Life in plastic, not fantastic!

To raise awareness about eco-friendly practices amid increasing pollution and depleting environmental resources, the Apeejay Institute of Management & Engineering Technical Campus (AIMETC), Rama Mandi in Jalandhar, organised an activity called ‘Plastic Lao Uphaar Pao’ (bring plastic and get a gift), as part of National Service Scheme (NSS). Students across various academic courses, including MBA, BBA, B Tech and B Com, participated in the event. The event was held on October 23, 2021.

As part of the activity, students collected plastic products from passersby – including policemen, local residents and ragpickers. In return, they gave them a variety of gifts, as a token of appreciation. The plastic items included PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, polythene, empty chips packets, and empty plastic pens, among other things.

People who came to contribute items at the stall, set up by the college near the municipal corporation office, were also made aware of the harmful effects of plastic waste. They were encouraged to replace pollution-causing plastic material with environment-friendly alternatives.

A total of 14 students got together for the activity. They were accompanied by some faculty members as well. The coordinators included Dr Avnip Deora, School of Information Technology, Sunny Gulati from the School of Management and Pahulpreet Singh, School of Engineering. “The manner in which plastic is becoming a conundrum at an alarming pace is ultimately harming the environment and humans. Also, we have to come forward and take initiatives at an individual level to get over it,” Singh said.  

 “The water levels are shrinking and the environment is changing drastically in Punjab. That is why the students took up the activity, which, I believe, was a wonderful initiative. Their efforts were appreciated by many people.”

– Dr Rajesh Bagga, Director, AIMETC