Chennai: It was a watershed moment for residents of Padmanabha Nagar, at Adyar in the citywhen they assembled at the Corporation park in the locality, to join hands with a local NGO to begin a eco-friendly lifestyle.
Residents of Padmanabha Nagar Welfare Association signed up for ‘Go Green and Stay Green’ with Namma Ooru Foundation (NOF), to transform into Namma Green Community.
Longtime resident and association president, Dr Ananda Kannan announced a ban on disposable plastics and pledged on behalf of the community, to dispose differently and manage their garbage smartly.
While there are 200 families in the locality, around 35 of them have pledged to be part of the campaign, it is learnt.
According to treasurer Ramachandran,”There are multi-fold benefits of tying up with an NGO. It is easier to approach residents. With the government going to ban single-use plastics, we have been undertaking door-to-door campaigns on eco-friendly ways of disposing waste.
Ramachandran said it was not easy to break the deep-rooted habit.
“The area comprises mostly of individual houses and not apartments, and for elderly people it was pretty challenging to switch ways to other alternatives,” he said.
Residents Priya Ram and Ramachandran Malayappan who have been at the forefront at the campaign, are also volunteers of Namma Ooru Foundation.
At the park, founder of the NGO, Natarajan, spoke about the ills of mixed waste and the need for segregation at source, while Venkatachalam, a resident, sponsored and distributed the five pouch cloth bag to all residents. The idea behind the bag was to respect, refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle, it is learnt.