OCS Foundation
Project Theli, led by OCS Foundation and Expeditions For Cause, encourages people to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of polythene shopping bags by adopting reusable cloth bags.
Inspired by Shri Rajen Parikh, the initiative began in December 2015 and combines awareness, behavioural change, reuse of waste fabric and community participation.
Project Theli
Plastic bags are convenient for a few minutes but can remain in the environment for years.
Project Theli, led by OCS Foundation and Expeditions For Cause, encourages people to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of polythene shopping bags by adopting reusable cloth bags.
Inspired by Shri Rajen Parikh, the initiative began in December 2015 and combines awareness, behavioural change, reuse of waste fabric and community participation.
Why Project Theli
Polythene bags are used briefly, but their environmental impact lasts far longer.
Project Theli addresses this everyday problem by encouraging people to make a simple but meaningful change in their shopping habits.
Instead of depending on disposable polythene bags, the initiative promotes reusable cloth bags that can be carried and used repeatedly.
The objective is not only to distribute bags. It is to encourage people to reconsider a routine habit and choose a more responsible alternative.
The Idea Is Simple
Carry a Cloth Bag. Avoid a Polythene Bag.
Reduce dependence on polythene by making reusable cloth bags part of everyday life.
The initiative creates awareness about the environmental impact of plastic bags while also providing and promoting a practical alternative.
Every reusable bag represents one more opportunity to avoid unnecessary polythene use.
Reuse Before Discarding
Project Theli also encourages people to donate waste fabric that can be used for making cloth bags.
Instead of being discarded, usable fabric can be given another purpose.
This approach connects two simple ideas: reducing waste and reducing dependence on polythene.
From Fabric To Theli
Project Theli demonstrates how an unwanted material can become part of an environmental solution.
Individuals and volunteers contribute reusable waste fabric.
The collected material can be used to make cloth bags.
The bags are distributed as reusable alternatives to polythene shopping bags.
People carry the bags for repeated use rather than accepting a new disposable bag each time they shop.
People who adopt the habit can encourage their families, friends and communities to do the same.
One simple change can become part of a wider behavioural shift.
Project Theli So Far
More Than Bag Distribution
The long term purpose of Project Theli is not simply to replace one bag with another.
The greater objective is to change the habit that creates the demand for disposable bags.
A reusable cloth bag becomes most effective when carrying it becomes routine.
When people remember to take a bag from home, decline unnecessary polythene at shops and encourage others to do the same, environmental responsibility becomes part of everyday behaviour.
That behavioural change is central to Project Theli.
Environmental Responsibility Starts With Daily Choices
A single person’s decision may appear small.
But when thousands of people make the same responsible choice repeatedly, the collective effect becomes much greater.
Project Theli encourages citizens to recognise that environmental action does not always require a large programme or complicated intervention.
Sometimes it begins with something as simple as remembering to carry a cloth bag.
Community Participation
Project Theli is designed around participation.
Individuals can change their own habits.
Families can reuse fabric.
Volunteers can help collect material.
Organisations can support bag production.
Citizens can spread awareness.
Communities can encourage reusable alternatives.
Every participant can contribute in a practical way.
How You Can Help
The simplest way to support the initiative is to reduce or avoid the use of polythene bags in your own daily life.
Carry a reusable cloth bag when you shop and encourage others to do the same.
Old clothes, bedsheets, curtains and other suitable fabric can be contributed for cloth bag production.
Giving reusable fabric a second life can support both waste reduction and the production of sustainable alternatives.
Volunteers can help collect reusable fabric and support awareness activities connected with Project Theli.
Individuals and organisations can contribute towards producing reusable cloth bags.
The current programme reference in the OCS Foundation brochure provides for support at Rs 50 per bag, with a minimum quantity of 1,000 bags.
Encourage friends, families, colleagues, customers and communities to reject unnecessary plastic bags and carry reusable cloth bags instead.
Behaviour changes more effectively when people see others practising it consistently.
For Corporate And Institutional Partners
Organisations can support Project Theli through structured participation.
A Project Theli activity can combine employee participation with a simple environmental message that people can continue practising after the campaign ends.
Employment Through Production
The production of cloth bags has also generated employment opportunities.
This gives Project Theli an additional dimension.
A reusable bag helps reduce dependence on polythene while its production can also create work for people involved in making the bags.
The initiative therefore connects environmental responsibility with productive use of fabric and opportunities linked to bag production.
The Project Theli Pledge
Avoid single use polythene bags wherever possible and carry a reusable cloth bag instead.
The value of the pledge lies in practising it consistently.
At the market.
At the grocery store.
While shopping.
While travelling.
Whenever a disposable bag can be avoided.
A habit repeated every day can create far greater impact than a one time action.
Be Part Of Project Theli
More than 1 lakh cloth bags have already been distributed through Project Theli, and more than 5,000 volunteers have pledged to avoid single use polythene bags.
The next step begins with another person choosing differently.
You can carry a reusable bag.
You can donate fabric.
You can volunteer.
You can support bag production.
You can encourage others to make the same change.
From the field
