“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.

“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........

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