The Malwani Health Care and Public Service Centre, a non-profit organisation focused on community welfare, has launched an eco-friendly initiative that links environmental responsibility with public health support. The centre has installed Plastic Bottle Recycle Boxes outside its clinic in Malwani, encouraging residents to drop off empty bottles instead of throwing them on the streets.
Under the initiative, citizens who contribute to the recycling effort receive free medicines for common ailments such as fever, body pain, cough, cold, and headaches. The idea is simple and impactful: people deposit plastic bottles, and in return, the organisation provides medicines to those who need them. The campaign, titled Plastic Do, Muft Mein Dawai Lo Social Drive, was conceptualised by Hussain Shaikh, founder of the Malwani Health Care and Public Service Centre, popularly known in the area as Healthbuddy.
Shaikh said the drive began a year ago in Malwani MHADA, Malad West, with the aim of reducing plastic pollution while helping low-income families who struggle to afford basic medicines. Once discarded, empty plastic bottles had no value for residents and often ended up littering streets. “We installed the first recycle box a year ago and started collecting bottles. Every month, the box would fill up five to six times. The plastic was then sold to local scrap vendors and brought in around Rs 500 to Rs 800 monthly,” he said.
Hussain Shaikh shares details of the upcoming public awareness event on November 30, organised by the Malwani Health Care and Public Service Centre
This money was used to buy loose medicines under the supervision of a visiting doctor. With just one box, the centre managed to provide free medicines for fever, pain, cough, cold, and other common ailments to 20 to 30 people each month. Encouraged by the response, the centre now plans to scale up the initiative by involving NGOs, social workers, political groups, schools, and the wider public. The aim is to increase participation so the campaign can support more people while cutting down plastic waste in the locality.
The organisation has also begun promoting the drive on social media, urging people not to discard used bottles but to collect them and hand them over to the NGO. The bottles will be sold, and the money will be used to buy essential medicines prescribed by doctors, which will be distributed free of cost.
To show residents how recycling can directly support community health, the Malwani Health Care and Public Service Centre will hold a public awareness event on Sunday, November 30, from 1 pm to 3 pm. Shaikh said the NGO eventually plans to buy a vehicle to collect bottles directly from homes and set up collection stalls across various locations to make participation easier for residents.
