Innovative ideas like these were discussed, different perspectives shared and new friendships were made when 25 change makers decided to meet.

The OpenIdeo challenge to reduce plastic waste was received very well by Chennaites . A good mix of policy makers, angel investors, educationists, corporate decision makers, entrepreneurs, and students showed up to share their thoughts on “How to get products to people without generating plastic waste?”.

The session opened with an introduction to the challenge and was followed up with an open discussion which made way for some great insights. The open learning format of the event focused on learning from the collective knowledge of the group.

Balchand Parayath from Chennai city connect shared the perspective of the challenges the city government faces in executing projects.

Naveen Mahesh from HLC International threw light on the importance of inculcating such innovative thinking in kids while they are at schools and shared various attempts they make at their school.

Nishanth Sukumar, Manager Packaging from Cavin Kare shared his challenges of moving away from sachet products for the market. “ He shared as much as he is conscious of the plastic pollution it causes — it meets the hygiene needs of people who cannot afford high-value bottles. He expressed his interest to work on innovative package solutions that are sustainable.

Students from Enactus a not profit promoting students entrepreneurs had many ideas around designing new ways of waste management. There was also representation from Loyola Institute of Business Administration ( LIBA )

Please find below a 90-second trailer of the event

It was a pleasure and joyous experience to facilitate this event along with @shravanshankar of @works ( an innovative co-working space in city ) and @sanjaybattacharya ( An AD film director )

A special thanks to Sruti who shared the beautiful Ashvita cafe as the venue for the event.

I am a firm believer that such continuous dialogues will lead to more actions, collaborations and finally enable the desired positive impact.

We look to see you at the next Open talk.

PS: Please note that the event was a Volunteer driven initiative and non of the organizers are directly associated with Ideo / OpenIdeo.

#Socent #Circulareconomy #Plasticrecycling