Keeping up with its ambitious Haritha Keralam Mission, Kerala’s government is setting an example for the rest of states this World Environment Day, by banning disposable plastic items in its offices.
Starting today, officials will be making a switch to ink pens and steel cutlery and will ensure that articles like plastic water bottles, disposable tea cups and plastic carry bags are no longer used across the office premises.
“The idea is to make government departments set an example for a clean environment. The facilitators of this objective are Suchitwa Mission and Haritha Keralam Mission,” Dr R Ajayakumar Varma, executive director of Suchitwa Mission told Mirror.
While the mission, which is practised statewide, brings waste management, organic farming and water resources management under one umbrella, the Suchitwa Mission envisions a waste-free Kerala with a pure environment, public hygiene, cleanliness, and a better quality of life through improved health and general well-being, economic gains, better aesthetic surroundings and overall environmental upgradation.
As mentioned in the green protocol circular issued last month by Paul Antony, the Chief Secretary of the state, government offices have also been directed to reduce their food waste through composting within their office compound.
If the office lacks the space to do so, the pertaining municipalities will take care of the same.
To further promote the green protocol so that it becomes a reality, a nodal officer from every government office across the state was given training on how to go about with the programme. “Almost 60 percent of the offices in the state are ready to usher in the change while the rest are likely to gradually follow suit,” Varma added.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)