thought was a normal “save the planet” errand.

I was at a community clean-up drive, holding my reusable water bottle and biodegradable trash bags, feeling proud of my little contributions to sustainable living.

The sun was blazing, but the park looked like something out of a dystopian movie—plastic bottles glistening like diamonds on the grass, fast-food wrappers fluttering in the breeze, and soda cans half-buried in the soil.

“Another day, another war against plastic,” I muttered, bending to pick up a Coke can.

Beside me, a girl in an oversized hoodie and thrifted jeans laughed. “At least we’re recycling. That’s how the green future starts.”

Her name was Kemi. She smelled faintly of peppermint oil instead of perfume, and her tote bag read ‘There is no Planet B.’

We picked trash together for hours, joking about how people think eco-friendly lifestyle choices are boring.

At one point, I sighed, “Sometimes it feels useless. We recycle, we compost, we switch to solar panels, and yet—it’s like nobody else cares.”

She looked at me and whispered, “That’s the trap. The world doesn’t change overnight. It changes one choice, one person, one small action at a time.”

Her words hit harder than I expected.

Later, as the group gathered to weigh and sort the trash, I noticed Kemi slip a small notebook into her bag. Curious, I asked, “What’s that?”

She hesitated, then handed it to me. Inside were sketches—dreamy Ghibli-like illustrations of a zero-waste city.

Streets lined with solar lamps, kids biking on clean roads, urban gardens hanging from rooftops, and people refilling water bottles at free stations instead of buying plastic.

“Wow,” I said, flipping through. “This is… beautiful. Like a movie I want to live in.”

Kemi smiled shyly. “It’s the city I want to build one day.”

I laughed. “Big dreams.”

She looked me dead in the eye. “No. Real dreams. I’ve been studying renewable energy engineering. My plan is to design a community where waste is fuel, food is grown locally, and energy comes only from the sun and wind.”

I was speechless.

But here’s the twist—when I asked for her number to keep in touch, she shook her head.

“I can’t,” she said softly.

“Why not?”

She zipped her tote bag. “Because… I’m leaving for Germany tomorrow. I got a scholarship to study sustainable architecture. This was my last clean-up in Nigeria.”

The words felt like someone had unplugged my solar panel. I just stood there, clutching the notebook she had let me peek into.

Before I could say anything, she added, “Don’t look so sad. You’ve got work to do here too. Start small. Inspire people. Maybe plant trees, maybe start a composting drive. When I come back, I want to see that city taking shape.”

She gave me a fist bump, turned, and walked away with her tote bag swinging.

That night, I lay awake replaying everything. Her laughter, her sketches, her fire.

And then it hit me—green living isn’t just about recycling bottles or refusing plastic straws. It’s about vision. It’s about action. It’s about refusing to give up even when the world looks messy.

I got up, opened my laptop, and created an Instagram page: GreenLagosDream.

Bio: “Documenting my journey to build a sustainable community, one eco-conscious choice at a time.”

Because Kemi was right. The green future doesn’t start with governments or billionaires. It starts with me. With us. With you.

And maybe, just maybe, someday she’ll scroll through her feed in Germany, see my posts, and realize—her dream city is already being born.