Campaign against plastics moves to cyberspace
Chennai Volunteers of Walk For Plastic, a not-for-profit group lead by artist B. Gowtham in Chennai, walk on the roads to collect plastic and give it to recyclers. During the lockdown, the group did not take a break from its activities, and instead, moved them online.
Gowtham sees a sliver lining in the lockdown, as it encouraged them to the ‘Corona edition’ on their Facebook page, which has led to greater engagement with existing and new members coming on board.
“As people should not venture out to collect trash we asked them to focus on the unused items in their house/society that can be recycled and to take a selfie of it and post the image on our Facebook/Instagram page,” says Gowtham, who got rave reviews for designing the Coronavirus helmet out of waste materials.
More than 100 people have so far taken part in the Walk for Plastic – Corona edition. Gowtham says he has been able to persuade volunteers to accept greater responsibility towards nature, through the various online programmes conducted by his group.
“In the last 100 days, we have had more than 30 new volunteers joining us,” he says. Expressing happiness over the way the movement has been spreading around Chennai, Gowtham says, it is because of continual engagements. Gowtham says that at Villivakkam, where he is domiciled, 14 shops have kept drop boxes for people to leave their used plastic.
Walk For Plastic completed a year last month and has so far collected nine tonnes of plastic. The amount collected through the sale of recyclables goes towards empowering conservancy workers and the ragpicker community.
“We earned ₹ 50,500 selling recyclables in the last year,” he says. A underprivileged girl was given a cycle with a small sum drawn from that amount.
“Two other students have been selected for educational help,” says Gowtham.
For details, call 9095256379 or visit F acebook.com/Walkforplastic/
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Change begins at home
Photographer Pradeep Sekar and wife Divya are using the lockdown to revitalize a few initiatives to promote a green environment, and these include setting up an on-site composting unit at their apartment complex in Vadapalani where biodegradable waste collected from the 32 flats will be processed. Another initiative is about promoting compostable garbage bags.
These mark the extension of a work the couple have been doing under the the banner ‘Plastic Free Madras’. Started in 2018, the start-up has been campaigning against single-use plastic. “We tied up with Swiggy through which we were able to connect with restaurants and provide them with a viable solution to plastic,” says Sekar. Their solutions were simple like moving plastic containers with reusable available materials including glass bottles.
They also came up with some products where they engaged with small-scale industries and women.
The lockdown has applied the brakes on their work but they are hoping to bounce back with an online campaign, which they are launching soon, to build awareness about why plastics should be avoided. They are also looking for volunteers who are enthusiastic about promoting the 3R (refuse, reuse and recycle) principle.
“We are trying to increase the number of people in our community. You could volunteer to write a blog or even by spreading the word about the need to buy plastic-free products,” says Sekar.
Visit them at http://plasticfreemadras.com. Or call 8825745824.
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A BYOC drive during the lockdown
Varun Chakravarthy Asokan, who runs the Starstacks Zero Waste Plastic Free Pantry in Valasaravakkam, recently expanded his two-year-old venture by catering to senior citizens and those staying alone. Besides, providing them with healthy food options, he is continuing with his focus area: plastic-free containers for delivery. “We carry cooked food stored in steel carriers to people or customers can bring their own containers to our outlet,” says Asokan, a marine engineer-turned-entrepreneur.
Asokan agrees that people have been extra cautious about what they are eating as well as the hygiene aspect of it, but he is not ready to switch to disposable containers to find new clientèle.
“My aim is to avoid plastic in any form and because of COVID-19 I am not ready to compromise,” he says, adding that he takes all precautions to keep the food safe. Asokan started the plastic-free pantry inspired by his life as a mariner. On the ship, they had to strictly follow a garbage management plan, and not throw anything into the sea. He started his venture to encourage people to bring their own bags/containers to the store to purchase anything. The store sells organic food items like groceries, bio-bags made out of rice starch and vegetable waste. “Shoppers who bring their own containers get a 5% discount on the bill amount, that’s our way to reduce and reuse,” says the 33-year-old.
Asokan can be contacted at 9176886007.
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Ready for the Plastic Free July challenge?
Launched in 2011 by the Plastic Free Foundation, a non-profit based in Australia, Plastic Free July is a global movement asking each of us to reduce single-use plastic from our lives. To start with, one can choose to refuse single-use plastics for a day/week/month or even longer.
Participants learn tips and tricks by signing up during July.
According to a note on the website, the movement has inspired over 250 million participants in 177 countries. By being part of Plastic Free July, one can find alternatives that can become new habits forever.
For details, visit https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/
