‘Chalk Of Shame’ By Pune Ploggers Is A New Initiative To Raise Awareness On Cigarette Butt Disposal

Join hands with a local group of young and enthusiastic people who are trying to make a difference in the city with their ‘Chalk of Shame’. Curious? Keeping scrolling to know more.

Pune PLoggers, Chalk Of Shame

Many might already be familiar with Pune Ploggers, but for those who don’t, Plogging is a  new trend that first started off in Sweden. It is a  term derived from the Swedish word ‘Plocka’ which means to pick and you do that while jogging. With over 1000 members, Pune Ploggers meet up every weekend to clean up the city. This time they’re out on the streets with a new mission to clean up the streets of Pune while raising awareness about the ‘forgotten plastic pollution’. What is that you may ask? Well, it is cigarette butts! After successfully conducting it on FC and JM Road, they are slowly moving to different parts of the city.

chalk of shame pune

About 4.5 trillion cigarettes are discarded each year while 6.5 trillion cigarettes are bought each year across the globe. The numbers are alarming and to put an end to this problem, Vivek Gurav (head of the Pune chapter) and his team of volunteers have started ‘Chalk Of Shame’ at various spots in Pune. Started during Diwali, the idea behind this cause is to educate people about cigarette butt trash and also increase awareness amongst the people. How does this work? It’s rather simple, the volunteers draw circles, rangoli and other colourful drawings on the road demarking a cigarette butt that has just been thrown on the road as trash instead of it being thrown in a dustbin. The team has also noticed that people are willing to throw the butts in dustbins provided they are placed correctly. For example, near a tapri or a shop. 

Pune PLoggers, Chalk Of Shame

Around 45 volunteers from all walks of life, including students, are all a part of this wonderful initiative. The campaign is slowly gathering steam and spreading to various parts of the country! Highlighting the need to correctly dispose of cigarette butts, Vivek said, “These cigarette butts take a lot of time to decompose and if carelessly thrown on streets, it might get consumed by animals which are extremely dangerous. One cigarette butt is enough to pollute 15 litres of water. It also has adverse effects on soil and inhibits plant growth. Smoke butts leach nicotine and heavy metals. (As they are made up of cellulose acetate) and therefore it is extremely toxic for the earth and life around us.” We’re sure that these small efforts will help in going a long way. So when are you joining the cause?

News Source: The Earth View 

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