Senior citizens with children lead collection & recycling of plastic waste

[Rituu B. Nanda]

During a visit to Avani in April 2026, I was pleasantly surprised when three members of the Senior Citizens Association of Kolhapur requested a meeting with me. Avani had last year invited me for a zoom call with them in March 2025. Through J. Pannihalkar's facilitation of the SALT approach with this group, they have undertaken several actions & were eager to share their experiences.

How did it all begin.. towards the end of 2024?

J. Panhalkar explained that two years prior how his organization, Avani's head Anuradhaji, challenged him if he could apply the SALT approach. He decided to use within his own residential area, Nana Patil nagar, in Kolhapur city, Maharashtra, India. The locality has a Senior Citizens Association, and he began by holding SALT conversations with a few senior members, including the president and secretary. Together, they explored what their shared dream was for the association.

At that time, the association had approximately twenty members, many of them highly educated professionals including retired police officers, school principals and college lecturers. Their energy was largely devoted to celebrating festivals. However, when they began reflecting on their dream and strength things changed. They dreamed for a happy, cohesive community. They spoke of establishing a garden. They observed that the area had a large number of vegetable vendors and felt that a marketplace for them was required. They were deeply concerned about the local consequences of climate change.

As they turned their attention to how the dream might be realized, the plastic waste strewn across the roads and the neighbourhood  stood out. They understood that plastic posed a serious threat to the environment but they recognised that many residents were unaware of this harm. In response, the senior citizens held street meetings and gatherings near the local dumping ground where plastic was discarded.

Avani has build a waste pickers cooperative  in the city  but not in this part of the city. Pannihalkar was able to point them towards the cooperative. The senior citizens met the cooperative and soon waste pickers began making door to door collections of plastic. There was resistance among some residents.  Gradually, those who had been resistant began to change their outlook. Now, every Thursday, waste pickers collect plastic from the area, and where residents remain reluctant to participate, the senior citizens themselves visit to persuade them.

Avani's mobile van collects the plastic each Thursday and transports it to a recycling unit. The senior citizens visited this facility and witnessed how the collected plastic is processed and used in the construction of roads, which they found very valuable.

The results have been remarkable. The association's membership has grown from twenty to two hundred. Owing to the mobilization led by these senior citizens, the waste pickers are now collecting 1.5 tonnes of plastic from 1000 households every month, amounting to approximately 18 tonnes in a year. The association has also adopted four local schools, where they encourage pupils to collect plastic. The told me " we have to prepare the young generation to take up climate change mitigation so that they have a better world to live in" 

This work has drawn the attention of the local municipal corporation who has extended an invitation to meet them

Significance of this work

• Critical role that local residents can play in the issues of climate change. The door to door collection model is sustained by social accountability without financial incentives. Plastic waste collected and diverted from open dumping/ burning  reduces greenhouse gas emissions. 
• The intergenerational dimension where senior citizens are preparing schoolchildren
• Society often overlooks older people but they have wisdom and experience. When  given the encouragement they can do a great deal for their community.
• Importance of understanding what communities can do on their own and what they need support with. In Kolhapur, the senior citizens led the social effort. What they could not do alone, organising the waste pickers and accessing the recycling unit, was provided by Avani and service providers. Begin with community ownership
• It is harder to facilitate community-led response in urban areas but this example shows that if we can stimulate a small group of people on the issue they care about, it is possible.
• It is uplifting to see a Panhalkar, astaff member who, in his own residential colony and outside a formal programme, applied the SALT approach and facilitated a community-led change. 

[Brinty Saha]

Taking action has no no age limits! Older people has many significant strengths in terms of their experiences, interests. We can stimulate people on the issue they care about. Loved your reflections, Rituu! 

[Rowshon Benthi Hossain]

This is a powerful example of community-led climate action. By reducing plastic waste and engaging both seniors and children, this initiative shows how local ownership can create lasting environmental change across generations. Engaging school student seem very wise decision as they are our future leaders.