New Delhi [India], January 21 (ANI/PNN): Crocs India, in collaboration with The Social Lab (TSL), launched a month-long beach clean-up event on 15th January at Versova Beach, Mumbai. This initiative was launched with the objective of keeping the beach clean and protecting the marine wildlife.

Marine pollution is reaching alarming levels & most of it is being linked to humans disposing plastic waste in and around the oceans. The plastic waste is adversely affecting the sea and marine life spurring an imbalance in the ecosystem. Given the backdrop, CROCS and TSL came together to carry out extensive cleaning drives for a period of four weeks on the Versova Beach inviting volunteers from all over Mumbai. The goal is to spread awareness among the volunteers and the larger community on depleting flora of the beaches and how such beach cleanup activities can help in improving the lives of the marine animals.

Akshat Shrivastava, Head- Marketing, CROCS, Sahil Arora- CEO, The Social Lab (TSL), Adesh Gupta (TSL), Tarun Rathi Ji VP Film Development Council (UP), Ganga Nandini ji Director (GIWA), Shoyeb Khan, Bollywood &Television Industry artists such as Patrali Chattopadhyay, Mukul Harish, Ratnesh Mani, Rajkumar Kanojia, Radha Dhar, Vinayak Tripathi along with over 175 volunteers, local communities, Municipal Corporation were a part of this initiative. Volunteers from each organization gathered at Versova Beach and were disbursed into several groups, starting from opposite ends of the beach; meeting in the middle;spending more than two hours combing the beach for trash and debris. It was discovered that noted that most of the garbage were bottle caps, straws, soda cans and cigarette butts.

Dr. Bharati Lavekar ji MLA (BJP) Said "We are thankful to CROCS and TSL for organizing the volunteers from different streams and parts of the city to clean our Versova beach. We value the environment greatly and would love to be a part of such initiatives"

Sahil Arora, Chief Executive Officer, The Social Lab (TSL) said "On behalf of our participants and volunteers, we would like to say how pleased we are to be associated with the environmental beautification of this beach. Such projects play a significant role in stimulating the attention of our local people and getting them interested conserving our marine and environment. We look forward to collaborating with CROCS on projects such as these in the future

The drive will be carried out for a month where several trees will be planted around the beach and waste separator dustbins will be installed to reduce the waste disposal into the ocean. TSL aims to be at the front-line of such cleanup programmes to educate the youth of the country and transform them into change agents for a healthier future.

Adesh Gupta, Director (Advisory Board), The Social Lab (TSL) said "We are glad to partner with Crocs for the beach cleanup event in Mumbai. These activities are the need of the hour and we feel privileged to be at the forefront. It is important to educate the youth of the country and spread awareness among them on the ill effects of open waste disposal and these activities help us reach one step closer to our goal of zero marine pollution in the coming years"

Crocs India has joined hands with social impact innovator and implementer, The Social Lab (TSL) for this project. TSL envisages social change through an integrated holistic approach that entangles empirical formulation and management techniques promoting curiosity and innovation.

This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)