KT Ravindran, the main member of the Keral City Policy, questioning the use of plastic mementos in the urban conclave of Kerala in Kochi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakat
The use of plastic mementos as gifts has triggered criticism from the academic community in the urban conclave of Kerala, which ended in Kochi on Saturday (September 13, 2025).
Although Conclave undertakes to record policy concerning climate -resistant urbanization, the use of plastic gifts raises questions about its obligation to the ethos of sustainability, KT Ravindran, the main member of the Municipal Commission of Keraral said.
The call of the product “terribly designed”, urban designer and academic added: “We should not depend on such things as the memento for important conclave where we are talking about sustainability. I just left the memento I received yesterday because I was too disgusted to touch them.
The two -day conclave represented more than 30 sessions, each with at least five panelists. At the end of one such meeting, Mr. Ravidran pointed to an unsustainable act that undermined the main idea of the conclave.
Set of abandoned Mementos in Conclave. | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakat
“It is designed for the Arab Sea, not for us. There is a place of last rest,” Ravindran said with reference to a memento when talking to the Hindu. He added that such mementations should be avoided at conferences and describes them like nothing but unnecessary consumption. “As academics, we participate in many seminars and get memento from many events. These are pushed by suppliers, not designers. As a result, because they are given to us, we cannot throw them away.
He said he normally registers Mementos he receives. “But something like this is not really donated,” he added.
“The whole seminar concerns the recommendations of sustainable future proposals and, as Kerala already has a proposal policy, incidents like this point for disconnection. It shows that there is a gap between intention and activity. The official noted that all this could be prevented if the government follows the state’s proposal policy.
Published – 13 September 2025 18:09
