Youth action looks like refusing to wait for someone else to solve a problem. Rimon Barua, an undergraduate student of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC) in Bangladesh, founded TriRE after noticing two simultaneous problems: textile waste was rising, while many women and young people around him had few ways to earn an income. TriRE collects discarded clothing and textile waste and turns it into useful products, promoting circular economy practices, sustainable fashion and responsible consumption.
Community sits at the centre of the work. TriRE collaborates with local residents to collect unused clothing, runs awareness campaigns, and helps young people and women learn upcycling skills and earn an income. Rimon treats local people as partners rather than beneficiaries, working from the belief that lasting change is created with a community, not for it. The aim is to help young people become environmental leaders who can drive sustainable change where they live.
Rimon's work reaches well beyond TriRE. Through the nonprofit he founded, Youth Position Bangladesh, he leads initiatives on education, leadership, climate action and public health. The project closest to Rimon's heart is Sahityaghar Gonogronthagar, a community library in Ramu, Cox's Bazar, built from more than 2,000 books donated through a Facebook campaign. Since then the team has run book reading campaigns in seven high schools, held a robotics workshop for more than 200 students from 20 high schools, facilitated five batches of Youth Leadership Training, and installed four COVID-19 prevention booths in Ramu during the pandemic.
Research runs alongside the community work. As a Biochemistry and Biotechnology student, Rimon applies science to real problems in health, sustainability and the environment, and recently had a research paper published in a Wiley journal. That result has encouraged him to keep pursuing research and social enterprise together rather than choosing between them.
Rimon's work connects environmental sustainability, youth leadership, and community development, showing that a single idea, giving discarded clothing a second life, can create livelihoods and protect the environment.
Looking ahead, Rimon wants TriRE to become one of Bangladesh's leading circular economy enterprises, with community-based collection and upcycling hubs across the country creating green jobs for young people and women. It’s an ambitious vision grounded in a simple conviction: that meaningful change begins with ordinary people taking the first step. This is what youth action looks like.
