Vadodara: Ten schools in the city have joined hands for a three-month initiative aimed at encouraging students and families to adopt responsible plastic waste management practices and turn discarded plastic into useful resources.Titled ‘plastic to purpose’, the initiative has been launched by FICCI FLO Vadodara in collaboration with Kachre Se Azadi (KSA) Foundation. The project began on July 20 and will continue till October 20, with each participating school aiming to collect around 500kg of plastic waste in three phases.The participating schools are Alembic Vidyalaya, C H Vidyalaya, D R Amin Memorial School, Dr Thakorebhai Patel Girls College, New Era Girls School, R K Pandya High School, Sardar Vinay Vidyalaya, Tejas Vidyalaya, Utkarsh Vidyalaya and Vinay Vidyalaya.The initiative is seeking to go beyond simply collecting plastic waste by creating awareness among students about responsible disposal and recycling. The participating schools have been oriented on the challenges posed by plastic waste and the importance of segregating and managing waste responsibly.The collected plastic will subsequently be handed over to recyclers and converted into useful products for the participating schools, giving discarded material a productive second life.For students, the initiative has also become an opportunity to take the conversation on waste management beyond the school campus and into their homes. Jaladhi Anjaria, a Class VIII student of Alembic Vidyalaya, said the project made her realise that recycling begins with individual choices at home.Similarly, Jia Choksi, a Class X student of Tejas Vidyalaya, said the initiative had changed the way she looked at discarded plastic.With students acting as ambassadors of the campaign, the organisers hope that the conversation around plastic waste will extend from classrooms to households and the wider community, making responsible waste management a shared habit rather than a one-time campaign.
