“We have always been surrounded by plastic, but we rarely stop to think about where it ends up. It is everywhere, in our bins, in our homes, even in micro-particles we cannot see. Once you notice it, you cannot ignore it,” says Tiya Dhusia, a 20-year-old BSc filmmaking student specialising in sound and production design at Whistling Woods International.
Her words, spoken with conviction, capture a truth that many of us know but rarely act on. Plastic sits in bins, homes, packaging and daily routines, and often leaves our hands long before we think about where it goes.
Tiya and a group of fellow students decided to treat it differently. On the Whistling Woods International campus in Mumbai’s Film City, that meant beginning with the plastic waste around them.
The idea found support within the institute, where film, communication and creative arts education are also linked to conversations on civic responsibility.
“Environmental responsibility in education means equipping students with the mindset and tools to create meaningful change. At Whistling Woods, sustainability is a practice embedded in every facet of campus life,” explains president Meghna Ghai Puri.
That belief shaped a simple campus initiative: converting plastic waste generated on campus into wearable T-shirts. The project later became ‘Plastic to Fashion’, and its impact travelled beyond the institute.
The beginning of a campus waste drive
The idea began taking shape in 2024, shortly after Jai Mehta (24), a WWI alumnus who had his BBA and MBA there, joined the president’s office in an executive role. As part of his CSR responsibilities, he wanted to turn campus values into visible action.
Plastic sits in bins, homes, packaging and daily routines.
“When I joined, I was entrusted with CSR responsibilities because that is a domain our president, Meghna Puri ma’am, holds in the highest regard. We had recently hosted the ‘Celebrate Cinema’ event, where sustainability was the underlying theme, and it felt like the perfect opportunity to translate awareness into action,” he recalls.
At the same time, Puri had been observing the steady pile-up of plastic waste across the campus. Rather than viewing it as refuse to be disposed of, she saw in it the possibility of conversion.
“I noticed plastic waste piling up on campus and saw a chance to turn it into something useful. We wanted sustainability to become part of campus life in a real, creative way,” she tells The Better India.
Under her guidance, with support from the marketing team and student volunteers, the plastic collection drive was launched in September 2024 under ‘Khwab’, WWI’s CSR programme for social responsibility, philanthropy and community engagement. Students Tiya Dhusia and Mrunmai Rane helped lead the drive on campus.
The initiative found a strong response among students. For Mrunmai, a 23-year-old master’s student specialising in cinematography, the cause felt personal.
“My grandfather always emphasised the importance of giving back to the environment. He grew up surrounded by farms and forests, and when he moved to Mumbai, he felt the absence of greenery. That awareness stayed with me,” she shares.
Mrunmai adds, “Even if I cannot solve everything, I can at least collect plastic and support organisations that have the capacity to convert it into something useful. It may seem small, but small efforts accumulate.”
Sorting waste after lectures
The first phase was practical and hands-on. The team placed collection bins across the campus. After lectures, students helped segregate dry waste, while housekeeping staff checked that recyclable material was separated correctly.
“After our lectures, we would spend time sorting plastics from the dry waste bins. The housekeeping team was incredibly supportive, and many students even brought in packaging waste from home, especially from online deliveries,” Tiya explains.
Students Tiya Dhusia (R) and Mrunmai Rane (L) helped lead the drive on campus.
The initiative, initially just a simple idea, captured the imagination of the campus community. On 17 October 2024, WWI handed over 100 kilograms of plastic waste to United270, a creative communication and branding agency based in Mumbai.
For Jai, the figure represented more than weight.
“Collecting 100 kilograms of plastic is a considerable achievement. When you throw away a single wrapper, it feels insignificant. But when an entire community participates, the cumulative impact becomes visible,” he reflects.
The drive continued after the first handover. By 5 June 2025, World Environment Day, the campus had collected an additional 50 kilograms of plastic waste.
From campus plastic to t-shirts
The first 100 kilograms of collected plastic were sent to United270, led by founder and chief creative officer Jeff Emmanuel. His team took the waste through a detailed process of sorting, cleaning, shredding and spinning it into fibre, which was then woven into fabric suitable for T-shirts.
“When you see discarded plastic being turned into something people can actually wear, it changes how you look at waste. It shows how creativity can be used responsibly,” he remarks.
Known for its sustainable digital clothing brand BittenApple, United270 had worked in the space before. But this project marked its first large-scale effort to turn plastic waste into clothing.
“Even efforts involving 50 or 100 kilograms of plastic can create a broader cultural shift. Students carry these values forward into their futures,” Jeff explains. “The vision of Mrs Puri and the passion of the WWI marketing team inspired us. We do not have a Planet B.”
While United270 brought the technical expertise, the drive remained student-led on campus. Around 10 student volunteers, mentored closely by Puri, coordinated logistics and encouraged participation across departments.
“They were extremely proactive and committed. This initiative turned them into leaders who could take an idea and see it through,” Puri observes.
The result was 50 T-shirts, each made from recycled campus plastic and carrying a simple message about rethinking waste.
When the idea reached another campus
The finished T-shirts were distributed to 50 students from ‘Salaam Bombay’, an NGO that supports young people from underprivileged communities through education and empowerment programmes.
The first 100 kilograms of collected plastic were turned into fabric suitable for T-shirts.
Prasad Kamtekar (22), programme coordinator at Salaam Bombay, recalls his reaction. “We are used to seeing plastic recycled into cups or plates, but T-shirts were entirely unexpected. It was an impressively creative take on sustainable practice,” he says.
Inspired by the initiative, the NGO began its own collection drive. “We have collected over 600 kg of plastic to date,” he shares.
For Jai, this represents the project’s most meaningful achievement. “One institution begins something, and others replicate it. The fact that Salaam Bombay collected six times more plastic than our initial effort shows the scale of influence such initiatives can have.”
Within WWI itself, behavioural changes became visible. The campus introduced composting bins for organic waste and replaced disposable plastic with glass bottles for guests and events. Conversations around sustainability entered classrooms and informal discussions alike.
“Students now perceive waste differently, as a resource rather than refuse,” Mrunmai notes.
A lesson beyond the classroom
For Tiya, the initiative changed the way she looked at creativity.
“Participating in this initiative has expanded my perspective. Studying sound teaches you how films feel; working on this taught me what responsibility feels like. Protecting the environment must be as intrinsic as pursuing artistic ambition,” she reflects.
Mrunmai felt the same shift on campus.
“Our college encourages you to care wholeheartedly about what you do. When you care about something, whether it is cinema or the environment, you feel responsible for its future,” she says.
Plastic to Fashion is part of WWI’s broader Khwab programme, through which the institute partners with 10 NGOs, including Salaam Bombay, Salaam Balak, Vidya, Movement India and Lighthouse Media. These collaborations include scholarships, workshops, awareness campaigns and community outreach initiatives.
But for the students, the lesson was also immediate. A wrapper dropped into a bin, a bottle set aside after use, a few extra minutes spent segregating waste after class, each small act began to feel connected to something larger.
Reflecting on the journey, Tiya says, “I have always believed that one individual can make a difference. What I have witnessed here is what happens when a whole community believes the same.”
The finished T-shirts were distributed to 50 students from ‘Salaam Bombay’.
As Puri concludes, “Creative institutions carry a responsibility to show how imagination can address real challenges. This initiative shows that creativity and accountability can exist together.”
On a campus built around storytelling, this became a story the students could hold in their hands. What began as discarded plastic moved through bins, sorting tables and recycling processes before returning as T-shirts worn by young people beyond the campus. For the students of Whistling Woods International, it was a reminder that change can begin with something as ordinary as noticing what lies in a bin and deciding it deserves another life.
All pictures courtesy Whistling Woods International.
