What is the Plastic Money Shop, India? – Chhavi Saini, Townley Grammar School

“I’m not a celebrity. I’m not a millionaires. I’m just a girl who love and care our planet.” 

‘Plastic money shop’ is an initiative taken by Kangujam to reduce the use of single-use plastic. It is a shop that allows you to exchange plastic items, in return for rice, stationery or a tree sapling. They then upcycle the plastic into making things like desks, eco friendly tiles, etc.

Her story began with her birth in Manipur, India, 2011,  but moved to Bhubaneswar soon after. Within the small indigenous community that she grew up in, the Meitei tribe, she was surrounded by much greenery and many of nature’s beautiful scenes. India’s struggle with environmental issues like floods, droughts, heatwaves, cyclones and such are some of the many reasons influencing Kangujam’s activist lifestyle.

Two destructive natural disasters completely changed her life. Cyclone Titli & Fani between the years 2018-2019. Climate change has been scientifically proven to worsen the conditions and extremities in a natural disaster, and in this case, in a cyclone. Tropical cyclones use warm, moist air and form on top of the oceans as their source of energy, so as global warming warms up the oceans, and causes sea levels to rise, there is a higher likelihood of a cyclone. 

Licypriya is a huge environmental representative for both India and for all youth. In 2019, at just 6, she protested outside the Indian parliament in an effort to pass laws about climate education, and was detained by the police a year later. This caused much social media attention. Kangujam first made her appearance in the United Nations COP25 climate conference at the age of 8, she appeared in the Forbes india 30 under 30 list, founded Licipriya foundation, was featured by United Nations Headquarters New York, has given many ted talks, raised funds reaching almost 10 million rupees during the COVID 19 crisis in India, among countless other incredible things. In the recent COP27 conference, Kangujam stated her belief that most voices were represented by older adults, and there was little place for children. 

Licypriya has most recently spoken out about the events of coal mining and the destruction in Hasdeo forest. “Indigenous people are losing their homes, forest and land rights. But they are underreported by the media. 90% of the news are focused on urban issues only.” This is an important issue as changes such as these are irreversible.

“We need to keep speaking up about this and need to hold lawmakers accountable for their political decisions.”

As youth of the UK, we have the responsibility of making a contribution, as well as supporting the children of other countries so that we can together make an impact on the world that we all live in. Engaging in urgent campaigns and movements held by people such as Kangujam, gives an opportunity for learning, therefore we can continually do the best for our future, and the earth’s. Many times, Kangujam has expressed her concern that we as the future generation are the most important towards making a change, after all, it will affect us the most. Seeing an 11 year old do things like this is massively inspiring to see, so what can we do? One thing Kangujam believes is that social media is an incredibly powerful tool, and we can help by sharing her message to the  people around us, so that we can help pass effective laws regarding climate change.

To read more about Licypriya, visit her social media accounts @licypriyakangujam

“We are unstoppable, another world is possible, and change is possible!”