Apart from patriotism, last year on Gandhi Jayanti, Bengalureans were overcome with pride to be part of one of the largest ever conservation drives - The Bengaluru Plog Run. This initiative even made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for the most amount of plastic waste collected in less than 12 hours and recycled.
This year, the organisers intend to do the same across 50 different cities in the country and a lot more.
Speaking about what gave them the idea, Manish Michael, CEO of United Way India and co-founder of the initiative, shares, “We have been working on lakes and water bodies for almost a decade now. Removing plastic waste from the lakes and storm water drains has been a regular activity. Through the Swedish concept of plogging (jogging and picking) we wanted to engage citizens in spreading awareness on plastic waste. We did the Bengaluru Plog Run last year, where 7,000 plus people took part and collected 34 tonnes of plastic waste. This encouraged us to do the India Plog Run this year.”
A volunteer at the event
The India Plog Run will happen in 50 cities in the country. Each city will have multiple locations where the plogging activity will take place in order to create awareness of single-use plastic and proper waste disposal.
‘My waste My responsibility’ is the message that they want to spread through this event. Shedding some light on how they intend to change the mentality of people and expand their ambit of reach, Ramakrishna Ganesh, convenor of the India Plog Run, says, “We are working with various communities, clubs, corporate firms, NGOs and social media to reach out to citizens. This Plog Run is one of the ways to show how much garbage has been thrown in public and to inform people that it is okay to do your bit to keep your neighbourhood clean. It will sensitise the public and promote the message of ‘detox your neighbourhood’ for a sustainable future.”
Manish adds, “We intend to engage children in schools to spread awareness on plastic in a creative way. In order to do this successfully, we will be talking to and forging partnerships with Parent Teachers Associations in schools to get them actively engaged in regularly doing mini-plogging activities in and around schools.”
Speaking about their future plans, Ramakrishna says, “We want to continue plogging activities in the neighbourhood to maintain a healthy environment around the community. We also intend to build and grow the community of health- and environment-conscious people, who are committed to maintaining clean neighbourhoods. The long-term goal of the event is to achieve a litter-free India.”
