Prasanna Mahesh Pawar - In the Service of Environment

A scientific and social movement towards the health menace due to Micro plastics

Plastic pollution is a global emergency. Combating plastic pollution with community engagement, technology and innovation is what I am pursuing from past 4 years. Mixed waste is unsafe and unhygienic for environment and public health. Increasing plastics in landfills leads to increased micro plastic in eco system, in air, water and soil. Microplastics now even entered in our body fluids and cells. For me community service is not just a volunteer work its the fire to bring change and impact. Below are few of my activities in the service of environment.

Training for sanitation workers - Hygienic waste segregation

Sanitation workers and municipal corporation staff play a major role in segregation of plastic at its source and preventing it from being dumped in landfills. I have conducted training sessions for them on the hygienic segregation of plastic, biodegradable, and nonbiodegradable material and converted waste to energy. Also attended mohalla meetings to understand grassroots problems of municipal corporation workers.

Training underprivileged students from Burma Shell Slum- To create 3D model of plastic recycling unit.

Under the Surajya Sarvangin Vikas Prakalpa, an NGO, I lead 10 students of class 9 from the Burma Shell slum area, Lohegaon. Along with them we created a 3D working model on “Beating Plastic Pollution for a Sustainable Future.” Our model demonstrated how plastic waste is segregated, collected, and converted to poly fuel and gas.

Impact—Created awareness and ignited curiosity in young minds about science, our environmental responsibilities, and teamwork.

Understanding the problem - Manuel waste segregation - unhygenic and inaccurate

Mixed waste gets collected from societies: biodegradable, nonbiodegradable, plastic, metal, cloth, wood, and many more things. Which eventually gets dumped in landfills. The current method of manual waste segregation is pretty unhygienic, inaccurate, and time and human effort consuming. And ultimately leading to an increase in environmental pollution and damage.

Waste to energy - Plastic, e Waste, old cloth collection drives

Along with Janwani and the Poornam Eco Vision Foundation, we, the Plastic Warriors group from Viman Nagar, arrange weekly plastic collection drives and scheduled e-waste and old cloth collection drives for repurposing from different societies in Pune. I have worked as a plastic warrior since 2021.

Cloth bag making and painting workshop-

On January 26, 2025, I collaborated with an art educator and environmentalist, Mrs. Neha Asher. We organized a hands-on workshop using old clothes from our collection drives to create cloth bags and paint them with the use of Indian folk art.
Participants took a pledge to switch from plastic to cloth and paper bags in their daily lives.

Impact—

People are becoming more aware about alternatives to plastic bags, and they love to use bags made and painted with love rather than plastic bags.

Mohalla meetings with muncipal corporation officers, social workers and community activists.

Community workers, social workers, and residents conduct regular meetings called Mohalla meetings, where I get the opportunity to understand ground-level problems of waste management and hygienic disposal and waste segregation. Meeting municipal corporation officers helped me understand how they are struggling with manual waste segregation and lack of resources and manpower, leading to inefficient and inaccurate waste segregation.

Awareness workshop on Hazards of plastic pollution on health and environment.

Equations cannot solve the problem of pollution unless people do. Making people aware of the hazards of plastic pollution on our health and environment is one of the important pillars of combating plastic pollution. In response to that, I organized and conducted various awareness programs in societies, schools, and public gardens.

Plastic , e Waste, old cloth collection drives.

· We started a weekly plastic collection drive where segregated
Plastic is picked up from societies and sent to the Rudra Foundation and the Janwani recycling unit to generate poly-fuel and gas WASTE TO ENERGY.
Even though only 20% of families from 41 societies of Viman Nagar currently participate, we collect around 800–1000 kg of plastic every week—a shocking reminder of our plastic dependence.

e- Waste collection drives - e-waste also contributes to the piling of nonbiodegradable material collection in landfills. We frequently conduct e-waste collection drives in our area and send the collected e-waste to the Poornam Ecovision Foundation, where either it gets upcycled or recycled.

. Old cloth collection drives—The cloth collected in these drives is sent to Poornam Ecovision Foundation, where the needy NGO ladies upcycle it and stitch cloth bags, purses, and pouches of different sizes from it, which is the best alternative to plastic bags. This created revenue to support families of the NGO ladies and empower them. I personally take pride in organizing a stall to showcase and sell these bags at different places like fun fairs, exhibitions, and malls.

Women empowerment with Poornam Eco vision Foundation- Providing sustainable solutions

When I came across the NGO Poornam Eco Vision Foundation during plastic collection drives, I found they help in collecting old cloth, as polyester is again nonbiodegradable like plastic and causes harm to the environment. We started old cloth collection drives and handed over those clothes to NGO ladies. These ladies stitch bags, purses, and pouches from these clothes, which get sold by the NGO, and they support the families of those ladies.

I take initiative during fun fairs and different exhibitions to sell these bags and provide a market for them.

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