"🌿 Exciting news! We're empowering communities with kitchen and gardening skills: set up kitchens, cultivate green thumbs, build strong connections, and promote eco-friendliness!💚🏡 #GreenActionWeek #SharingCommunity #SSNC #TheNetwork #ICTAgricultureComplex @Consumers_Int

Every Business Has a Role in Cleaner Air! A glimpse of TheNetwork’s Responsible Business for Clean Air workshop captures an inspiring commitment: businesses and industries taking responsibility for reducing harmful emissions. We hope these commitments inspire businesses worldwide to make clean air a priority. Because every step towards cleaner operations means healthier communities and a better future. Clean air is everyone’s business! @Consumers_Int @dcislamabad @RominaKAlam @EPCCDpunjab #CleanAir #ResponsibleBusiness #TheNetwork #PublicHealth #Pakistan

PTV Coverage Takes TheNetwork’s Clean Air Message Beyond Urban Centres TheNetwork for Consumer Protection is pleased that Pakistan Television (PTV), the state-owned public broadcaster, has also covered our initiative to bring businesses and environmental protection agencies together for cleaner air. Our recent Responsible Business for Clean Air initiative brought together businesses from sectors including transport, steel, food, hotels and restaurants, alongside environmental protection officials from Islamabad and Punjab. The aim was to encourage businesses to reduce harmful emissions and commit to more responsible practices. PTV’s coverage matters because the clean air message must reach beyond major cities. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024–25, PTV’s terrestrial network covers 100% of Pakistan’s population. This extensive reach provides an important opportunity for public-interest messages to reach rural communities as well as urban audiences. For TheNetwork, this coverage helps amplify a message central to consumer protection: clean air is a consumer concern, a public health priority and a shared responsibility. @Consumers_Int @RominaKAlam @ClimateCha2209 @dcislamabad @PTVNewsOfficial #pakistan #cleanair #airpollution #responsiblebusinesses

What if you could see the quality of the air around you in real time? 🌿 Real-time air quality monitoring empowers consumers to stay informed and take timely action. Because when pollution data becomes visible, healthier choices become easier. @Consumers_Int @WWFPak @dcislamabad @RominaKAlam #Pakistan #CleanAir #Airpollution #sustainability

Business Pledges for Clean Air Are Turning into Action! 🌿 When businesses commit to clean air, pledges can translate into practical action. The Hotel and Restaurants Association, under the leadership of its President, Chaudhry Farooq, pledged to support efforts to improve air quality. One practical step is now visible in restaurant kitchens, where exhaust hoods and suction systems fitted with filters help control smoke and reduce the release of pollutants into the air. This is what responsible business looks like: moving beyond words to adopt measures that can help protect public health and improve air quality. TheNetwork for Consumer Protection is encouraging businesses to make clean-air commitments and demonstrate how responsible practices can contribute to healthier communities. Government regulation and enforcement are essential, but businesses also have a vital role to play. When they take ownership of their environmental impact, they become part of the solution. Our message is simple: a pledge matters when it leads to action. Let’s encourage more businesses to follow this example and make clean air a shared priority. @Consumers_Int @WWFPak @dcislamabad #Pakistan #CleanAir #Airpollution #Sustainability

TheNetwork’s Two-Year Plastic Ban Campaign Is Bearing Fruit! 🌱 TheNetwork for Consumer Protection’s sustained campaign for plastic-ban enforcement is beginning to bear fruit. The Minister of State for Interior has now announced a commitment to make the capital, Islamabad, plastic-free by 31 December 2026. For the past two years, TheNetwork has been advocating effective implementation of plastic-ban laws, mobilising consumers and encouraging businesses to adopt practical alternatives to single-use plastics. Our current Green Action Week campaign has achieved social media outreach of around half a million people. We have also documented success stories from twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, showing how hospitals, markets, food outlets and other businesses are putting plastic-ban measures into practice. This progress reinforces our message: plastic-ban enforcement is possible when government, businesses and consumers work together. We welcome the minister’s announcement and hope it will translate into consistent enforcement, greater business participation, accessible alternatives and lasting behavioural change. At TheNetwork, we believe that laws must move beyond paper and become part of everyday practice. We will continue sharing success stories and advocating for effective implementation. Two years of advocacy. Half a million people reached through our current campaign. Now, the momentum must translate into a plastic-free Islamabad. dawn.com/news/2036467/state-… @Consumers_Int @WWFPak @dcislamabad #GreenActionWeek #Pakistan #Islamabad #Plasticban #Saynotoplastic

TheNetwork’s Plastic Ban Campaign has hit the main roads of Rawalpindi City, taking the message of a cleaner and greener future directly to motorists. In collaboration with Punjab EPA, the campaign is raising awareness about the harmful impacts of single-use plastics and encouraging citizens to adopt sustainable alternatives. Together, let's reduce plastic pollution, protect our environment, and build a healthier Pakistan for future generations. @Consumers_Int @PakEPAIslamabad @dcislamabad @EPCCDpunjab @EPARawalpindi #GreenActionWeek #PlasticFree #SayNoToPlastic #Plasticban

From Success Stories to Wider Action: Learning What Works on Plastic Reduction ♻️🇵🇰 What does successful implementation of a plastic ban look like on the ground? As part of Green Action Week 2026, TheNetwork for Consumer Protection brought together community representatives, members of the Punjab Provincial Assembly representing Rawalpindi, district government officials and senior officials from the Punjab Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Rawalpindi for a stakeholder meet-up focused on this question. Rather than discussing the plastic ban only as legislation, the meeting placed the spotlight on real examples of implementation. TheNetwork shared 10 video-documented success stories from different settings, including businesses, markets and public-facing establishments. Each story provides an opportunity to see how plastic reduction measures are being applied in practice and what can be learned from these experiences. The videos also helped open a wider discussion: What is working? What challenges are businesses and communities facing? And how can successful approaches be replicated elsewhere? Bringing these experiences together is important because practical examples can help demonstrate what implementation looks like beyond policy documents. A successful approach in one market, business or establishment may provide lessons that can be adapted to another. This is the purpose behind TheNetwork's Green Action Week campaign: to document practical examples, bring stakeholders into the conversation and create opportunities to learn from what is already happening. The plastic challenge is complex, but sharing experiences from the ground can help identify approaches that are practical, achievable, and capable of being expanded. Green Action Week 2026 is about turning individual success stories into shared learning—and shared learning into wider action. 🌱🇵🇰 @Consumers_Int @PakEPAIslamabad @dcislamabad @EPCCDpunjab #GreenActionWeek #Pakistan #Plasticfree #sustainability

Changing Habits, Enforcing Change: Islamabad’s Push Towards a Plastic-Free Capital 🇵🇰🌱 As part of efforts to reduce the use of single-use plastics, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Islamabad has reinvigorated its campaigns for the enforcement of plastic regulations, with a focus not only on compliance but also on encouraging people to change their everyday habits. The video highlights these efforts and the importance of moving away from conventional plastic bags and adopting more environmentally friendly alternatives. This renewed enforcement comes as Islamabad continues to implement the Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations 2023, under which the use, sale, and distribution of polythene bags are prohibited in the capital. Recent enforcement action reported by The Express Tribune demonstrates the scale of the campaign. The district administration reported 122 arrests, the seizure of 293 kilograms of plastic bags, and the sealing of seven shops during citywide operations against violations. But enforcement is only one part of the solution. Long-term change also depends on people changing their habits—choosing alternatives, refusing unnecessary plastic bags, and understanding that environmental regulations work best when they are supported by everyday action. The experience in Islamabad shows that creating a cleaner environment requires both effective enforcement and behavioural change. For Green Action Week, this is an important reminder: lasting environmental progress is not achieved through regulations alone. It happens when those regulations translate into changes in how we shop, consume, and manage waste. Small changes in everyday habits can contribute to a bigger change for our environment. 🌱🇵🇰 @Consumers_Int @PakEPAIslamabad @dcislamabad @EPCCDpunjab @RominaKAlam #GreenActionWeek #PlasticFree #PlasticPollution #EnvironmentalProtection #WasteManagement #BehaviourChange #Sustainability

From Law to Action: Sharing Plastic Ban Success Stories As part of Green Action Week 2026, TheNetwork for Consumer Protection organised a special stakeholder meet-up in Rawalpindi, bringing together community leaders, members of the Punjab Provincial Assembly representing Rawalpindi, district government officials, and senior officials of the Punjab Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Rawalpindi. The meeting provided an opportunity to share 10 video-documented success stories demonstrating how the plastic ban is already being implemented successfully in different settings, including businesses, markets, and public-facing establishments. The campaign is addressing a common misconception that Pakistan’s plastic ban law is too complex to enforce or too difficult for businesses and consumers to comply with. The success stories demonstrate the opposite: when there is awareness, responsible business behaviour, consumer cooperation and effective enforcement, the law can work. TheNetwork used the videos to facilitate discussion among policymakers, government officials and community representatives on what is working, what challenges remain, and how successful practices can be replicated and scaled up. The central message of the campaign is simple: The plastic ban is not impossible to enforce. It is already working in places where stakeholders are committed to making it work. Green Action Week is therefore not only about highlighting the problem of plastic pollution—it is about sharing practical solutions and moving from legislation to implementation, from enforcement challenges to success stories, and from individual action to collective responsibility. @Consumers_Int @PakEPAIslamabad @dcislamabad @EPCCDpunjab @RominaKAlam #Pakistan #GreenActionWeek #Plasticfree #ClimateChange #SayNoToPlastic

Small Steps Towards a Plastic-Free Pakistan Plastic ban enforcement is not impossible — it is already happening. As part of TheNetwork for Consumer Protection’s Green Action Week 2026 campaign, we are documenting real success stories from Islamabad and Rawalpindi to show that the Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations 2023 can work when laws are enforced and businesses and consumers do their part. Our latest video success story highlights businesses that have moved away from single-use plastics and adopted practical alternatives. Bravo Foods has replaced plastic packaging with cardboard ice cream and paper cups, as well as foil-lined cardboard boxes for hot meals. Kaspa’s Desserts and traditional food outlets are using alternatives such as heavy paper bags and clay pots. Government enforcement matters: inspections, notices and action by authorities demonstrate that compliance is possible when the law is taken seriously. These examples send an important message: we do not need to wait for a perfect system. Small, practical steps can make a big difference. TheNetwork’s Green Action Week campaign is sharing these stories to encourage businesses, consumers and authorities to move from policy to practice and demonstrate that Pakistan’s plastic-ban laws can be enforced successfully. The ban is not just a law on paper. It can work — and it is working. @Consumers_Int @dcislamabad @PakEPAIslamabad @RominaKAlam @EPCCDpunjab #GreenActionWeek #Pakistan #ClimateChange #Saynotoplastic #BanPlastic

TheNetwork for Consumer Protection in Pakistan’s campaign to promote and enforce Pakistan’s plastic-ban laws is beginning to bear fruit during Green Action Week, as the Islamabad Capital Territory administration has reinvigorated efforts to enforce the ban on single-use plastics. As part of GAW (Oct 1-7, 2026), TheNetwork has also video-documented ten success stories from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, showing where the plastic-ban law is already being successfully implemented and enforced — including a hospital, local markets, a food street and a five-star hotel. These examples demonstrate that effective enforcement is possible when government authorities, businesses and consumers work together. The renewed enforcement in Islamabad reflects growing recognition that plastic legislation can only succeed when it moves from law to action. ‘Plastic-free Islamabad’ initiative being launched dawn.com/news/2034814?utm_so… Capital steps up crackdown on plastic bags | The Express Tribune - tribune.com.pk/.../capital-s…... @Consumers_Int @WWFPak #Pakistan #GreenActionWeek #plasticfree #saynotoplasticpollution #plastic See less

Pledge wall Participants writing the plastic they will refuse from tomorrow: bags, bottles, and the rest. @Consumers_Int #GreenActionWeek2026 #RefuseSingleUse #SharingCommunity

Screening success stories that are cutting use of either single plastic use or completely banning use of plastic in Islamabad and Rawalpindi @Consumers_Int @PakEPAIslamabad #GreenActionWeek #Documentary #RefuseSingleUse #SharingCommunity

Hall/Audience Consumers, EPA and district guests in one room for Green Action Week 2026. The habit has to start here. @Consumers_Int #GreenActionWeek #SharingCommunity #Sustainability #SayNoToPlastic

A Busy Food Street Goes Plastic-Free Rawalpindi city's popular food street is a place that rarely slows down. Located right next to Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, the area attracts large numbers of visitors, particularly when matches and events bring even more people to the area. Despite being one of the city’s busiest food destinations, the food street has now been declared a plastic-free zone by the EPA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of efforts to reduce single-use plastic. In this video, Muhammad Farooq Chaudhry, President of the Restaurant, Caterers, Sweets & Bakers Association, discusses how restaurants are adapting to restrictions on single-use plastic bags and the challenges of moving towards alternatives. Before Punjab’s initiative against single-use plastic, businesses were already turning to alternatives such as paper, cardboard, and wooden utensils. Those materials were considerably more expensive as they were being imported. Once the EPA made the food street a plastic-free zone, plastic use dropped sharply. The experience of Rawalpindi city's food street highlights an important point: creating a plastic-free environment requires both effective regulation and practical, affordable alternatives for businesses. As this busy food destination takes steps towards reducing single-use plastic, it shows how government, businesses, and consumers can all contribute to a cleaner Pakistan. Consumers International Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan #GreenActionWeek #PlasticFreePakistan #PlasticPollution #Sustainability #Pakistan #EnvironmentalAction #SingleUsePlastic

Benazir Bhutto Hospital Enforcing a Plastic-Free Zone A Hospital's role is to treat illness, not add avoidable plastic waste to the environment that makes people sick. Moving towards a plastic-free environment is a complex challenge, particularly when high-volume public facilities generate substantial daily waste and rely heavily on disposable packaging. Recycling has a role, but the better approach is to reduce plastic use at the source and avoid thin, single-use plastic wherever durable, reusable alternatives are available. Benazir Bhutto Hospital in Rawalpindi demonstrates that public healthcare institutions can take practical steps towards a plastic-free environment. As one of the region’s busiest government hospitals—serving approximately 5,000 patients daily with continuously crowded OPD and Emergency departments—Benazir Bhutto Hospital is showing that reducing single-use plastic is possible even in demanding healthcare settings. Under an initiative by EPA Punjab, the hospital’s canteen and cafeteria areas have been designated as a Plastic-Free Zone, strictly banning thin single-use plastic bags and permitting only approved 75-micron-thick reusable bags. Healthcare facilities need to go beyond standard management and make clear commitments to eliminate unnecessary plastic pollution, safeguarding public health right where healing takes place. Don’t use what can’t be reused. Choose reuse over single-use. Small steps by healthcare institutions can create big change. @Consumers_Int #Pakistan #GreenActionWeek #ClimateChange #SayNotoPlastic

Pakistan’s leading business daily has featured the launch of sabzbijli.pk — our new One‑Stop‑Shop for clean energy solutions. A proud moment for consumer‑driven climate action. Read more: brecorder.com/news/40424247 #consumerinternational #OSS #SabzBijli @Consumers_Int