This 'waste-bar' in Goa exchanges cigarette butts, used straws for beer

You could be fined Rs 2000 for drinking beer on a Goa beach but thanks to an innovative green initiative 10 beer bottle caps or 20 used cigarette butts can fetch you a beer in Goa if you exchange them at a popup wastebar The idea is to engage beach visitors in activities that create awareness about environment and conservation while also cleaning the beachesConceived by Drishti Marine a private beach management agency roped in by the state tourism ministry to rein in the garbage menace on Goas beaches the wastebar is a hang out of sorts where one can exchange segregated garbage for a drinkThe initiative kicked off on January 30 when the first of the popup wastebars opened up at the Zanzibar shack located at the beach end of the popular Titos Lane in the North Goan beach village of BagaThe wastebar is a winwin concept It is positive for the venue as it is a positive event that attracts a crowd You get very happy customers as they feel they contribute to society and get a free drink for it And for brands it helps in positioning Noreen van Holstein who conceptualised the campaign along with Drishti Marine told IANSPeople come to Goa for two things beach and the bar So lets give them what they come for free drinks in exchange for garbage that they collect This ensures that they become conscious of the waste that is there on the beach and that trash actually has value They will leave Goa with a positive feeling and a clean beach she addedAccording to Van Holstein wastebars kickedoff in the Netherlands years back and the idea is catching on Apart from cigarette butts and bottle caps five used plastic straws will get you a bottle of chilled beer or a cocktailThe wastebar will pop up in various venues in the next few monthsGoas beaches attract nearly eight million tourists annually Garbage piling up on the beaches in recent years has been a cause for concern and has led to the appointment of a private agency to keep the beaches clean and garbagefreeOver the last few weeks however the governments inability to deal with the garbage menace especially in areas which are popular with tourists has been a major area of concern for the travel and tourism industry stakeholders in Goa following a drop in tourist arrivalsAn ongoing tussle between the government and Drishti Marine the beach management agency tasked with Goas beaches clean has also resulted in slackening in the pace of garbage collection with the opposition blaming the government for not handling the issue properly especially during the peak tourist seasonWe ran an extremely successful campaign over 150 days in the last tourist season with the intention of creating awareness on beach cleanup and teach people about the importance of waste segregation We made a significantly positive impact on that front and hence have decided to run the campaign this season as well Drishti Marine CEO Ravi Shankar saidAmong other things the waste items collected during the campaign are used to create various useful items including music instruments during workshops run by the organisationGoa is one of the top beach tourism destinations in the country and attracts nearly seven million tourists which includes more than half a million foreignersCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever