Since the Plastic ban in Chennai which was enforced in Jan 2019, various companies and education institutions have made considerable changes in their premises to adhere to the regulations.
The “Say NO to plastic drive” is initiated by the government and implemented by ELCOT to raise awareness about the dangers of using one-time-use plastic items among organisations, specifically IT companies
I was delighted to attend the launch (18th-feb-2019) and speak to folks from Infosys, HCL, Shell and many more companies who have their operations in the OMR IT parks. Awareness campaigns and events have been planned to target companies situated in these IT parks. The main focus of discussion was sustainability, how we must reduce consumption of disposable plastic items and replace them with sustainable (re-usable) alternatives. Most of these companies already have various green initiatives and protocols they follow within their premises, but this drive is to take it a step further and for companies to come together, to engage their employees and reach out to the surrounding area.
This initiative is particularly exciting for me as I have been working with some of my clients (ones who buy my eco-friendly products) to enhance their out-reach programs, as I have experience in engaging school children, I talk to their employees about ‘the plastic issue’ & initiate recycling programs.
The current scenario is that we are covered in plastic, in all forms; 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic has been produced so far in 60years, half of it in the past 15years and only 6.2 billion metric are still around. Only 9% has been recycled.The remaining 91% is in our ocean, in our soil and sadly in us. It has been proven that 90% of our table salt has micro-plastic particles in them. It about time we wake up and look beyond the plastic bag. Since various NGOs, activists and government organisations have been raising awareness about plastic bags, my focus is to raise awareness about micro-plastics.
I am elated to be honored for my speech by Mr. M. Balasubraminiam - MD of Blackboard Technology & Chairman of NASSCOM GCC and am excited about the opportunities to engage in out-reach programs in collaboration with the IT companies. I am very happy that companies are now open to have a conversation about environmental issues in depth, as their resource would truly enhance the efforts of eco-warriors such as Earthworks.
More power to them!
- Surya
Link to coverage on Indian Express - Chennai : https://bit.ly/2DYMAye &
http://bit.do/eJA94