IndiaCSR News Network
MUMBAI: The one-of-its-kind TRASH festival held today at St Aloysius High School, Bandra (West) saw impressive participation from schools, professionals and concerned Mumbaikars. Now in its third year, TRASH – an acronym (Thinking, Reflecting and Acting for a Sustainable Habitat) – is organised by The 
Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Tetra Pak to encourage the adoption of practices for a sustainable lifestyle and to increase awareness about correct waste management practices.
In their endeavour to drive home the message of sustainability, TERI and Tetra Pak have partnered with diverse organisations such as local environment group R U Reducing, Reusing, Recycling (RUR), Mumbai’s ‘friendly neighbourhood grocery store’ Sahakari Bhandar and Reliance Fresh. Together, they also promote the cause of recycling through an in-store initiative, Go Green, whose ambassadors actors Perizaad Zorabian and Vishal Malhotra were present at today’s TRASH event.
Ranjana Saikia, Director with TERI’s Educating Youth for Sustainable Development said, “The TRASH festival celebrates the achievements of students and aims to enhance their awareness on innovative methods to reuse, recycle and reduce waste. The festival is part of our Project SEARCH programme with Tetra Pak through which we have reached out to more than 200,000 school children across the country. Now in its sixth year, Project SEARCH aims to influence more and more students to practice green living.”
“Recycling is part of our culture as we believe in getting the maximum value out of any product. It is very encouraging to see shoppers at our Reliance Fresh and Sahakari Bhandar stores increasingly recycling used Tetra Pak cartons,” said Reliance Retail Limited Chief Executive Officer Damodar Mall. “Being a responsible retailer, we are pleased to support Tetra Pak in this initiative to encourage people to adopt ‘green’ habits.”
Tetra Pak South Asia Markets Communications Director Jaideep Gokhale said, “Today’s response and turnout is very encouraging. At Tetra Pak, initiatives such as TRASH are
very much in line with our sustainability commitment and our brand promise of “protects
what’s good” – that is, protecting the food inside as well as the environment around us.
We are especially proud of our long association with TERI and the manner in which we are working alongside responsible retailers, consumers and the waste trade to promote a sustainable ecosystem.”
The festival kick started with a series of activities, where 700 students and teachers took part in competitions such as a relay race, TRASH Couture and Master Green Chefs, Live Ayurveda Cooking and other activities.
