Bhubaneswar 5th June, 2023: Marking the occasion of World Environment Day SwitchON Foundation in collaboration with UNICEF and Rotary Club Bhubaneswar Eco organized a Plastic waste Sculpture Presentation where children and youth came together to create art from plastic waste. Children and youth of implementing partners in Bhubaneswar like SOCH, RSSO, PANTISS and BGVS enthusiastically participated in the #BeatPlasticPollution campaign and collected a huge trash of plastic that if not collected would have ended up in landfills.
To reduce and reuse waste, especially plastic waste, children and youth of the city took up activities like collection of plastic bottles, polythene, single use plastic like straws, chips and biscuit packets from their surrounding vicinity and used those wastes to create art sculptures. The plastic sculptures were made in the form of Tree, Earth and Fish and Plastic Garden which were unveiled at the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Center. The children presented their sculptures and three best sculptures were awarded. Along with it three startups were also felicitated for their innovative tech solutions for environmental pollution.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vinay Jaju, MD SwitchON Foundation said,: “Plastic Pollution has become one of the most pressing issues of the environment that is adversely affecting humans, wildlife and its habitats. SwitchON is committed to work towards creating a sense of awareness amongst the children and youth to reduce and reuse plastic waste and come up with solutions to beat plastic pollution. This Environment day , let’s unite against plastic.”
Keynote speaker of the event Dr. Sarba Narayan Mishra, Director Agriculture Consultancy Support Service Cell & HOD College of Agriculture, Bhubaneswar said, “Plastic Pollution is a menace to the environment we live in. I congratulate SwitchON Foundation, UNICEF and Rotary Club Bhubaneswar Eco and its partners for this great initiative of turning plastic trash to beautiful sculptures and wish them my best wishes for awareness creation amongst the youth and children on environment and climate solutions.”
Mrs. Shipra Saxena, Wash Specialist, UNICEF said, “On World Environment Day, let us acknowledge the interconnectedness of climate change, plastic pollution, and WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene). As climate change intensifies, we witness its detrimental effects on our ecosystems and water sources. Plastic pollution further exacerbates these challenges, threatening marine life and contaminating water resources. UNICEF firmly believes that by promoting sustainable WASH practices, reducing plastic waste, and mitigating climate change, we can safeguard our environment, protect human health, and ensure a sustainable future for all.”
Rotary Quote
SwitchOn Foundation recently released a study on the State of Air Quality in Odisha. The study revealed that as per the CPCB data, air pollution in 7 non-attainment cities & towns of Odisha, including the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Odisha is in an alarming state, due to an increase in vehicular movement. There has been a whopping 67% increase in the average levels of air pollution in Odisha since 2017, and the air is classified as ‘unhealthy’ for the citizens. The Union Government has allocated more than Rs 54 crore to the State as per the provision in the Clean Air Action Plan to improve the quality of air in those cities.
SwitchON has approached the Environment Department and State Pollution Control Board to offer in as a knowledge & technical partner for taking immediate and holistic initiatives toward improving the air quality of the state in collaboration with various groups and organisations.
Some of the recommendations by SwitchON Foundation to the Environment Department and State Pollution Control Board for taking immediate and holistic initiatives toward improving the air quality of the state are:
- Technological Innovations: There is a clear need to switch from environmentally exploitative technologies to cheaper and greener alternatives.
- Promoting climate-smart e-agriculture: Promoting climate smart agriculture can turn the wheel in favor of West Bengal’s mitigation plans in tackling a degrading air quality,
- Undertaking reforestation and afforestation drives along roadsides and medians: This is recommended because West Bengal gets rampaged by severe super-cyclones every monsoon. The government should ensure replantation soon after. This can be taken in collaboration with PWD and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
- Promoting sustainable Urban Mobility: The Activities that can be taken up are promoting bicycle lanes, cycling and non-motorized transport, increasing distribution of electric and hybrid vehicles, encouraging electric two/three wheelers, timely technical checking of traffic lights, boosting last mile connectivity through clean/ e-Rickshaws, issuing guidelines for vehicle ownership and usage, mandatory scrapping of very old vehicles, third-party evaluation and certification of the transport systems need to be adopted.
- Action to mitigate air quality requires stringent action plans both at the national as well as sub-national levels coupled with efficient monitoring mechanisms.
- Industrial planning in mitigating air pollution should adopt a three-tier approach that take into account revision of emission standards and practices, improve the audit process and accuracy-based bonus payment system.
- States should follow an integrated waste management system (IWM) to reduce methane and carbon dioxide released from landfills by decomposing organic waste dumped into these waste disposal grounds.
- Air Quality monitors should also be installed in the entire stretch of the East Kolkata Wetlands and the major landfill sites, as the Wetlands act as a major carbon sink for the city and therefore tracking the quality of air around the city would be provide an important database for other departments of the state to formulate policies around it.
- Generating public awareness and liaising with informed citizen bodies, CSOs, and NGOs through sustainable behavioral shifts is key to driving change when formulating policies in mitigating air pollution.
Media Dossier
Contact: Vinay Jaju | M: +91 9331178105 | Email: VJ@SwitchON.org.in
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