Plastic 2 Precious: Students use art to reimagine plastic recycling
New Delhi, July 13th (India Science Wire): The government has launched a mega coastal cleanup drive for 75 days to clean 75 beaches across the country. The campaign named as ‘Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar’ was launched on July 3 and will culminate with the largest beach cleaning event on September 17th, observed as International Coastal Cleanup Day.
The government along with several national civil society organizations target to remove 1,500 tonnes of garbage from the sea coasts in the first-of-its-kind clean up drive across 75 beaches of India. This will be a huge relief to not only locals and tourists but also to the aquatic life and marine animals endangered by littering on the shores. The cleanup drive will also be the longest-running drive with the highest amount of participation and spreading awareness.
The campaign aims to achieve environmental conservation through behavior change and awareness among all age groups about using sustainable materials and conscious elimination of plastic from daily lifestyle.
Plastic pollution has emerged as one of the most urgent environmental challenges in the last 5 years as plastic waste generation has more than doubled. The average Indian citizen generates about 20kg of plastic waste every year and a significant percentage of this waste is mismanaged to end up in landfills or oceans.
A slew of activities, from quizzes, and contests to rallies and skits, are being organized under ‘Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar’ campaign to deliver key messages and engage target audiences to promote environmental sustainability.
In an effort to engage school students to use art in reimaging plastic recycling, a national level art contest ‘Plastic2Precious’ is being organized to create things of use from plastic waste. The art contest starting from July 11, will be carried out till the end of the month, i.e. July 31, 2022.
The contest will not only invoke curiosity, but will also help young minds contribute to finding eco-friendly solutions through innovation and managing plastic pollution in their surroundings.
All school students can take part in the contest and can register through EcomitramApp (https://ecomitram.app/nccc).
The participants will get an official certificate endorsed by multiple government ministries, departments and national civil society organizations. Top 5 entries will receive recognition from the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. (India Science Wire)