Kick (starting) the butt waste campaign
He grew up close to nature in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, which sensitised him towards environmental issues at a very young age. Living in the midst of nature also taught him the organic and sustainable way of life.
cigarette butt cleanliness drive
In 2016, Prof. Pankaj Choudhary, Assistant Professor of International Environment Law at the Delhi University’s Law Centre, founded Let’s Do It India to promote a greater understanding between people and the environment. In the last four years, the campaign has spread across 24 states with a volunteer base crossing the 1 lakh mark.
The India leg, which is a subdivision of Let’s Do It World, is launching The Fugitive – a campaign to address cigarette butts’ waste, today, on World Cleanup Day that is observed every year on the third Saturday of September. Prof Choudhary tells us more:
When did you get associated with Let’s Do It World and when was the Indian subdivision born?
Being a professor of environmental law, I was always surrounded by my students who had the drive, the passion and the willingness to be part of a positive change. I was introduced to the Let’s Do it World team in 2016. I decided to bring this vision to India and bring young people to the centre stage of positive change. And Let’s Do It India was born.
Why is the campaign called The Fugitive?
It’s called The Fugitive because we believe cigarette butts are the real fugitives of our surroundings – hiding in bus shelters, dark corners, lying on beaches or lurking in parks. Though small, these spread immense toxicity. A single butt takes 10-12 years to decompose and can contaminate 500 to 1,000 litres of water. Without proper disposal, these absorb other substances from their surroundings and become more toxic to the environment. Considering the pandemic, we are running the campaign digitally – connecting with people through social media pages and educating them about the adverse effects of littering cigarette butts, how these can be disposed of responsibly and how people can support our campaign by donating cigarette butts to us which will be recycled.
Where are the cigarette waste management and processing units situated?
We have two collection centres, one each in Noida and Chennai, and we are hopeful about setting up some more centres. We are in talks with various stakeholders to install collection boxes. Municipal bodies, restaurants and corporate houses must support us in taking appropriate measures like installing butt bins across cities and offices.
What happens to the butts you collect?
We recycle these through our recycle partner, Code Effort, and make products like mosquito repellents, compost, cushion fillers, stuff toys and keychains, etc. These products are accessible through the social media handles of Code Effort, and also through distribution contracts.