A trash mob's cleanliness call through selfie tribe

A unique selfie challenge campaign hosted by Beautiful Bengaluru, a citizens’ initiative, has till date witnessed more than 2,000 people taking part and pledging to zero litter.

During the campaign held between January 16 and 26 at Lalbagh (Double Road entrance), about 2,000 families and students from 25 schools across the State took part.

The participants got pictures of themselves clicked in the selfie stand, with a banner reading “I pledge to zero litter” in the background. Pictures clicked there were posted on twitter, whatsapp, facebook and other social media.

Along with individual pictures, group pictures were also taken. The campaign is the brainchild of Beautiful Bengaluru (BB)  - Be the change, a citizen initiative group set up by the alumni of XLRI-Jamshedpur and IIM-Calcutta.

The members from BB distributed bright green jackets to people getting photographed. Followed by a short photo session, volunteers and members of BB spoke to the participants on cleanliness, urging them to be a part of the change to create a beautiful city.

T S Ramachandran, a professor from Christ University who took part in the campaign, said, “I am a regular walker in Lalbagh for the last 18 years. I was more than happy to be a part of it. The selfie campaign is a powerful tool in getting citizens committed to cleanliness.” He said that he later brought 50 students from his university to pledge to zero litter.

Odette Katrak, social activist and co-anchor of BB, said that they interacted with teachers during the campaign and got a promise that the discussion on cleanliness and waste management would be taken to the classrooms.

“The objective of our campaign is to create awareness among the public and facilitate change,” she said.

The members of BB also took up the task of cleaning the Lalbagh premises in the last 10 days. As the flower show was going on, they managed to dispose of a huge amount of litter.

Aparna Ponnappa, one of the members, said, “We collected more than 10,000 kg of garbage that included paper cups, ice cream sticks and plastic covers. Compared to last year, people seemed more aware of cleanliness. Our group started off with 10 members and now, we have around 300 volunteers.”