On Earth Day, Bengalureans vow to end plastic pollution

BENGALURU: Keeping up with this year’s theme of End Plastic Pollution, Bengalureans gathered across the city to observe World Earth Day on Sunday.
The daylong event organised by Earth Day Bengaluru at The Arts Village, St Mark’s Road, exhibited some eco-friendly ecosystems in urban areas through various stalls, workshops and movie screenings. The pop-up style event had vendors selling electric bikes, organic food, eco-stoves, solar lights, cloth bags and other eco-friendly household products.
“Policy and legislation play important roles in reducing plastic; they incentivise small businesses to exist and encourage people to move towards a zero-waste life,” said Sahar Mansoor, founder of Bare Necessities.
Workshops were also held to help people learn about composting, solar houses, making bamboo straws and leading a zero-waste lifestyle. “Plastic is a double-edged sword; use them wisely. India generates more than 15 million tonnes of plastics every year and the need of the hour is to reduce, reuse and recycle,” said Chandrashekhar Bhat, founder of Trashin Recycling.
Beautiful Bengaluru, another eco-group, started the ‘Green Ambassador Summer Campaign’ to bring about awareness among schoolchildren by making pledges that focus on reducing waste and conserving water.
As part of the Earth Day celebrations in the city, Grammy Award winner and conservationist Ricky Kej performed at a concert at VR Bengaluru with 12 songs, promoting environmental consciousness.
— Priya Bhat M and Jennifer H Charles