Bank on! A steely fight from Karnataka against single-use plastic

Every celebration — from weddings to community feasts — leaves behind mountains of plastic waste. Discarded cups, plates, and spoons are clogging drains and polluting open spaces, posing a persistent challenge for civic authorities.

Despite growing awareness about environmental protection, the convenience of single-use plastics continues to dominate social functions across the country.To tackle this growing menace, a quiet movement born in Karnataka is creating waves — the Plate Bank initiative, launched by the Adamya Chetana Foundation, a voluntary organisation led by Tejaswini Ananth Kumar. Over the past few years, the concept has steadily expanded from Bengaluru to several other cities and towns, including Mysuru.

In Mysuru, the Anantha Plate Bank has been operating for the past eight months. It offers 2,000 stainless steel plates, bowls, glasses, spoons, and around 1,000 tea and coffee tumblers, all lent free of cost to the public for private or community events. The idea is simple but powerful — to help people shift away from single-use plastics by providing an easy, reusable alternative."There is absolutely no charge for borrowing the utensils.

People can use them for weddings, functions, or even small gatherings and return them clean," says Srihari Dwarkanath, founder and managing trustee of the GSS Foundation, which partnered with Adamya Chetana to establish the Mysuru unit. "We are making people understand the importance of switching from plastic to sustainable models. The response from the public has been very encouraging," he adds.The Mysuru plate bank currently functions from a space provided free of cost by a local donor.

"Our aim is to expand the collection to 10,000 utensils soon. A dedicated staff member has been appointed to manage the facility and maintain the cutlery," Srihari explains.According to Srihari, convincing people to adopt this new system hasn't been easy. "Many event organisers are often hesitant to take responsibility for returning the borrowed utensils safely," he says. "However, we are receiving a better response from small and medium-scale event hosts compared to larger functions."Expanding footprintThe Plate Bank concept is no longer limited to Mysuru or Bengaluru. According to Tejaswini, 32 plate banks are now functional across the country, with 27 of them in Karnataka alone. "We have established plate banks in smaller towns like Sirsi, Kumta, Sagara, Soraba, Koppa, and Tirthahalli, and we are planning one more in Hosanagara," she says. These are all ecologically sensitive Malnad regions, where plastic pollution could have long-term environmental consequences.A similar plate bank has been established in Uttarakhand, near Jim Corbett National Park, located in the fragile Himalayan ecosystem. "The goal is simple — prevent plastic from reaching sensitive zones and create awareness about sustainable celebrations," Tejaswini explains.How it startedThe Plate Bank movement has its roots in the early sustainability efforts of Adamya Chetana. Tejaswini recalls that the inspiration came during her visit to the United States in 1997–98 with her late husband, former Union minister HN Ananth Kumar.

"At that time, the concept of waste segregation at source was new even in India. When we returned, we decided to launch waste segregation and recycling initiatives through Adamya Chetana," she says.The idea of replacing disposable cutlery with reusable steel items took shape during the Foundation's annual Seva Utsava held on Dec 31, 2004, and Jan 1, 2005 in Bengaluru. "We started that event with 1,000 steel plates. It was a turning point — people saw how clean, practical, and eco-friendly it could be. Today, our collection includes nearly 30 different types of cutlery, from spoons and bowls to glasses used for coffee, tea, and even ice cream," she says.What began as a small community experiment in Bengaluru has now grown into a national network — and is even gaining traction abroad. The Foundation has established two Plate Bank initiatives in the United States as well.