1) A group of 7th grade students at Fountainhead School in Surat, India discussed major problems facing the world and chose to address plastic pollution for a school contest. 2) They came up with a plan to raise awareness by selling reusable bags and paper bags, with the funds going towards bicycle donations for village children's education. 3) Over the course of a week, they sold over 1000 reusable bags and 600 paper bags at various locations, raising Rs. 30,000 which was used to buy 20 bicycles for village children's school commute. The remaining Rs. 6000 from paper bag sales was donated to a special needs school.

1. Reduce Plastic Pollution Fountainhead School-Surat. DESIGN FOR CHANGE’10

2. Feel Together we 7th graders thought about the major problems our world is facing today. We wrote our ideas on a sheet of paper and discussed about what could be the one thing which was close to everyone’s heart, a topic that would influence the society. We discussed for many hours about it. We had fights regarding the selection of the idea. Then our teacher explained to us that we all have to influence society together and if we fight we would not be able to stay together and if we do not stay together we would not be able to influence more people, so we stopped fighting and together came up with one common idea. We finalized “ Reduction Plastic Pollution” as our idea for the contest. As plastics are creating a havoc on the environment, we felt that it is our duty as responsible citizens to make people aware about the harmful effects of disposal of plastic waste and we should take the first step in bringing about the change in the society.

4. A street play to create impact

5. A rally with posters depicting the harmful effects of plastic pollution

7. Do-Joy of Giving and Changing Week, Day 1--27th September’10 Posters were made which pleaded and cajoled people to stop using plastics in an irresponsible manner.

8. Do Day 2----28th September’10 Early in the morning the joggers were jogged to bring about a change in the society at SVNIT college campus—200 reusable bags and 25 paper bags were sold…way to go

9. Do Day 3-----29th September’10 Joggers at 5 different parks in the city (Joggers Park-City light Area, Flower Garden-Icchanath Area, MTB Arts College-Athwa lines Area, Chowpatty garden-Athwa lines Area )were jolted by 5 groups of Fountainhead kids-350 reusable bags and 50 paper bags gone…

10. Do Day 4-----30th September’10 Sabzi -mandis and offices around Fountainhead got a thought for change--500 reusable bags and 375 paper bags remaining…

11. Do Day 5-----1stOctober’10 Housing societies and colonies were awakened to take a step towards change….250 reusable bags left around 300 paper bags left

12. Do-Day 6-2nd October’10 Creative Mela in school—Culminating activity for Joy of Giving Week Our school community- parents, teachers, administrative staff, support staff, children and artists from all around Surat, were given an opportunity to be a part of the change…..all bags sold out.

13. Do We wanted to make a change in others but now we feel that we have changed ourselves we all took a pledge that we would not use plastic bags and use reusable bags instead. The amount collected Rs.30,000 (Rs.30 per reusable bag) was used for the bicycle project. The bicycle project was all about donating second hand or buying new bicycles and donating it to nearby village children whose school is far away from their homes, to help them in getting education. We brought 20 second hand bicycles and donated it to 20 deserving children to aid in their quest for knowledge. The amount collected Rs.6000 (Rs.10 per paper bag) was donated to the children of MAMTA School. D.F.C. has helped us in impacting the society in a large way and in the process we could feel the change in ourselves as we could help in preserving the environment and also help poor children in pursuit of education.

14. Fountainhead School, Surat TEAM: 1.Anoushka Jariwala(12) 2. KushalShah(13) 3.Shivani Ghantiwala(12) 4. HarshilDhaniwal(12) 5.Swaraj Patel(12) Mentor Teacher: MariyamBaxamusa. THANK YOU