plastic has penetrated our lives. just take a look around yourself and see if you are in any way plastic-free. everything we buy comes in plastic and probably has plastic as one of its components. if you are like us, maybe you’re trying to consume it less and recycle, reuse, and upcycle it. but there’s not much more we can do from our individual perspective if big companies don’t take responsibility for the full life-cycle of their packaging.

 

students of subbiah vidyalayam girls higher secondary school in thoothukudi, india, have taken an initiative to tackle this problem; they have collected 20,244 wrappers of the packaged foods they consumed in approximately two weeks and sent them back to the manufacturers along with a note that said, ‘we are happy with the taste and quality of your products, but unhappy with the plastic packaging. we want to ensure a safe environment for our future generations and minimize our plastic footprint. we have decided to collect used plastic wrappers of your products and send them to you for safe disposal. please help us savour your products without guilt, by introducing eco-friendly packaging.’

 

the experiment was a great success, and although the companies haven’t responded, ‘getting kids involved will inspire younger generations with a desire for change and they’ll forge ahead with a determination that rivals older adults, who may be less idealistic. the more pressure that is placed on companies to handle their own waste, as opposed to consumers, the sooner we’ll see deposit schemes and bulk stores that allow reusable containers appearing in our cities,’ says treehugger.

 

image by waste warriors corbett