11 Ways People Took The Pledge To Eradicate Plastic Waste From Our Lives
We all know plastic is evil. It¡¯s killing the marine life, it¡¯s contaminating our water, it¡¯s hampering the quality of our food, it¡¯s near impossible to recycle ¨C the list goes on. But, the real question is, what are we doing about it?
Away from the half-baked statements that most organisations make about change, there are real heroes on the field who are fighting to eradicate plastic from our lives ¨C one product at a time.
1 No marriage certificate for couples who use plastic at their marriage
CDC
In a first, a Kerala village is trying to cut the use of plastic in the most unusual way. The Kolad Gram Panchayat of Kerala¡¯s Kannur district has decided to make weddings completely green and nature friendly. Their initiate ¡®Maalinyamillatha Mangalyam¡¯ which means ¡®no waste weddings¡¯ bars people from using plastic in the form of plates, spoons or glasses.
The move will soon be extended to any function with over 100 guests.
2 The Versova beach clean up
Who doesn¡¯t know about Afroz Shah or the Versova beach clean-up drive? Well, the reason why Mumbaikars head to Goa for a weekend by the sea despite having plenty of its own is that beaches in Mumbai are filled with filth and debris. But, thanks to Afroz Shah, the citizens of Mumbai participated in a massive clean-up drive, eradicating 9 million kg of trash from the infamous Versova Beach.
From celebrities to school kids, everyone participated in this movement.
3 Rajagopalan Vasudevan
infobae
Rajagopalan Vasudevan, an Indian scientist, has explored the depths of waste management and devised a method to use plastic waste to construct better roads. His cost-effective measures and innovation is also the key reason why he was one of the many people who received the highest civilian honour Padma Shree today on Republic Day.
He¡¯s also working on ¡®stone block¡¯ with a plastic coating, which can be used to construct houses.
4 Maharashtra¡¯s plastic ban
In a massive move, Maharashtra is planning to push a plastic ban across the state from March 2018. Officials claimed that though there is a ban on plastic bags below 50 microns since March 2006, it is yet to actively come into effect. The government body will now ask district collectors and all local bodies to participate in this move.
This will be executed on Gudhi Padwa, the traditional Marathi New Year.
5 Discarded bottles for bus stand
TWITTER/@SUNRAKHY85
There is no dearth of plastic bottles found littered here and there on roads, parks, pavements, around dustbins, and everywhere else across cities. But, have you ever thought what can be done with bottles that are often tossed after their use? Bamboo House India in Hyderabad made an entire bus stop using 1,000 bottles.
The effort took 15 days, and over 1,000 plastic bottles to create an 8-foot-high bus stop.
6 Edible water bubbles
We believe that this is still WIP, but edible water bubbles sparked a conversation on social media. We all know the amount of waste we produce by using plastic bottles and yet we do nothing. The OOho! edible water bubble ensures that nothing goes to waste. This is basically a blob of drinking water within an edible layer made from natural seaweed extract.
They are fully biodegradable and there won¡¯t be anything left if they aren¡¯t used for 6 months.
7 A toilet made of plastic
AP
Last year, a school in Jamshedpur vowed to make toilets out of plastic bottles. They initially made the toilet for experimental purpose and based on its efficiency, planned to widen its usage. In fact, the school hired retired employees to build the project.
This movement was launched to educate children before World Environment Day on June 5.
8 Plastic roads in Indore, Chennai and Pune
We have all been hearing about plastic roads, but we completely clueless as to where they are functional. Well, cities like Indore, Chennai and Pune are high on using plastic for constructing roads.
Chennai used 1,600 tonnes of plastic to construct 1,035.23 kilometres length of roads, Pune has tied up with Rudra Environmental Solution (India) Ltd for a contract to build 12 trail plastic roads and Indore is already recycling half of its plastic waste to build roads, on a daily basis.
9 Plastic fuel
Hyderabad-based mechanical engineer Satish Kumar claims he is turning waste plastic into fuel, says using 3-step reverse engineering process pic.twitter.com/7cC1GzBHRn
¡ª ANI (@ANI) August 21, 2017
Satish Kumar, a mechanical engineer from Hyderabad claims to have devised a plan with which we can convert plastic into real fuel. He has been using end-life plastic to make this happen and he has proved that 500 kg of non-recyclable plastic can produce 400 litres of fuel.
He¡¯s using a simple three step system to make this happen.
10 Plastic for art
PENNCHINTAN10.BLOGSPOT.IN
Trains and railway stations are the hubs for plastic waste: bottles, plates, bags, basically everything can be found here in abundance. So when a Kerala railway officer thought of using discarded plastic bottles to make gorgeous artwork ¨C it didn¡¯t come as a surprise, after all, he is surrounded with his ¡®raw material¡¯ all day long. C H Anil Kumar is using trash to make handicraft and turning it into utility items.
He is now exhibitions one after another to display his work.
11 NGT banned plastic in cities across Ganga
BCCL
Oh, we know that the clean-Ganga is just not meeting its result because the amount of trash pulled out of it is far less than the amount, which is dumped in it on a daily basis. The locals and many traders across the river are not happy with the move and are kind of apprehensive over how would they function, but NGT is well established on its plan and doesn¡¯t intend to change.
