The tour, a first-of-its kind event in Mumbai and its suburbs, is part of the group’s Mission Zero Waste initiative, and will take place in Thane’s busy and popular market area, Jambli Naka. Participants will be taken to shops and street vendors and be acquainted with plastic-free packaging alternatives for food like pasta and oil to household commodities like brooms and razors. “A bunch of us from the group are zero-waste practitioners who have been going to this market for a while and picking things up in our cloth bags. We realised that this can become a way of sharing some ideas as well as doing something productive ie bringing stuff home,” says T Lalita, a volunteer with the foundation who will be helming the tour.

Soya chunks, rice, and wheat at Paras Traders

Poll

Who will win the Punjab Elections?

BJP 32.84%

AAP 41.79%

INC 25.37%

Submit

View All In Poll

The trail starts off at NKT College, where attendees will be briefed about the initiative. They will then head to the market and visit about five shops selected by the group which includes Mangal Tea Centre, where you can get packaging-free tea and coffee powder. In exchange for your purchase, the shop also hands over coupons that can be redeemed in the future along with a gift. The tour will conclude with a visit to a roadside stall that sells metal razors.

Lalita asserts that the initiative is not about discovering sustainable alternatives but going back to what was already there. “We’ve become a plastic-reliant economy now. As a country, we’ve always been a packaging-free economy as compared to Western countries; earlier people would take their own cans and bottles to the market. Apart from processed food, most of the raw and uncooked options are available to purchase without packaging,” she shares.

Given social distancing norms, the group will be divided into batches of four or five people. Participants are advised to carry their own travel bag and a bottle if they wish to purchase oil. “We also plan on asking people what they would like to purchase so we can accordingly call up the stores and ask them if that particular product is available,” Lalita informs. Although the organisers are encouraging more Thanekars to enrol for this edition, they are open to the idea of collaborating with people who wish to replicate this tour in their local markets in the future.   

On: January 16, 4.30 pm
Meeting point: Near NKT College, Ganpat Jairam Kharkar Ali Marg, Thane West
Call: 8108969721 (to register)