The Fact Maker

Tetra Pak joins hands with the Nest Man of India to raise awareness about environment conservation among children

  • The program, called Happy Wings, will reach run special workshops across 200 schools across the country
  • Rakesh Khatri, Nest Man of India and Founder, Eco Roots Foundation, will teach children how to make nests out of household waste and recycled beverage cartons

On the eve of Earth Day 2022, Tetra Pak, a world-leading packaging and processing solutions provider, has joined hands with Eco Roots Foundation, an NGO working to conserve ecosystem, environment, and biodiversity to launch a program called Happy Wings. This program will reach out to over 200 schools across the country, covering over 20,000 students to educate children about the importance of protecting biodiversity, while also teaching them how to make nests for small birds using household waste like jute, coconut husk and recycled beverage cartons.

Launched at Mount Abu Public School, Rohini through a nest-making workshop, the program saw participation from representatives of 30 schools across the National Capital Region where children learnt to make nests using household waste, as well as composite sheets made from recycled cartons. This will be followed by a workshop at Delhi Public School, Faridabad with participants from over 20 schools. The program aims to inspire a behavioral change among children at a primary level and increase sensitivity towards the environment.

The workshops will be conducted by Rakesh Khatri, Founder – Eco Roots Foundation, popularly known as The Nest Man of India, who has built more than 2.5 lakh bird nests throughout India, thus helping several sparrows & other small birds find their way back to the national capital.

Announcing the association, Mr Ashutosh Manohar, Managing Director, Tetra Pak South Asia, said, “Our approach to protecting the planet is grounded in our commitment to a low-carbon circular economy. Over the years, we have focussed a lot on responsible sourcing of material to protect biodiversity, while also enabling recycling of our used packages to give them an effective afterlife. Happy Wings is a beautiful blend of both – bringing sparrows and small birds back to our cities, while also putting recycled cartons to good use.”

Mr. Rakesh Khatri, Founder Eco Roots Foundation, added, “Happy Wings is the result of a shared sense of purpose between Tetra Pak and Ecoroots to protect the planet. I am delighted to collaborate with Tetra Pak, in creating the next generation of conscious citizens, our children, who can change the course of our collective future for good. Over the past 14 years, we have reached out to 10 lakh students across the country, and with committed partners like Tetra Pak, we will take this to the next level.”

Happy Wings is one of many programs run by Tetra Pak across the country to raise awareness about the environment conservation, especially through waste segregation & recycling. Tetra Pak cartons are paper-based, recyclable and over 40% cartons sold in India are already being recycled. The cartons can be recycled in many ways – pulp to make paper-based products like bags & notebooks, polymer-aluminium granules to make waterproof products like roofing sheets & furniture, and composite sheets to make products like seats & backrest for commercial vehicles, furniture and bird-nests.