Bottling up litter for a cleaner environment in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three bagsful of plastic waste and 150 plastic bottles; that’s what three small teams of WWF-India volunteers managed to recover from the Punchakkari wetlands - the capital’s bird hub - during a three-hour cleanup drive on Wednesday. Now, litter bins have been installed at Punchakkari as part of a campaign to free the region from garbage menace. Two bins - one for plastic and the other for glass waste - were unveiled as part of Paaristhithikam 2017-18 (State Environment Awareness Campaign) organised by WWF-India in association with the Department of Environment and Climate Change, Christ Nagar College of Teacher Education and the Kalliyoor grama panchayat.  

The litter bins have been fabricated in the shape of a bottle to remind the public to put the used bottles in it. It has been coloured green to merge with the surroundings. They were unveiled by R Jayalekshmi, president of Kalliyoor grama panchayat. WWF-India also organised a cleanup drive as part of the event. Panchayat officials assured the local body will ensure prompt and proper disposal of the collected waste by assigning the responsibility to a local resident. 

“The Volunteer Birders of WWF-India who visits the area frequently for birding will also monitor the litter bins to ensure they are used for the purpose intended,” WWF-India senior education officer A K Sivakumar said. Volunteer birders of WWF-India who visits the area frequently for birding also would monitor the litter bins to ensure that they are used for the purpose intended, Sivakumar said. WWF-India volunteers, who participated in the clean-up drive conducted in and around the Kannukalichal Canal, collected more than 150 plastic bottles and three large bags of plastic waste including liquor bottles, water bottles, and few pesticide bottles.

A huge haul

WWF-India volunteers cleaned up in and around the Kannukalichal Canal. They collected around 150 bottles plus three large bags of plastic wastes.