Kottayam: Nationwide cleanliness campaign is held every year on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary which falls on October 2. A plastic bottle challenge was initiated by Fr Davis Chiramel of Kidney Federation of India here on the day in the presence of staff and student volunteers from various schools and colleges.
It all started with a video Fr Chiramel posted on Facebook urging people to come forward, collect plastic waste and deliver it to the All-Kerala Scrap Merchant Association. It is a small step towards inorganic waste management in Kerala.
The staff and volunteers from the NCC and NSS units of BCM College, Kottayam, actively participated in the event that marked a small step towards a clean Kerala. Girls from the college collected around 15,000 plastic bottles (65 kg) from in and around Kottayam municipality. The bottles were then given to the concerned authorities.
The students also met Fr Chiramel in person and shared their ideas and suggestions. He also urged the students to tackle plastic waste menace not only in Kerala but around the globe.
"The experience was very enlightening and we learned not to litter our surroundings with plastic," said a Simmy George, a second-year UG student.
The students will use the money that they got from selling plastics to build a house for a fellow student.