City Chakra Mission to raise awareness about use of plastic

The first phase of the project will focus on schools, with members of the centre visiting various educational institutes throughout the city to educate students and school employees about the perils of using plastic items.

Pune

In the first phase of the project, the team aims to design interventions to turn the tap off on five plastic products - plastic tiffin, packaged water bottles, laminated book covers, paper cups, and single-use cutlery. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

Centre for Sustainable Development, an independent cell of the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics has initiated City Chakra Mission to raise awareness about plastic use among various sectors in society including schools, restaurants, offices, etc. The first phase of the project will focus on schools, with members of the centre visiting various educational institutes throughout the city to educate students and school employees about the perils of using plastic items.

Aditi Deodhar, who is heading this project said, “City Chakra Mission was launched with the objective of producing zero waste. Our goal is based on the sustainable design of the forest, wherein the output of one process serves as an input to another. This is the cyclic system in nature where resources are used and reused, resulting in no wastage.”

In the first phase of the project, the team aims to design interventions to turn the tap off on five plastic products - plastic tiffin, packaged water bottles, laminated book covers, paper cups, and single-use cutlery.

The team will raise awareness to phase out plastic where it is not needed and where alternatives are available, Deodhar added.

“Currently, we are focusing on schools, where school authorities can make a policy to prevent the use of products containing plastic. We also held an awareness campaign in three city schools. In the coming days, more schools will be targeted,” she added.

From October onwards we are also planning to organise such drives for hoteliers as well as corporate establishments in the city.

“We hope to raise awareness about the usage of plastic in paper and glass, packaging materials, and bottles at a few other places. So that a policy decision can be taken up to prevent the use of plastic in office places as well as in the hotels and restaurants,” Deodhar stated.