It was the summer of 2013 and I was enjoying my vacations at home for a month before I headed of to start my college that year. We decided on travelling to southern part of India and decided on a travelling schedule. All geared up for the fun trip, we stepped out of the house not knowing what to expect and we surely were in for a shock.
The first place we visited was Chennai. And the surprise we were in for showed its face. When we reached, a lot of protests were being held against conducting the IPL match of the local team, Chennai Super Kings. Initially we didn’t realise what exactly was the problem their or why were the people so agitated. But as the days passed, we realised the criticality of the situation. The people staying there were struggling to get enough water even to fulfil their basic needs. The scarcity was real. Global warming was real. And the protests seemed justified now. How could one use water to maintain a cricket ground when the people of the city didn’t even have enough for their day to day activities. The situations at other locations wasn’t any good either and it provoked a lot of thought.
Watching the corporates like Aditya Birla Group go about their business and also looking out towards their role in protecting the environment and creating awareness through out of the box environment also led to more thoughts.
The experience was an eye opener and provoked a lot of thought. The water crisis was just a small part of a larger problem which the entire human race was up against. Along with water, the air we breathe and the soil we grow our food on is being depleted day by day. If we aren’t the ones who take a step towards reversing these changes before it’s too late then the earth we inhabit won’t be habitable anymore.
With this focus, during the very first year of my under graduation, I initiated to spread awareness regarding the harm plastics are causing to our environment and especially trying to prevent the use of plastic bags. Starting out with collecting funds and spreading the awareness about using recyclable paper bags instead of plastic bags, we quickly decided on taking it to the next level. We decided on attempting to make worlds’ largest paper bag and register a Guinness book record for the same which would then give us a larger platform to spread our idea further. After 2 failed attempts, we successfully registered a Guinness record for the same and got a platform in local newspapers as well as T.V. channels where we made sure that we clearly state what the objective for attempting the record was. As a result of this initiative, the number of plastic bags which were being used in the city was drastically reduced by almost 30%. We came to this number after extensive research and survey across the city trying to gauge the effectiveness of our campaign which turned out to be success.
Watching the recent #FilterTheFuture campaign by the group makes me feel proud that the brands I use in my day to day life are aware and proactive towards the dangers that air pollution and global warming brings to the table. This also makes me want to work for such a corporate which has a HEART. Because profits are something which help a company grow but to sustain through the ages, it requires something more. It requires a HEART.