SPREADING A MESSAGE ABOUT THE MUCH NEEDED HABIT CHANGE TOWARDS CLEANER ENVIRONMENT
by Suman Gupta
May 2019, Mumbai: Previously launched on the occasion of World Environment Day, a year ago, ‘Bottles for Change’, an initiative by Bisleri, aims to educate citizens about the importance of recycling plastic in our lives; thereby bringing about a habit change of not putting it as a waste, but segregating it and sending it for recycling. The idea is to ‘Be The Change, You Want To See’ and to lead by example by disposing and recycling plastic responsibly and contributing to a cleaner environment.
Since its inception, ‘Bottles for Change’ programme has conducted over 200 plastic recycling awareness and collection drives and workshops in corporate offices, housing societies, schools, colleges and other institutions, malls, festive & social gatherings, events, etc. With over, 4,800 Tonnes Of Plastic recycled by Bisleri, ‘Bottles For Change’ Programme has reached out and successfully engaged 15,00,000 Citizens, 600 housing societies, 150 corporates, 400 Hotels and restaurants, 200 schools : 3,00,000 number of students who have actively supported and joined the initiative.
Presently, 14 Wards of Mumbai and parts of Navi Mumbai and Thane are being covered by the members of ‘Bottles for Change’ and in the next 6 months, the programme is all set to move to additional cities in India. Furthermore, lives of 500 Rag pickers are uplifted, having engaged with waste picker organizations such as Parisar Bhagni Vikas Sangh (PBVS), Sampurna Earth and others in Mumbai to create non-edible products such as – Cloth fabric, Hand bags, Window blinds and other useful products with the collected plastic.
Speaking about the initiative, Ms. Anjana Ghosh, Director, Marketing and OSR Bisleri said, “We are pleased to see such positive responses from not only individuals but also from corporates houses, communities and students who are actively helping to bring about the much needed change in mindset(s) around plastic in general. Bottles for Change as a programme has made tremendous progress in one year alone and we aim to further introduce various platforms and spread the awareness to reach out and engage more citizens for a cleaner environment. We have already activated 14 Wards of Mumbai and parts of Navi Mumbai and Thane, and we are currently focusing on Andheri K East and West ward as we are trying to make it a model ward for the initiative. It includes segregation of plastic from every household, inculcation of the habit of treating plastic as an asset and not waste, understanding the importance of segregation and recycling and collection process through the plastic agents. In the next 6 months we are planning to move to two other cities in India.”
‘Bottles For Change’ Programme is all set to work towards changing the habit of communities in valuing plastic as an effective resource that has an afterlife, as 100 percent plastic is recyclable and a single plastic can be recycled several times. It is also to create awareness for a positive response from individuals with changed mindset(s) about plastic, recycling of plastic items and best practices towards a cleaner environment.
