Earth Day initiative called ‘Cartons Le Aao, Classroom Banao’ will donate school desks to City of Los Angeles School!

#TetraPak, under its flagship campaign – #CartonsLeAaoClassroomBanao– has pledged to collect 5,00,000 used carton packages and recycle them into desks to be donated to #CityOfLosAngelesSchool, Mahim, Mumbai. The collaborative initiative, in association with RUR Greenlife, Sahakari Bhandar and Reliance Fresh, on the occasion of ‘#EarthDay’ is inviting consumers to donate used carton packages at the nearest facility.

The recycled desks are aesthetic, sturdy, durable and carry an important message – The power of Recycling! The donation is part of Tetra Pak’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness about waste segregation and recycling. Interestingly, this drive has also garnered support from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

 

Supporting the initiative, Kiran S. Dighavkar. Assistant Commissioner, G North ward said, “MCGM is happy to support Go Green with Tetra Pak’s initiative to recycle used beverage cartons into useful products. We appreciate the cause of Cartons Le Aao Classroom Banao, where used beverage cartons will be recycled into school desks for Government aided schools. City of Los Angeles school in Mahim West, G North Ward is in fact the first Municipal run CBSE school in Mumbai -and we are very happy that this campaign will help create a better learning environment for our students. We urge all Mumbaikars to come forward and support this campaign.”

The campaign is part of the ‘Go Green with Tetra Pak program’ started by Tetra Pak in 2010. It encourages consumers to drop off their used cartons of juice, milk, ORS and other beverages at the nearest Sahakari Bhandar / Reliance Fresh stores or at any of the 200+ other locations that act as deposit points for the program. These cartons are then collected, converted to bales, and sent to the nearest recycler in Palgarh where they are converted into panel boards. These panel boards are used to make many useful items like garden benches, classroom desks and more to be donated back to the community. It takes roughly 11000 used carton packages to make a desk.

 

Speaking about the initiative, Jaideep Gokhale, Sustainability Director, Tetra Pak South Asia said, “Tetra Pak cartons are paper-based, recyclable and have the lowest carbon footprint among all other packaging materials used for similar food products. So, when we choose carton packaging, we are already making a positive choice. And when we segregate these cartons from other waste, they can get recycled into many useful items like these desks that positively impact the communities around us. Donating recycled products to the local community is a simple way to showcase how a simple conscious act of waste segregation and recycling can create a positive ripple effect on the community around you. The people of Mumbai have supported us since the launch of the Go Green with Tetra Pak program in 2010 and I hope that they will continue to support us.

Monisha Narke, Founder and CEO, RUR Greenlife shared, “The Go Green with Tetra Pak Program has been an inspiring journey of over 10 years now and Mumbaikars have been contributing clean and flattened used beverage cartons at our 200 plus collection centres across Mumbai. The program is fuelled by the passion of the Mumbaikars thanks to which we have been able to donate more than 300 desks and over 1,00,000 other recycled products to the city of Mumbai over the years. And we know that we will continue to grow from strength to strength with the support of our champion Mumbaikars.”

City of Los Angeles School in Mahim West Mumbai is the megapolis’s first Municipal school affiliated to CBSE board. The unusual name has a rather interesting story to it. In the 1960s the Mayor of Los Angeles visited Mumbai and emphasized the need for a government aided school with subsidized   English education.  He funded the building of this school, which then acquired the name “City of Los Angeles” school. The school dispenses education in three different languages – Marathi, Hindi and English.