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The champion of green: Juhi Chawla talks about the possible ban on bottled water in hotels

The eco-conscious Juhi Chawla talks about the possible ban on bottled water in hotels...

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First it was the ban on plastic bags less than 50 microns after the 2005 deluge that had actress and entrepreneur Juhi Chawla thrilled. Now, she says that the news has got better with the Maharashtra government reportedly planning to impose a ban on packaged water bottles in Mantralaya, other government offices, hotels, and finally restaurants by March 2018. “Every time you throw plastic away, it sits down in the ocean and goes down into the landfill. It’s sad what we are doing to the environment,” the actress says emphatically, welcoming the news.

GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

On her part, whenever Juhi goes for meetings, events, or stays at a hotel, she asks for boiled, filtered water in jars or stored in glass bottles. “When we were growing up, restaurants and hotels always served from jars or glass bottles and we drank that. Only in the last few years has the trend of plastic bottles started. People have been blinded and uninformed about how harmful they are. Now that it has become an environmental issue, they are being banned and I hope people realise that this will also be better for their own health,” she says. 

IT ALL BEGAN AT HOME

Just like charity, the go-green drive for Juhi also began at home, and out went plastic bags and containers from her kitchen, making her abode 95 per cent plastic-free. “My children Arjun and Janhavi were the first ones I experimented on by changing their lunch boxes and water bottles. Of course, they protested at first because it was so uncool but I said, nothing doing,” she smiles. Till three years ago, her husband Jay (Mehta) would stock bottled water either from Himalayan water or water from Mulshi Springs for guests.

“I said what nonsense is going on and we needed to stop it. So now, our whole household has clean water from the filter,” Juhi says. “Even when something new comes into the house, we make sure it’s not plastic,” she says.

Other than containers in her kitchen, Juhi has also replaced her toothbrush with a bamboo one, which is 100 per cent biodegradable. “The other thing I’m strict about is thermocol plates and cups that are highly damaging to the environment and completely avoidable. For my birthday on November 13, I had food served to the lesser-privileged people in paper plates without plastic coating and in donas (leaf cups). I prefer those and palm leaf or banana leaf plates,” she says.

GREEN AT WORK, TOO

Juhi is doing her best to keep things eco-frienldy at work, too. This year, for the IPL matches of her team with Shah Rukh Khan, Kolkata Knight Riders, they changed the plastic sticks of flags with thin paper, which will be refined further next year. They will also carry the work with their franchises Cape Town Knight Riders in the T20 Global League in South Africa and Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in the Caribbean League. “Though, we are still struggling with water packets and bottles; one lakh are sold per match,” Juhi points out, “I have constantly been reminding the team to cajole the sponsors for environmentally-friendly in-stadium branding.” 

The Gulab Gang actress adds that she takes it for granted that she has support from her business partner and former co-star Shah Rukh. “Poor fellow doesn’t even know what eco-friendly programmes I have been undertaking,” she giggles, “Because we are somebody, people listen to and comply with what we have to say about keeping things greener. In time, you will hear that Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and SRK’s Red Chilies’ shoots will be more eco-friendly,” she says. 

FOR THE FUTURE GENS

Juhi admits that it was because of her children that she got so conscious about the environment, and soon realised that she wanted to do it for every child. “It’s our generation that has made a mess of the planet and our children don’t deserve this. They probably won’t be able to handle the mess we have made,” says the actress who thinks it’s her duty to make people aware about the cause.” 

On a lighter note she concludes, “My poor kids hear so much from me when they use plastic that they go, ‘Oh, there goes mom again’ but this work is dedicated them and all the children on the planet.”

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