About the NGO:
This NGO has been started by me and my friend Naitika, where we work together to integrate and combat commercial issues and environmental issues. Our aim is to create a better lifestyle for the poor in our community, while focusing on the environmental aspect and increasing the quality of life locally. For this, we came up with the idea of gathering waste plastic bags from households and ironing them together to make a blanket for the poor people. We also collect spare/old bedsheets from households, and stitch them around the plastic blanket (for better insulation and warmth). After making a good amount of these, we donated them to a slum area for the poor people to use in the winter season.
LO3: Initiate and plan a CAS experience
I initiated and planned this experience from scratch, along with my friend. We planned out how to conduct the sessions with volunteers, how to get people to donate plastic and bedsheets, and more. We planned out our schedule of action, where we met for the first two times to go house-to-house, telling neighbours of our initiative and encouraging them to donate now/whenever they have more material to donate. Later, we gathered a number of volunteers who were ready for meeting once a week to work on the blankets, as its a tedious task and would require more hands to get work done more efficiently. Lastly, we also started working on our social media account – creating posters on Canva and making reels to gain publicity, thus gaining more donors and interested volunteers. Planning and execution of this CAS experience was a long process, but the end result, finally donating these to the slum areas while helping the environment, was worth it.
Instagram Handle: https://www.instagram.com/actnow8/
LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
Poverty and environmental issues due to plastic are present on a global scale. Sustainable development goals 1 and 13 specifically focus on these, where first aims to achieve no poverty globally and the thirteenth goal strives to reduce the threat of climate change. The amount of plastic present is correlated with the increasing threat of climate change, as plastic (being non-biodegradable) has an extremely negative impact on the environment and animals. Our NGO found a way to reuse the present plastic in a creative manner, where we gather the waste plastic bags (which are single-use) and make a blanket from them. This combats with the global environmental issue on a local level, as we find use for the plastic present and don’t let it burn/wait for decomposition. We also aim to combat the issue of poverty by helping the people of the slum areas in Surat. We provide them blankets for the winter season, to keep them warm and away from diseases due to cold, which they can use all year round for different purposes. By engaging with global issues that address people and the environment, we aim to create a balanced city lifestyle (locally) that focuses on ‘sustainable’ development.
LO7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Smallest of actions performed in daily life have a profound impact on the environment. Just a simple choice of choosing steel/wooden cutlery over plastic on an individual level will help save the environment in the longer run. Similarly, our action of starting this NGO will have a greater impact on the environment, beginning at a local level. Moving further, environment is going to face a crisis never seen before, and knowing I did my part in trying to help Earth and people of our planet makes this choice ethical.
We have started this NGO with a goal in mind – to help the people of Surat, to help the environment, and help everyone realise why preserving the environment is important. We will continue to do this in the future, brainstorming more ideas for helping the poor while saving the environment.