Bengaluru: ISEC launches 'Beat Plastic Pollution' campaign

The Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru, launched a campaign centered around reducing plastic pollution in the city on June 13.

Called ‘Beat Plastic Pollution,’ the campaign aims to raise awareness about the harms of plastic pollution and encourage citizens to reduce the usage of single-use plastic, C M Lakshmana, Director In-Charge, ISEC, told DH.

“At 20 per cent, India remains one of the biggest producers of plastic globally. This is a matter of concern, but the public is not taking it seriously. We’re trying to change this perception,” Lakshmana
told DH.

As part of the initiative, a residential engagement programme was organised in Nagarabhavi recently.

“In addition to sharing data about single-use plastic in urban areas and its immediate effects, we took a more hands-on approach. A group consisting of our students and faculty went around the ISEC campus and Nagarabhavi village to clean the area of any plastic we saw,” he added. The initiative, led by the Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources at ISEC, collected about 50 kg of single-use harmful plastic.

The Institute plans to organise many such drives over the rest of the year, Lakshmana shared.

As part of World Environment Day initiatives, ISEC also organised a sapling plantation drive on June 5 and a panel discussion on the topic ‘Valuing Nature: Transforming Environmental Awareness into Action’ on June 6.