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Youth in Andhra village launch ‘rice-for-plastic’ campaign to free state of single-use plastic
‘Mana Peddapuram’, have started to distribute rice among poor people in exchange of plastic they collected from different parts of town.
A group of youth hailing from Peddapuram town in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district have come up with a ‘rice-for-plastic’ concept which aims to aid the Prime Minister’s goal of eradicating single-use plastic within the next three years.
The youth belong to a non-governmental organisation, ‘Mana Peddapuram’, have started to distribute rice among poor people in exchange of plastic they collected from different parts of town, from Wednesday onwards, keeping in line with the sesquicentennial celebrations of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.
Christened as “Avoid Plastic - Avoid Hunger,” the scheme evoked tremendous response from the people. “We announced that anybody who brought plastic material, preferably single-use plastic, would be supplied with rice in kilograms equivalent to the weight of plastic they brought,” said Naresh Peddireddi, a young cashew nut trader from Peddapuram, the brain behind this rice-for-plastic idea.
“On the very first day, we collected 200 kg of plastic waste and distributed 200 kg of rice, costing ₹30 a kg, among the poor people who showed enthusiasm in collecting the plastic waste,” Peddireddi said.
The NGO, which is very active on Facebook, has nearly 25,000 members including the local youth along with those who have moved to various parts of the country and abroad from Peddapuram.
“So, mobilisation of resources is not a problem for us. Moreover, there are a couple of huge rice mills in our area and they have agreed to contribute rice for our noble cause,” he said.
Peddireddi said the programme aimed at achieving twin objectives: making the state plastic free and also provide food to the poor and hungry.
Within hours of Mana Peddapuram announcing the initiative on Facebook, several young people from the neighbouring towns and villages came forward to take up this activity.
“We have been receiving calls even from far off places like Hyderabad and I am sure it will catch up like a big movement,” he said.
When asked what the youth would do with the collected plastic waste, Peddireddy, an MBA, said that the collected plastic would be handed over to the local municipality which would then take care of the responsibility of recycling.
“We know it is a Herculean task to dispose of the plastic by the municipal authorities. But there are ways like using them in laying plastic roads and other activities,” he said.
The NGO activists, however, want to make it a weekly activity, rather than a daily one, as each of them have to attend their offices on weekdays.
“We have decided to take up this rice-for-plastic movement every Sunday,” Peddireddi said.
The group also wants to encourage children to participate in the plastic waste collection or disposal by offering them toys, chocolates and biscuits, instead of rice.
