#ISayNoToPlastic awareness campaign heats up at Chennai Airport

Over half of the 300 million tonnes of plastic produced in the world, every year is discarded after a single-use. This creates an enormous environmental impact by getting into our drains and waterways, rivers and oceans polluting the environment heavily.

To raise awareness about this menace and to discourage use of single-use plastic, Sharon Plywoods, in association with the Airports Authority of India, conducted a campaign at the Chennai Airport on Sunday 4th November 2018. They distributed gift hampers consisting of plastic-free grocery shopping bags, biodegradable cutlery, and clay diyas to 1000 passengers to arrive on the day. These shopping bags, with pockets to sort purchases, are environmentally friendly alternatives to the thin plastic covers and carry bags which get discarded after a single-use. Another 5000 passengers received cloth tote bags that could be used for shopping or storage.

Mr. P K Srivastava, General Manager (OPS), and Mr. Nanda Kumar – DGM (OPS), Airports Authority of India, Chennai, inaugurated the campaign. The activity was received with enthusiasm by the travelers. This is what one of the passengers, Mr. Krishnan, had to say It was a pleasant surprise to receive this gift from Sharon Plywoods. Although we know about the dangers of plastic usage, never really gave a thought about taking a reusable shopping bag. Will certainly start using this bag from now on.

Sharon Plywoods has been conducting several campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers of single-use plastic and sets an example by avoiding such plastic in their offices, factories and other workspaces. On Vijayadasami day, they had distributed plastic-free school bags to over 1500 students at Madanlal Khemani Vivekananda Vidyalaya, Gumidipundi. This Plastic-Free School Bag Kit contained a steel lunch box, a steel water bottle, a steel spoon, and a steel fork. This was a small effort to inculcate in the young minds the habit of choosing non-plastic items in their everyday lives.

Earlier this year on Environment Day, Sharon Plywoods had run a social-media contest inviting ideas from the public on the topic ‘One Idea to Beat Plastic Pollution’. The overwhelming response threw up many interesting and practical ideas. The winners took home a total prize money of more than Rs 2.5 Lakhs.