THANE: At a time when most citizens are struggling to cope with the ban on plastic bags, some individuals have joined hands to spread awareness and speed up plastic disposals from all corners of the city.
From organising plastic collection drives and converting the banned stock into bio-fuel, to sensitising people on the harmful effects of plastic, these citizen groups have been playing a proactive role in the plastic-free mission.
Citizen activist and Thaneite, Dr Mahesh Bedekar has not only spent the past week approaching the local artist group. Swatwa, to create innovative posters on the plastic ban, but also reached out to the vendors in Gaondevi market and pressed them to transform their areas into zero-plasti c zones.
“With the help of these artists, we made hundreds of posters in English and Marathi and displayed them in stores and elsewhere in the city. The messages in the posters are written by children thanking adults for advocating the ban of plastics. This sends a message to the young ones to be conscious about the environment. We spoke to the vendors at Gaondevi market and will be providing them cloth bags free of cost. This is the first step in our attempt to make Goandevi market a plastic free premise. If this works, we will be reaching out to Jambli market,” Dr Bedekar said.
While a few like Dr Bedekar are playing their part in the movement by spreading awareness, others are actively participating in plastic collection and disposal drives organised in the city.
“I heard about a plastic collection drive happening across Mumbai and Thane through a friend and decided to join it when it came to Thane this week. The collected plastic will be taken to a Pune-based company and converted into bio-fuel. While I had around half-a-kg of plastic at home, the group collected around 30 kgs in the two-hour span,” said Agnes Veigas, a Naupada resident.
NGO’s like the Urjaa Foundation, which have been instrumental in collecting plastic waste and transporting to a bio-fuel company as part of their ‘My plastic, My responsibility’ mission, are also reaching out to many citizens across Thane and Dombivli .
“This initiative has been around since December 2016, and over 27 tonnes of plastic have been disposed so far. Citizens have organised a plastic collection event at the KDMC office in Dombivali and the Eternity complex service road near Teen Hath Naka in Thane this Sunday,” said Shamal Matange, a member of the Urjaa Foundation.
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Source : timesofindia
