SustyVibes, UPS Hosts Street Conference 2025 Across 10 States to Mark World CleanUp Day

Oluchi Chibuzor

SustyVibes, a youth-led organisation making sustainability actionable and relatable for young Africans, has hosted the 2025 edition of her annual Street Conference across 10 states in Nigeria. The event, held on World CleanUp Day and sponsored by the UPS Foundation, gathered communities, volunteers, and partners under the theme “Strive for Five” to spotlight the growing crisis of textile waste pollution and to mobilise collective action for sustainable waste management.

The theme “Strive for Five” reflects the science-backed idea that when 5% of a community unites for change, they can tip the scale to create a cultural shift for sustainable waste management practices in their communities. This year’s Street Conference emphasised how this principle applies to the fight against textile waste pollution — one of the fastest growing environmental challenges in Nigeria. The fashion industry, rising culture of fast fashion have left landfills and open dumps overwhelmed with discarded clothing, much of it non-biodegradable, worsening pollution and flooding in urban centres.

Aniebiet Obot, the Projects and Partnerships Director at SustyVibes, stated that since its inception in 2016, the Conference has served as a unifying platform for youths, communities, and government authorities to promote environmental stewardship. “In line with this year’s World Cleanup Day,

SustyVibes, supported by the UPS Foundation and working in partnership with UPS Nigeria, challenged Nigerian households and businesses to rethink what is typically considered waste – such as textile offcuts, used plastics, and bottles . These can be easily transformed into valuable products like jewellery, bags, or flowerpots as demonstrated during the DIY (do-it-yourself) training sessions provided to stakeholders. “

By mobilising 5% of citizens as environmental leaders, SustyVibes believes these young changemakers can inspire the remaining 95% of their communities to adopt sustainable behavioural practices such as recycling, upcycling, and championing a waste-free lifestyle. The event was simultaneously hosted in Lagos, Abuja, Adamawa, Kaduna, Kwara, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Rivers and Ilorin. More than 570 volunteers, the majority of them young people, took part in the event, reflecting the growing role of youth in leading environmental action. Activities at the conferences included clean-up drives, DIY, upcycling sessions, and “Intervibes” to collect data and local insights on waste management practices.

Through these efforts, the conference directly engaged community members, from households to businesses, in conversations about waste pollution, highlighting textile waste through sustainable fashion campaigns and practical solutions for reducing fabric waste. Altogether, the effort resulted in the collection of over 2,724.8 kilograms of waste across the 10 cities.

About SustyVibes SustyVibes is a youth-led organisation making sustainability accessible and relatable for young Africans. Through community-led projects, media, and pop culture-driven initiatives, SustyVibes demonstrates how sustainability can improve everyday life. SustyVibes has spearheaded projects like Bioverse NG, the Eco-Anxiety Africa Project (TEAP), Naija CookWise Campaign, Lotus, Street Dreams etc. in partnership with organisations such as UPS, Ashoka Foundation, UMI Fund, Youth Climate Justice Fund etc.