Nandambakkam Journey Back to Yellow Bags
The inspiration for starting this project in Nandhambakkam village came from witnessing the harmful impact of single-use plastics on local streets, farms and water bodies, and the desire to revive the traditional manjappai culture while empowering villagers especially students and women to lead a sustainable, plastic-free lifestyle through collective community action and awareness programs
The project was executed with strong support from the village president and local communities through joint mobilization meetings, distributing eco-friendly cloth bags (manjappai) to households and shops, conducting awareness campaigns on plastic pollution, organizing student-led rallies and street plays, establishing waste collection points, training local women in manjappai production, and implementing plastic-free zones with community enforcement.
The project taught that community engagement and local leadership are essential for success, youth involvement effectively revives traditional practices, consistent awareness campaigns drive behavioral change better than one-time events, empowering women through manjappai production creates sustainable livelihoods, and building village-level ownership ensures long-term impact over external enforcement.
