Thursday afternoon was a rather unique one for the staff members of Taj Bengal Hotel. Instead of their regular duty, more than 70 members were seen collecting old newspapers from the hotel and taking them to the Crystal Room to make paper bags. In a remarkable display of community-driven environmental activism, the Taj Bengal Hotel and Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta jointly organised 'Taj Pathaya'.
Wednesday was the first day of a month-long training programme, in which the employees of the hotel would be trained to make reusable paper bags with old newspapers. The programme centred around a creative initiative to promote sustainable living. Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta, which is the female wing of the Rotary Club of Calcutta, also supplied reusable newspapers. The employees of the hotel took time out from their busy schedule for the cause. Under the guidance of professional trainers, participants were shown how to make paper bags.
According to Partha Mukherjee from the Rotary Club of Calcutta, newspapers, after their primary use, are often thrown away and these end up in the drainage systems. “This is one of the ways to recycle paper and reduce the use of plastic,” Mukherjee said.
Besides the participants, several guests graced the event like Roshni Ganguly, president of Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta, secretary Rini Mookerjee, director of Taj Bengal, Prabhakar Kumar Singh, HRD manager Ankush Patial. With papers, scissors, gum and staplers, the volunteers kept on making the bags for over two hours. Several of them were seen carrying old newspapers from the nooks and corners of the hotel to the venue. “Several people and guests bring newspapers to the hotel and they are often thrown away and we need to reuse the same to save the environment,” said a participant.
According to Mukherjee, the training began on Thursday and would continue twice a week for a month. “Once the volunteers are trained properly, they will keep making paper bags every day,” Mukherjee added. Then the bags will be collected and sold in the market. “We have also decided to sell these bags at different fairs to reduce the usage of plastic carry bags and the money collected from selling these paper bags would fund the tree plantation scheme of the Rotary Club, Calcutta,” Mukherjee said adding that each of these bags will cost around Rs 2.
On the first day of the training, volunteers made more than 140 bags and the club is expecting the number to rise. “It is all about practice. The more they practise, the more productive they will be. We are counting on the numbers as it would boost the tree plantation scheme, one of the most important activities by the Rotary Club,” Mukherjee said.
Meanwhile, employees of Taj Bengal were more than happy to be a part of this exercise. According to one of the participants, the employees of the hotel are entitled to spend fixed hours every week for ‘employee volunteering hours’. “So, some of us would use these hours to make paper bags and make the world a better place,” she added. At present, there are over 600 employees at the hotel and more are likely to join the initiative.
