An innovative project developed by a University of Winchester academic to help combat plastic pollution in Ghana has been shortlisted for a prestigious environmental award.
From Plastic to Promise: A Transformative Staff-Student Partnership for Sustainable Change is a finalist in the Student Engagement category at the 2026 Green Gown Awards, the leading sustainability awards for higher and further education.
The scheme is brainchild of Dr Annabelle Boulay, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Winchester, in collaboration with Winchester-based company Trashy Bags.
In a measure to combat malaria and cholera almost two thirds of the population of Ghana rely on drinking water packaged in plastic sachets. Discarded water bags choke watercourses and litter the landscape posing health and environmental hazards.
Last year Dr Boulay accompanied by students Arin Davidson and Ceri Evans, visited Trashy Bags workshop in the capital Accra and delivered 50 school bags, filled with educational supplies and hygiene products, to local pupils supplied by another UK-based charity, School In A Bag.
The Winchester team, also worked with Ghana’s Forestry Commission and the University of Education, Winneba, to raise awareness of biodiversity protection and plastic pollution in rural communities.
Inspired by the trip, Dr Boulay sought funding for an educational programme on plastics in Ghana.
This year thanks to funding from the Turing programme, she returned to Accra and Winneba with five students (Leon Sinclair, Shane Wimalasuriya, Anastasiia Tiossa, Josie Kurtis and Isobel Hobson) and distributed a further 56 bags – this time with the addition of her new children’s book, Afia and the Plastic Patrol Crew Heroes.
In addition to running classroom workshops and activities, Annabelle and the students organised a beach cleaning day in Winneba in which children and adults from the community took part.
Annabelle said: “One of the children came to me and said how exciting it was as the activity was like the story from the book. The kids really engaged with the activity and we collected a large amount of rubbish from the beach near the lagoon.”
She also met with members of a charity which trains single mothers to sew they can start their own businesses.
“I suggested that the charity could diversify into the upcycling of plastic and that there is a market for these goods,” said Annabelle.
She believes the fight against plastic pollution is gaining strength in Ghana, particularly as more people realise upcycling can generate income.
An unexpected outcome of Annabelle’s first visit was a new collaboration with the Research Institute associated with the University of Winneba to develop a short course on the impact of climate change on communities.
This year’s Green Gown winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held at New Dock Hall, Leeds on 16 November.
