Paani apu?

The Centre for Environmental Education (CEE) paves its way forward with the main goal of achieving a sustainable future, with a focus on educating and spreading awareness based on the SDGs for rural and urban development. In line with the theme of World Environment Day 2025, 'Beat Plastic Pollution,' raising awareness and taking initiative against plastic pollution was one of the main goals. The current focus was on rural areas, as the people lacked the means or awareness there, which the organisation addressed by sending weekly plastic collection vehicles with a bar of soap as an incentive for them to keep the plastic separate. Armed with the knowledge about plastic waste with the help of CEE’s resource books, I set out to engage with the people in the village and get to know more about them.

Village district of Punasan

The end of May heat was scorching the path as I accompanied people and volunteers from my organisation into a village district in Mehsana. A clean drive was organised to help reduce the amount of plastic pollution in the villages and make people aware of the dangers. Along with the role of taking photos of the clean drive through a camera given to me, my role was engaging with the residents, getting to know more about them, and their degree of involvement and knowledge about plastic waste. Being a first for me, I didn’t know what to expect, how to interact in the beginning, or step into the part I was supposed to play. But, the expectations or views I didn’t know or realise I had were all subverted as I started to gradually engage or interact more with the people around me. As someone who was unfamiliar with starting off new conversations, backed by the fact that it was a first for me, what eased me in and awakened that slow spark of confidence in me was that warmth I was met with by a fair few- all starting with a question directed towards a unfamiliar young girl (me) in the harsh heat with a cap and a camera: “Paani aapu?” (Shall I give you some water?)

In Gujarat, it is a common cultural aspect, or a ritual of sorts, as a host, to offer guests, even if they’re there for only a few minutes, some water to counter the climate- a practical etiquette upheld by the people in response to travellers, guests, workers, or visitors, who have journeyed to meet you. This kind gesture underlayed the whole experience for me. Even just walking across, when people called out asking if I’d like some water, or some rest on the khatla (traditional wooden bed with a rope/ jute base) and take refuge from the humid afternoon sun, the warmth of these people made me feel comforted and gratified inside, a testament for the vast effect simple words or gestures held. These things inspired me to actually help and listen to them, or find ways I could contribute and step in as a designer and be of use.

Village family

Village family

This brings me to my next topic- what exactly did I do there, and the insights it gave me. I had three main objectives to outline my interactions with the people:

1. Finding out how much they already knew about plastic pollution, its causes, and impact
2. Gauging how enthusiastic or motivated they were to combat it
3. Identifying barriers or areas where there was a gap that impacted the concern or action on this matter

What was surprising in this matter was the fact that, contrary to my expectations, half of the people there were aware of how plastic had a negative effect on the environment. However, in this scenario, being aware of it and doing anything are different matters. Half of them kept their collected plastic separate to give it to the collection vehicles, while the others preferred just dumping it with other materials in empty lands where it was piled up as people kept disposing of things there, leading to areas filled with unbiodegradable plastic trash. A lot of people also backed claims of how burning plastic made them unable to breathe in that air properly and how burning plastic shouldn’t be considered as an option for proper disposal.

One of the main issues here was awareness. Though they knew plastic was bad, the gravity and the vast future impact of it weren’t exactly understood and realised, leading to it being trivialised. Along with this, while some people were ready to keep their plastic separate, there was no propeller waste disposal or plastic collection method available for them since both waste also get mixed in the trash collection vehicle. So, even if they kept plastic aside instead of landfills, general waste, or burning it, what would they do with it? CEE started weekly plastic collection drives in exchange for a bar of soap as an incentive to make it a habit, but, similar to before, half of the people didn’t know about his collection as well. Hence, those who knew usually tried to participate, while others remained unaware.

Waste landfills

Sardaben, one of the women we interacted with, recounted how she would talk with other women around, and they would work together to gather plastic, even with the excuse of gaining a bar of soap in return, and it became a small social task for them. As someone who was involved in many organisations and social groups of women, she had more insights into the problem, comparing plastic’s effects to those of harmful or toxic chemical fertilisers used in farming. She explained that her involvement in all these activities made her more aware of this, while others didn’t really get the issue.

Sardaben

A couple of schoolgirls claimed that this was taught in their schools and they always relayed it to their parents, who tried to keep plastic separate and give it to the collecters, but small tasks such as getting some groceries used single used plastic bags couldn’t be avoided, and didn’t decline when the shopkeepers gave the objects in the bag.

An older man was in support of the plastic segregation and how it was good for the environment, with his home having separate disposals. Another man claimed that there was a collection process for these, and hence they didn’t segregate and dumped the waste in an empty lot amongst the other people’s trash as well.

A stakeholder we talked to

A stakeholder we talked to

To spread awareness about this and show them the impact of plastic pollution and small ways they can refuse plastic entirely (such as using waste or extra cloth to make cloth bags, replacing single-use bags) or the positives of recycling or reusing, after discussing with my organisation, an animated toolkit to understand it all was decided upon.

For that, to make the people understand the gravity of the situation, I decided to take the problem- cause- solution approach. Therein, the quick video would start with the future where plastic ran unchecked and the harm it did to the surroundings. It would then be supported by the actions done by the people, which caused that, and how there was still time, and they could all come together and prevent it. To make them connect more, the characters, attire, and settings in the short video will all be based on their village.

As we interacted with the people on these particular plastic topics, everyone agreed, at least on a surface level, on how plastic pollution was increasing and becoming an issue. This acted as an opening and made me more motivated since if the reasoning was convincing and the understanding was increased with the means to make it happen, as a community in line with the panchayat’s aims, people here could still come together as a society and work towards making their village plastic pollution free.

This experience fundamentally shifted how I approach design challenges. I entered the village carrying invisible assumptions about rural awareness and engagement — assumptions I didn’t even realise I had. What I encountered instead was a complex web of knowledge, barriers, and motivations that defied and challenged every expectation.

The real revelation? Communities almost always know more than outsiders assume. My role wasn’t to educate or fix — it was to listen, connect, and co-create.

As a designer, I learned that meaningful solutions emerge through genuine dialogue, not presumptions. It takes patience to understand a new environment, and the initial discomfort of not knowing where you fit can be valuable — it keeps you humble, curious, and observant. The best insights come when you approach communities not as subjects, but as collaborators.