AGAPP_for_earth

So is anyone awake in Punjab? AGAPP calls upon you to AWAKEN.
Conferences of any kind in Punjab and beyond, gurdwara langars, marriage palaces ,coffee shops, restaurants , dhabas--- they offer mineral water bottles like there is no tomorrow. Plop- the bottle appears unasked for.
Most ( read all) municipal supplied water is safe to drink dear Punjabis. MINERAL WATER bottles are passe citizens . Transporting plastic bottles in the heat of India leaches carcinogenic plastic particles into them. Ditto plastic cold drink bottles. ANY plastic bottle is a potential health hazard.
Long gone from silicon Valley offices and most professional conferences in North America are plastic mineral water bottles. Bengaluru restaurants offer jugs of filtered water . European restaurants offer glass bottles of filtered water. Now Singapore has banned them.

SAY NO TO PLASTIC MINERAL WATER BOTTLES. Please. REPEAT SAY NO-----

Or maybe your 8 year old has educated you already---- AWAKEN.

The Vice Chancellor,
Panjab University,
Chandigarh
12.10.2023

SUBJECT: ENVIRONMENTALISTS’ OBJECTIONS TO PANJAB UNIVERSITY’S LETTER OF ASSOCIATION WITH BISLERI BASED ON GRAVE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Honourable Vice chancellor Dr Renu Vig,

I am co-founder of Action Group Against Plastic Pollution ( AGAPP), a Jalandhar based NGO that aims to eradicate Single Use Plastic from Punjab and beyond.

It is with deep disappointment that I read about Panjab University signing a Letter of Association with Bisleri International on Sep 29, 2023 “to inculcate civic sense among students and educate on responsible disposal of plastics for recycling from the campuses to achieve Zero Plastic to landfill.” These words are quoted from India News Calling where I read this distressing news.

At the outset, I want to express my appreciation for your environment friendly thoughts and the motivation to take action.
Panjab University is an educational institution of renown for a reason - due diligence to fact and research. It has however failed this time.The honourable VC is quoted as saying she will leave no stone unturned in making PU “plastic waste free.” Plastic waste out of your sight is still plastic filling landfills and water bodies.

I want to emphasise in this letter why we need to aim for campuses to be single use plastic free way upstream ,not after using the plastic. In their Bottle for Change program Bisleri says that in India, 60% of plastic waste is recycled in India and they aim to get it to 100%. 60% is a preposterous lie !
There is no available data on recycling in India even with EPR ( extended producer responsibility) mandates. The best overall plastic recycling rate is 8% globally. Check any source. The New York Times in a recent article mentions a 2% recycling rate by the way.

The facts are as follows :

We CANNOT recycle ourselves out of the plastic mess that is destroying hundreds of ocean species every year . Please check this out (Recycling itself causes green house emissions):
https://trashhero.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/False-solutions_Nov-9-2020.pdf

2. Plastic is not just a litter problem. Manufacturing plastic is polluting air and oceans. The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres has declared on Dec 2. 2022 at the intergovernmental negotiation for the Plastic Treaty ( INC-1) in Uruguay : "Plastics are fossil fuels in another form and pose a serious threat to human rights, the climate and biodiversity. I call upon all countries to look beyond waste and turn off the tap on plastic manufacture.”
By 2050 , upto 50% of greenhouse emissions are projected to be from petrochemical manufacture for plastic.
The demand for mineral water bottles alone consumes 160 million barrels of oil annually- hence the ongoing global shift away from their use.

3. Many large corporates the world over have banned mineral water bottles from their meetings and offices .In fact the Punjab government had issued a ban on supplying mineral water bottles in official meetings two years back (which is not being consistently enforced currently).

4. You may have heard of the circular economy as the way forward in this plastic mess.
REFUSE REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE.
Recycling is the last resort esteemed professors. Please refuse all the plastic you can.

5. Microplastics have been found in mineral water of many brands (including Bisleri) tested in the USA, China, India and Mexico ( read livemint.com, 16 March 2018). Microplastics pose human health hazards such as carcinogenesis and reduced s***m counts. This only raises the urgency of eliminating all drinks in plastic bottles from our lives.

Panjab University must wake up to these grim facts of plastic induced threats to climate change and shape a citizenry that sees through capitalism’s destructive power which has brought us to the current state of climate catastrophes. We are at the brink of the sixth mass extinction dear Vice Chancellor. We need educational institutions to steward and inform young citizens in this terrible time.

I am a global health doctor and climate worrier who is joined by my fellow environmentalists ,many of whom are alumni of Panjab University, in signing this letter of protest and outrage.

OUR PLEA AND REQUEST : We hope you will consider making amends by cancelling this dangerous LoA. To summarise, your students , faculty and other employees need to know to refuse all the plastic they can. Mineral water bottle use is harmful to their health as well as to the planet’s.
Bisleri needs to stay out of PU and all other educational institutions.

Sincerely,
Dr Navneet Bhullar ( AGAPP) Phone 95305 44550

with Panjab University alumni :
Amandeep Singh ( Water activist)
Ravinder Singh Arora ( AGAPP)
Ravneet Bains ( AGAPP)
Samita Kaur ( Warrior Moms Punjab)
Simran Kaur Sandhu ( We Support our Farmers)
Amandeep Kaur ( Switch for Change Foundation)
Avijeet Singh Dhaliwal ( SFDOST)
Col Jasjit Singh Gill ( Public Action Committee, Mattewara and BDAF)
Manmeet Sodhi
Dr Naureen Bhullar
Neerza Gupta
Rakhi J Singh
Mira Puneet Arora
Tripti Malik
Sandeep Pathak
Jasleen Bains
Preeti Singh
Narinder Singh
Aanam Verma
Rahul Mittal
Harsimran Kaur
Ritu Awasthi

and other citizen environmentalists in Punjab :
Pallavi Khanna ( AGAPP)
Rupinder Kaur ( AGAPP)
Jaskirat Singh (Public Action Committee Mattewara)
Dr Amandeep Singh Bains ( Public Action Committee Mattewara)
Gaurav Singh ( Switch for Change Foundation)
Capt Vikram Bajwa ( Mein Punjabi)
Ranjit Powar ( Mein Punjabi)
Kamal Bindra ( Warrior Moms Punjab)
Sheena Sawhney ( We Support our Farmers)
Preetkiran Kaur
IS Bindra
Dr Anusha Thomas

UNHAPPY WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY ! 5 June’2023. The (May 29 to June 1) Paris meeting to forge a Plastic Treaty has failed ! The trillion dollar plastic industry has too many supporters INCLUDING INDIA .
However there are also Indians like Aditya Kumar who keep our hope alive
Aditya is an AGAPP activist now--- spreading the word to BAN Single Use Plastic in his international cycling expedition across Nepal, and south east Asia to finish in Singapore later this year. Aditya met AGAPP protesters in March outside Jallianawala Bagh on DAY 9 of his expedition and was hooked.
THANK YOU FOR HOPE Aditya

We fight---- we will WIN . Single Use Plastic MUST GO
Get your earth back
JOIN AGAPP"

Any financial contribution to Aditya 's trip can be made by donating to AGAPP. Email for details : [email protected] OR Whatsapp 98881-68874

For AGAPP s little group of activists, EVERYDAY is World Environment Day. AGAPP general secretary Advocate Ravinder Arora was invited by United Sikhs on 27 May’2023 at Gurudwara Harkishan Sahib, Pritam Nagar,Ludhiana to address the sangat . He is an orator. He spoke about how Single Use Plastic is polluting our environment ! We are so proud . Thank you United Sikhs !

Take your earth back. JOIN AGAPP

The United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Plastics has started May 29 in Paris. It is essentially a trillion dollar oil industry ( manufacturing plastic) vs the no to low funded recycling industry.

“To focus on plastic waste in this treaty would be a failure because you have to look at plastic production to solve the crisis — including the extraction of fossil fuels and the toxic chemical additives,” said Dr. Tadesse Amera, the network's co-chair

AGAPP seconds Dr Amera.
Do NOT let governments BOW to CAPITALISM 's forces . MICROPLASTICS ARE IN OUR BLOOD.
MORE than 50% of the world has NO SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM , including our battleground Punjab, India

SHUT THE TAP ON Single USE Plastic is AGAPP's WAR CRY. STOP MANUFACTURE . ENFORCE THE 2016 BAN CM Mann.
SAVE PUNJAB, lead the rest of India follow !

Take your earth back. JOIN AGAPP

AGAPP will not rest till Single Use Plastic is eliminated from sight and manufacturing in Punjab. We got no print media coverage of our Mothers' rebellion event against SUP on Mothers' Day . Does that affect us ? Yes. It disgusts us.
Are we giving up ?
NO. We will eliminate Single Use Plastic from Jalandhar , our headquarters. We have faith in the Municipal Commissioner Mr Abhijeet Kaplish. He had done it in Abohar three years ago AND we saw NO media coverage
We will be unstoppable after Jalandhar eliminates SUP- YES ! GO AGAPP.

Take your earth back. JOIN AGAPP

In solidarity with the lives lost in Ludhiana two days ago and their devastated families ,AGAPP Gen secretary Advocate Ravinder Arora wrote :
Homage to victims of Gas Tragedy AND also protest against PPCB and Municipal Corporation, who were informed repeatedly during last six months that Dyeing , Electroplating Industry is throwing chemicals in sewerage.
Initial investigation has shown that chemicals mixed with methane gas in sewerage , produced hydrogen sulphate gas , which has killed 11 poor labourers and have injured many .
SHAME ON PPCB AND MC LDH.
WE ARE FILING PETITON WITH NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL .
Ludhiana s Municipal Corporation and PPCB have done zilch to remove Single Use Plastic (SUP)from sight despite weeks or protest by AGAPP last year . They must be unrelentingly brought to book for this gas leak crime against humanity!

An AGAPPer we present with immense pride- Aditya Kumar !

Aditya kumar , a resident of Jaisalmer , Rajasthan is on his dream bicycle tour from Jaisalmer to Singapore . This is his second journey . He had cyled for 120 days covering 8000 km in India last year. He resigned from his job in Gurugram before that India tour. The environment and humanity are his focus now- at age 30!
On Day 9 of this Jaisalmer to Singapore trip, he ran into AGAPP at our Inquilab protest on 29 March 2023 outside Jallianwala Bagh. Amritsar. He passionately shouted slogans w us against single use plastic - AGAPP felt so much less alone in our over 2.5 year struggle to rid Punjab and then India of SUP. Aditya is our celebrity AGAPPer.

An AGAPP T shirt was designed and submitted to a Srinagar shop by Aditya when he got there. He will get the T shirts in Leh by post.
Last week when Dr Ashma Shourie, AGAPP media coordinator interviewed him, Aditya was in Drass, the world’s second coldest inhabited town. He had cycled only 2.5 km that day due to continuous rain .The temperature was a frigid minus 7 degrees. Dogs could be heard barking as he lay in his tent that night.
Yesterday, April 24 was Day 40. He was camping close to Parkachi glacier nan-kun peak .He has not slept in a bed since that day in Amristar 31 days ago. It was minus 15 deg last night and he was unable to move towards Zanskar ( 150 km away) due to heavy snowfall. Aditya's sleeping bag works for minus five at most. He was unwell. In those remote areas- he is subsisting on biscuits and Maggi noodles. Imagine the endurance !

ROOTING for Aditya with an AGAPP monthly stipend and regular stories on AGAPP s social media pages.
May more youth rise to SAVE HUMANITY FROM ITSELF.
Saada inquilab
Single Use Plastic de khilaf---- from Zanskar on to Leh-----from Punjab to the Himalayas to South East Asia .

ADITYA take care --- you are AGAPP's hero ! Aditya would love for readers to recommend homes/ hotels he can occasionally rest in -- he heads to Uttarakhand after Leh.
email AGAPP at [email protected] if you want to donate for Aditya ----- through AGAPP, his only sponsor .

Join AGAPP as members: PLEASE contact us NOW :[email protected].

Agapp met Commissioner , Jalandhar
13.April’2023
Municipal Corporation,Mr Abhijeet Kaplish, IAS today. He banned SUP in Abohar as well as imposed a Rupee 1 cess on plastic drink bottles in 2020. The latter lasted two weeks . It is only on paper now due to corporate pressures ! But plastic carry bags are still not seen in Abohar.
AGAPP requested action on SUP of the common kind in Jalandhar. We have hope after our meeting with him. He is the first official we have met in our struggle against SUP yet, who calls a spade a spade and is knowledgable about the plastic waste problem.
Mr Abhijeet Kaplish has been in the EPR ( Extended Producer Responsibility), Committee Punjab for the last three years and shared information on that as well as giving us news AGAPP did not hear recently : Barnala has tried to enforce the SUP ban.

Next steps are being formulated by AGAPP.
Stay tuned friends. In the meanwhile this Baisakhi,

TAKE YOUR EARTH BACK. JOIN AGAPP
Punjabis if you join AGAPP as members , our voice will be more forceful in Chandigarh.

AND always
SHUN Single Use Plastic.

Join AGAPP as members: PLEASE contact us NOW :[email protected].

.

On March 23, to commemorate Bhagat Singh, ,Rajguru and Sukhdev ’s Shaheed Diwas, AGAPP members protested outside Jallianwala Bagh with the slogan
Saada Inquilab, Single Use Plastic de khilaaf.
Shame on you, administration.
This is a revolution. Stop Plastic Pollution.
Plastic da nirvana, maar riha insaan.
The Inner Wheel Club, Amritsar as well as tourists from many states joined the protesters in support of their demand to get rid of Single Use Plastic.

“ We were not allowed to protest at the G20 meeting last week March 18. The police detained us at Ranjit Avenue police station . We decided to bring attention today to capitalist imperialism which is causing corporates to push more and more plastic into the market for their profits.
Bhagat Singh was a socialist- he was against the exploitation of India’s toiling masses and its natural resources . In Bhagat Singh’s own words these exploiters were not confined to one country. ” said AGAPP co-founder Dr Navneet Bhullar.

“We are concerned about the declining health of the planet. Contrary to general belief, plastic is not merely a litter or waste management issue. The manufacture of petrochemicals for plastic is a rapidly rising profit maker for big oil as worldwide curbs on fossil fuel consumption for transport and energy are reducing crude oil and natural gas use in these sectors. Petrochemical manufacture for plastic accounts for 18% of industrial sector CO2 emissions and by 2050 is projected to make up 50% of global oil consumption.”
“At the G20 labor meeting we wanted to bring attention to corporates’ influence on governments worldwide which is getting in the way of the enforcement on bans on Single Use Plastics . It is a behemoth complex that places only profits first. while we have plastic in rocks discovered off the coast of Brazil in a remote island this week as well as the by now well known plastic in human blood streams. We demand governments start favouring life on earth over corporate profits.”


Citizens who wish to join forces with AGAPP in activism against eco destruction by single use plastic can WhatsApp message
website : medium.com/agappearth

Come and join protest with Action Group Against Plastic Pollution (AGAPP) 5th Progressive Punjab Investors Summit 10.30 am onwards
23rd& 24th February 2023
at Indian School of Business (ISB),
Mohali, Punjab.

ENOUGH!Enforce the ban on single use plastic NOW for a PROGRESSIVE PUNJAB .OR Else see us PROTESTING in Mohali this week.

ENOUGH!Enforce the ban on single use plastic NOW for a PROGRESSIVE PUNJAB .OR Else see us PROTESTING in Mohali this week.

URGENT
Ecodestruction MUST stop
It CAN in Sri Lanka
Then why not Punjab .
AWAKEN CITIZENS!!

takeyourearthback

Todayi.e 10.02.23 :
AGAPP s Dr Navneet Bhullar met Mr Sharanpal Singh Makkar , Chairman Zila Yojna Committee, AAP Ludhiana and Halka coordinator Nikki Kohli this morning . They were handed our letter to the CM demanding enforcement of the Single Use Plastic ban in Punjab . AGAPP told him we would like to meet the CM to explain the situation. Mr Makkar expressed interest in this “ hot topic” and reassured us he will study the matter and connect with us .
On a positive note , he has promised to include Col Jasjit Singh Gill in the next CM and officials meeting on environmental matters of local
concern. Col Gill is signatory to AGAPP s letter and a prominent Ludhiana environmentalist and writer who heads the Lets Clean Ludhiana Foundation. Col Gill is also former member of the CM s task force to clean Buddha Darya. AGAPP is forging connections with Ludhiana civil society more vigorously to help us in this challenging battle against plastic induced Ecodestruction .

takeyourearthback











LETTER TO CHIEF MINISTER PUNJAB DATED 10.02.23

Dear Chief Minister, Punjab and MLA s,

Action Group Against Plastic Pollution is a registered NGO based in Jalandhar since Aug 2020. We are a group of professionals based in Jalandhar and Ludhiana who are deeply disturbed about the microplastics we are consuming in our food and water as well as the rampant eco-destruction and health consequences of plastic pollution.
Our single minded goal is making Punjab single use plastic free and then extending outward to the rest of India .
Since Dec 2020, we have been writing to chief ministers, meetings Municipal Commissioners 9 Ludhiana and Jalandhar), holding protests outside MC Ludhiana ( Sarabha Nagar and Ghanta Ghar), Outside MC Jalandhar, meeting with an protesting outside PPCB, Ludhiana as well as outside the local body Ministry in Chandigarh with no results yet.

Polythene bags ( plastic carry bags) were banned totally in Punjab in 2016 on paper through the Punjab Carry Bags control act (amendment). As you know, they are still used abundantly in every mandi and shop in Punjab.

Keeping in view the adverse impacts of littered plastic on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, has notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, which prohibits identified single use plastic items which have low utility and high littering potential by 2022. On July 1 , 2022 the central ban came into effect as well and nothing has changed on the ground.

Pollution due to single use plastic items has become an important environmental challenge confronting all countries. India has committed to take action for mitigation of pollution caused by littered Single Use Plastics. In the 4th United Nations Environment Assembly held in 2019, India had piloted a resolution on addressing single-use plastic products pollution, recognizing the urgent need for the global community to focus on this very important issue. The adoption of this resolution at UNEA 4 was a significant step.

In Punjab's towns, it is common to see customers in sabzi mandis stuffing polythene bags of veggies in their cloth jholas. Non woven bags are being given out in many shops- these are made of plastic polymers ( over 70% composition) but the public is unaware.
The supply of plastic carry bags from local factories is unimpeded.
Water bodies large and small have polythene bags floating in them. AGAPP has been participating in the padyatra to clean the Buddha Darya as well.

We request action by the new Govt of Punjab to enforce the SUP use ban. This will need to involve the complete ban of manufacture of single use plastic inside Punjab ( to be enforced by the PPCB) as well stopping the storage and distribution ( to be enforced by local bodies).

Other civil society organisations listed below are with AGAPP in this urgent demand.

Sincerely and in urgent anticipation,

Dr Navneet Bhullar, MD, co-founder AGAPP
Pallavi Khanna , President and co-founder, AGAPP
Advocate Ravinder Arora, General Secy, AGAPP
Dr Ashma Shourie, AGAPP media coordinator

Samita Kaur , AGAPP member and Founder, We Support ouFarmers
Maneet Dewan, City Needs Innovation, Ludhiana
Col Jasjit Singh Gill, Let's Clean Ludhiana Foundation
Jaskirat Singh , Naroa Punjab Manch
Sukhwinder Singh Lally, Fikr-e-hond
Col CM Lakhanpal Coordinator Buddha Darya Padyatra & Buddha Darya Action Front
Mahinder Singh Sekhon Punjabi Bhaasha Pasaar Bhaichaara
Avijeet Singh Dhaliwal SFDost
Vikram Singh Bajwa Mein Punjabi
Rajesh Jain Punjab Environment Friendly Assn ( PEFA),Ludhiana
Amandeep S Bains RBS Roots

AGAPP participated in Buddha Darya Padyatra
Phase - 11 : 29 January 23
Start Point - Old GT Road Bridge, Near Chaand Cinema, Ludhiana. Start Time 10.15 AM. Date - 29 January. Day - Sunday.




Col CM Lakhanpal
Member PAC, Coordinator Buddha Darya Padyatra,
Ludhiana.
94171 38044

AGAPP is looking for a research and media intern . If you are interested in learning climate activism in a passionate work ecosystem to save our planet , contact [email protected] for the job destruction n other details .
This will be a remote job and 12 to 16 hours per week commitment.
At least 12 th grade education with English proficiency needed PLUS a passion to change the status quo 🌻.
Take your earth back . Join AGAPP.

AGAPP – Medium Action Group Against Plastic Pollution is an initiative of concerned citizens against the Use of plastic. Join us to save the earth.

AGAPP”s Shopkeeper/Customer Awareness Campaign - DAY 8-9

Thanks to the owner of RAJU GENERAL STORE , Urban Estate Phase 2, Jalandhar who supported AGAPPs awareness campaign. He is already supplying grocery to homes without single use plastic bags. He told that he will encourage customers to bring their OWN bags in future.

Thanks to Mr Pardeep kumar, fruit vendor, Urban Estate phase 2 area. He pasted 2 posters, both in front and back of the Fruit Cart for the awareness. Hats off to his spirit.He said that he will try his best for this campaign.

Please buy grocery, fruits and vegetables in your own tokris and bags both at jomes and in market.
REFUSE SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAGS.

Every effort counts!!

We together can bring a change !!!

Are you still using /buying polythene bags and single use plastic items even after bring banned??????

WAKE UP!!

STOP NOW!!

SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT!!

BRING A CHANGE!!



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AGAPP”s Shopkeeper/Customer Awareness Campaign - DAY 7 :

Thanks to Mr Pardeep Singh , owner of Oberoi Bakery, who supported AGAPPs awareness campaign.Kumar ( working person) told that they dont give milk packets in single use plastic bags. He also told that 10 percent of the customers bring their own bag.

Thanks to Mr Asees Singh , owner of All-u -Need stationery for his support to the awareness campaign.

Thanks to Mr. Abhishant, owner of Kwality sweets, Income Tax Colony market, Jalandhar today for his support to the AGAPP’s awareness campaign.He said that he will definitely pass the message to the customers.

Every effort counts!!

We together can bring a change !!!

Are you still using /buying polythene bags and single use plastic items even after bring banned??????

WAKE UP!!

STOP NOW!!

SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT!!

BRING A CHANGE!!



SWITCH OVER TO

AGAPP”s Shopkeeper/Customer Awareness Campaign - DAY 5-6:

Thanks to Mr Jotpal Singh , owner of softtech computers , Gol market who supported AGAPPs awareness campaign.

Thanks to Mr Sarabjit Singh , owner of Satkartar confectionery , Urban estate phase 2 road. He told us that he always tells the customers to bring their own bags.But now is hopeless because very few customers understand the importance of bringing their own bag.He narrated an incident of yesterday that even young people in big cars ask for a polythene bag for even a 100g Butter packet.

Thanks to Mr. Haqiqat Rai, owner of Happy general store, Sat kartar nagar market, Jalandhar today for his support to the AGAPP’s awareness campaign.

Thanks to Mr..Rajinder Kumar, owner of shop in Satkartar nagar market.He was educated about the ban of non-woven bags and he told that he will try his best in supporting the campaign.

Thanks to Mr Gursimran Singh and his wife , owner of Optical point and Organza Boutique for their support.They told that they will try to do their bit to save the Mother Earth for the future of children.

Thanks to Mr Surinder Pal Arora, owner of Cheap General store, Satkartar nagar market, urban estate road. He supported us by saying that he will not offer single use plastic bags and will encourage the customers to bring their own bag.

Every effort counts!!

We together can bring a change !!!

Are you still using /buying polythene bags and single use plastic items even after bring banned??????

WAKE UP!!

STOP NOW!!

SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT!!

BRING A CHANGE!!



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Dump s SHAME.Citizens RISE !!WAKE UP!!Every Sunday, residents of Ludhiana have been doing a Padyatri for Clean Up of a tributary of under the guidance of and membersPAC