The Social Lab in collaboration with Zomato, Varun Beverages Limited and Chaayos organized Plog Run 2023 in Mumbai on 5th November 2023. The event was e-flagged off by Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Culture, Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi and physically flagged off from Loknete Gopinath Munde Shakti Ground in Dahisar, Mumbai in the presence of MLA Dahisar Constituency Smt. Manisha Chaudhary, Corporator Ward no. 8 Shri Harish Cheeda, Corporator Ward no. 2 Shri Jagdish Oza and Corporator Ward no. 10 Shri Jitendra Ambalal Patel.
With ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and ‘Fit India Movement’ at its heart, Plog Run 2023 was aimed at combining healthy living, conserving environment and community service. The concept of Plog Run is to promote behavior change towards proper handling and disposal of plastic waste. It also generates awareness on negative impact of plastic waste on environment and how people can contribute towards having clean and plastic free surroundings.
About a hundred participants including employees from Zomato, Varun Beverages Limited and local community went out on the roads of Mumbai to jog and pick waste. People of all age groups took part in the Plog Run 2023.
Addressing the crowd Smt. Manisha Chaudhary, MLA, Borivali said, “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a mission and vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji and we are following in the footsteps of such initiatives to bring a positive change starting from the local communities and taking it across the nation. I would like to thank organizations like The Social Lab and corporations like PepsiCo, Zomato and Varun Beverages Limited for generating awareness on plastic waste hazards and recycling to reduce it’s impacts and actively promoting healthy behavior change among the society.”
Mr. Mahul Mangirish, Plant Head, Varun Beverages said, “With initiatives like these and support from members of community leadership like Smt. Manisha ji we intend to positively impact the plastic waste management and plastic recycling by driving behavior change in the community and promoting collaborative efforts from civil society organizations and corporates.”
Mr. Sahil Arora, Chief Executive Officer, TSL said, “I would like to present a heartfelt thanks for the support we have got from PepsiCo, Zomato and Varun Beverages Limited and the governing leaders that has helped us in making this event to reach in 8 cities across India. With Plog Run 2023, our vision is to have healthier community and cleaner surroundings by jogging, picking plastic waste and getting this waste recycled or upcycled to produced furniture that will be donated to schools and other public spaces.”
Mr. Adesh Gupta, Director, TSL Advisory Board mentioned “We are delighted to bring Plog Run to Mumbai and celebrate Swachtta in its new Avatar, I am sure that this activity would spread awareness among public on plastic circularity and waste in general”. We at TSL will make constant efforts to generate awareness on the topic and contribute our bit to the society”