A cafe, that was inaugurated yesterday in Junagadh, has taken a new initiative to promote the concept of plastic-free India. This establishment is an eco-friendly cafe that started its operations on July 1, which is the day when the ban on single-use plastic was executed. In this cafe, run by Sarvoday Sakhi Mandal, one can get free snacks by depositing plastic items. For instance, 500 grams of plastic will get you a lemonade, and 1 kilogram will give you a plate of dhokla or poha. The weight of the plastic the customer deposits will determine the dishes he can have.
This cafe is as yet a small place that can seat 16 people but has a beautiful ambiance. The walls are decorated with vibrant paintings, where messages are displayed in bold letters. The paintings clearly convey the message of reducing the use of plastic items in daily lives. The cafe serves simple but traditional Gujarati dishes like sev tamatar, thepla, bengan bharta and so on. The cafe also accepts cashless payments and also delivers food to the doorstep.
Junagadh District Collector Rachit Raje applauded the cafe’s initiative and said that plastic is one of the biggest causes of environmental deterioration. He gave out statistics and said bottles take 400 years to decompose. In India, 10376 tons of plastic is being used every day. More than 500 billion plastic bags are used every year. By the year 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. He said that the people of Junagadh have been appealed to move towards a natural diet for the protection of the environment, and physical and mental health and to stop using plastic. In this way, we will be able to serve the country including the environment.
