“World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on the 5th of June and it encourages awareness and calls for action in order to protect our environment. To make this movement largely impactful and grand, Khushiyaan Foundation in collaboration with the Pehel Foundation, the CSR arm of PNB Financials has come up with a great initiative that collects, compresses, and recycles plastic bottles. The vision of PNB Financials and the Groundwork of Team Khushiyaan will save tonnes of plastic from open littering.
On this World Environment Day, being an organization that loves Environment, Khushiyaan Foundation led by Dr Chinu Kwatra launched an Earth Friendly initiative by installing Pet Bottle Crusher Machines across Mumbai. This initiative will save at least 8000 kgs of plastic bottles from entering the ocean/landfills yearly and as a bonus people who are participating in this noble act will be provided with discounted coupons. Moreover, the collected bottles will be further recycled.
The Awareness ceremony was held on 5th June 2023 at Andheri’s DN Nagar Metro Station where the 1st Phase of 5 machine was launched. The ceremony was graced by esteemed personalities of PNB Finance – Vipul Awashank ji and Santosh Parab ji along with famous actress Priyanka Zemse who is recently seen in Asur 2, Producer Saru Walia, and Influencer Shweta Rohira. The ceremony also saw the core team of Khushiyaan with Females of Self Help Group wing of Khushiyaan headed by Roshni Kanojia.
Currently, these machines have been installed and are ready to use by commoners at Metro Stations like Chakala, Sakinaka, Andheri, DN Nagar, and Versova and more 11 machines will be launched this month in Phase 02.
The fully automated machines have been manufactured by Wild West Innovations and is one of their amazing inventions. About this vision, Saran Tantray, the Co-Founder of WWI says “By 2025, plastics consumption of the country is expected to increase from the current 12 mmt to 20 mmt per annum. Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down in a landfill and poses a great threat to the environment. Considering all these challenges, the demand for recycling solutions has increased considerably.
To meet this growing need for sustainable solutions, we at Wild West Innovations provide an entire ecosystem by introducing our wide range of ReBot (reverse vending machines) a first of its kind in India. These are cost-effective recycling machines that recover and dispose of PET bottles effectively. Built, using cutting-edge technology, these sturdy machines provide clients with an unmatched user-friendly experience and consistency in smooth operations”
Khushiyaan Foundation’s project Beach Warrior is all about promoting Green Environment with their on-ground action. Team Beach Warriors have been conducting cleanups at Dadar and Juhu Koliwada beaches every weekend for the last 6 years and have completed 270 weeks to date. Beach Warriors are super excited to head this operation and spread awareness about the same. When asked about the excitement and experience, Dr. Chinu Kwatra, founder of this organization said “This was a dream project, setting up a machine at large scale was a big deal for us, but gratitude to all the love which we have received from citizens that we were able to fulfill this dream. This project would be led by my core Mr. Chris Chokar who are a passionate environment lover and a go-getter. We will conduct campaigns in Schools, Colleges, etc. to spread this awareness even more. By doing all this, I can say we are saving ourselves because we need this planet and environment to survive”
As a closing note, Actor Priyanka Zemse too shares her experience by saying “It was a very special day for me as I got the honor to be part of this noble event on world environment day… I sincerely express my gratitude and I would like to thank Khushiyaan Foundation and PNB Housing Finance for having me as a guest at the Awareness Ceremony and installation of Pet Bottle Crusher machine. I personally feel this initiative is extremely important as we all need to understand the impact of pollution on the environment. I feel this is a key driver of climate change. Just want citizens to celebrate Environment Day every day.
