NEW DELHI: Green Action Week (GAW), observed each year during the first week of October (Oct. 3-9, 2022), is a global people’s campaign to promote sustainable consumption. Around 60 organizations in 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North- and South America are participating in the campaign in 2022. Green Action Week is an initiative by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) and is carried out in India and coordinated by CUTS International, a global consumer advocacy group, headquartered in Jaipur.

“Sharing Community” is the theme for the campaign in 2022. Since 2018, the campaign has focused on encouraging cultures of sharing and collaboration. This year's campaign will discuss and implement ways that can bring more equal and sustainable access to goods and services for the benefit of the people and the planet, through sharing and collaboration.  

“Recently, India banned the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified single-use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, all across the country from July 1, 2022.  From 1950 to 2015, around 8.3 billion metric tons (BMTs) of plastic had been produced globally, and of this, 80 percent - 6.3 BMTs - was accounted as plastic waste. Plastic pollution soared from two million tons in 1950, to 348 million tons in 2017, becoming a global industry valued at $522.6 billion, said United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Report (2019-20) stated that 3.5 million metric tons of plastic waste are generated in India annually. It is expected to double in capacity, by 2040.

In 2019, the world produced 53.6 million metric tons (MT) of e-waste; Asia accounted for the largest share of this dump 24.9 MT. India, the third largest producer of e-waste after China and the US, generated 3.2 MT, with a per capita generation figure of 2.4 kg. Despite the government’s initiatives, 90 percent of this waste is handled and managed by the informal sector – unsustainably. The world is predicted to produce 75 million metric tons of e-waste by 2030. This year’s campaign is positioned to support the effective implementation of ban on single-use plastic, proper management of e-waste and educate people about ways to consume sustainably, said George Cheriyan, Director, CUTS International.

CUTS International is partnering and supporting 14 states in India with 12 districts of Rajasthan, for conducting the GAW campaign. The partnering states are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in addition to Rajasthan. This will help in creating a network of organisations working on sustainable consumption and strengthen the collective advocacy for rebuilding recovery plans that will reverse current trends and change the consumption patterns towards a more sustainable future, said Mr. Cheriyan.