"When we moved to our apartment in Mahim, we were so excited to have a view of the beach–but all we could see was metres of plastic; stretching as far as the eye could see.
For the longest time I was angry, but didn't do anything about it–I had a full time job, with bigger problems. So we alerted the authorities, but didn't get a response.
One Sunday afternoon, Rabia and I were wondering what to do, when she got up and said, 'Listen, I'm done waiting.' She grabbed some gloves and asked me, 'I'm going down. You coming?'
That day, the 2 of us were knee deep in garbage, trying to collect whatever we could. 4 hours later, we'd cleaned a small patch, but when we saw the sand and water flowing, we decided to go back every weekend.
Initially, people would look at us from their balconies, but never come down. When we asked for help, they'd say, 'It's no use. How much will you clean?'
But the little bit of beach we could see was our solace. We started documenting our experience online and showed everyone how patch by patch we were actually making a difference. 10 months later, the UN felicitated our efforts for the clean up! It was such an honor, but more importantly–it helped spread the word. 8 months later, we grew to 150 passionate volunteers after sharing our journey online.
Every Saturday morning, volunteers come in from all over Mumbai, some as far as Belapur. Recently, it was a volunteer's birthday. As a gift, his wife got him dustbins for the beach! Another volunteer has even started a community initiative of recycling dry waste.
Even the authorities have stepped in and join us in full force every weekend.
Today, when we look out of our balcony and see the clean beach and clear waters– we finally understand why every drop makes the ocean. It took 2.5 years, 10 lakh Kgs of garbage and 15000 volunteers to get here… but it all started with one small step.
These past few years taught me that there’s so much more to the world than deadlines and 9 to 5s. That we're all so caught up in our own heads, we forget to look outside. Mother Earth breathes everyday to give us life– it’s high time we start giving back.”
Thanks to the “Preservence For All” (PFA ORGANISATION) India’s one of the best non profit organisation.
Dear all readers kindly visit @pfaorganisation at Facebook/ Instagram/Twitters/LinkedIn
