16 Aug 2023
Gail Jackson from Sustainable St Albans looks at a new project linking local concerns about the environment within a wider global context.
Former Mayor of St Albans and honorary alderman Mohammad Iqbal Zia, together with former Mayoress Farhat Zia, have kickstarted a project to tackle a growing plastic pollution problem by distributing 500 reusable cotton bags in their hometown of Baffa in Pakistan.
The ‘Local to Global’ project, backed by the Akifa Foundation UK and Sustainable St Albans, raised over £600 to purchase the bags with the ‘Buy a Bag for Baffa’ Crowdfunder during St Albans Sustainability Festival.
The project aims to address environmental concerns and plastic pollution issues in the Pakistani town building on existing environmental work in St Albans, forging links across the two communities, and building awareness of how climate and environmental issues are affecting people in countries far from the UK.
The work is funded by the Akifa Foundation, a charitable organisation set up by the couple in 2020 in order to support Baffa initiatives across three key pillars – people, planet, and wellbeing.
Farhat, who is also one of the organisers of the St Albans Sustainability Festival, said: “When we visited Baffa in 2022 to help address the devastation created by the widespread flooding, we worked with other organisations to help distribute food, provide mosquito nets and medicines for people affected.
“We were already aware of the plastic pollution problem around the rivers in the town, but the challenges brought by the flooding were our priority then.
“However, when I was out shopping one day, I realised that everyone in the town was reliant on plastic bags for carrying groceries and I determined to find a way to introduce reusable bags – like we all have in the UK – and use them as a way to raise awareness and encourage local people to build practical solutions to the environmental degradation caused by single-use plastics.”
Iqbal, who was the key speaker at a recent environmental awareness seminar held in the town said: “It was really encouraging to see local people in Baffa had already started using the reusable bags. Local officials pledged to work on reducing the plastic pollution affecting the river, and Hazara University offered free assistance with water testing. We couldn’t have asked for more.”
The seminar highlighted key issues around rubbish disposal, reducing single-use plastics and acting on the three ‘R’s’: Reducing; Reusing; Recycling.
Health professionals also attended a fringe event organised by Farhat aimed at engaging local women to address the plastic pollution issues.
Farhat said: “This was a very successful seminar attended by local change makers. We gave out bags together with information leaflets to key local groups including local high schools, and health workers, and participants created action plans on how to address plastic litter pollution in the future.”
Jill Watson, chair of St Albans Sustainability Festival, and trustee of Sustainable St Albans, which backed the Buy a Bag for Baffa project said: “I’m so pleased that we could support this fantastic project. The UK has been very successful in reducing single-use plastic bags, and it’s clear that plastics have created devastating environmental degradation for the residents in Baffa.
“It’s so important for people in the UK to see how environmental issues are affecting people across the globe, and this project really brings home the global impact of single-use plastics.”
It’s been an eye opener working with Farhat and Iqbal to help share the stories they have uncovered from their humanitarian efforts in Pakistan. It was shocking to see how single-use plastics – made from oil of course – had swamped the once beautiful river in the town of Baffa, and it has been inspiring to see their work engaging local people to find solutions. We usually hear so little from other countries about what’s happening on the ground about the climate crisis and environmental disasters.
The entire country is still recovering from the horrendous climate-induced flooding in 2022, and the charity’s work in Baffa and surrounding areas sheds light on climate justice issues.
You can find out more about the work of the Akifa Foundation at http://www.akifatrust.uk/
