Chhattisgarh Health Minister T S Singhdeo inaugurates 'Garbage Cafe'

In an innovative development in the fight against plastic, Chattisgarh has found a unique way to rid itself of the plastic waste in the state. In order to cut down on the plastic waste, Chattisgarh Health Minister T S Singhdeo inaugurated a 'Garbage Cafe' on Thursday, October 10. The Garbage Cafe will provide free food in exchange for plastic waste. The cafe was opened in Ambikapur, which apparently has been named the second cleanest city in India.

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Garbage Cafe in Chattisgarh's Ambikapur

The initiative aims to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'plastic-free' India mission. T S Singhdeo acknowledged that plastic pollution has been rising at an alarming rate which threatens the ecological balance and climate security. 

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The cafe will provide free food to the needy in exchange for plastic. 

"Gives me immense pride to inaugurate Ambikapur Municipal Corporation’s brilliant initiative," said Singhdeo

 "I am so proud of this unique idea and initiative, taken by AMC. The entire nation took several measures and steps to discourage using Single-use plastic on Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary. But AMC took such an innovative step to keep the city plastic-free, I feel so good. This initiative has achieved support on the national and international level," said Singhdeo. 

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The unique feature of this cafe is that it will also weigh the plastic following which the person depositing the plastic will be provided a warm meal in return. In order to attract more customers and a speedy collection of plastic, the cafe tagline reads 'More the waste better the taste'. Local residents have welcomed the move with open arms and appreciated the initiative. 

"When I got to know about this cafe, I started collecting and storing plastic waste from my house. This is a great initiative to make the citizens aware to keep the city plastic-free. Through this initiative we can get two benefits, first, we can keep our vicinity clean and second, we can get delicious food in exchange for plastic waste," said a resident. 

"I brought half a kilogram of plastic waste and got delicious food here. I think this is a great step taken by AMC. The food quality is also very satisfactory," said another resident.

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The collected plastic waste will be sent to the Municipal Corporation for disposal. The Ambikapur Municipal Corporation (AMC) has a history of making headlines pertaining to the city's cleanliness. City Mayor Dr Ajay Tirkey said the cafe was inaugurated to avoid plastic usage. He said the AMC will promote the cafe to welcome more visitors. 

(With ANI Inputs)