Srinagar, June 5 -- I stood by the Chenab River recently and watched the water move. But it didn't flow like it used to. The river was carrying something heavier than current: bottles, plastic bags, wrappers. Not fish. Not life. Waste.

We talk a lot about climate change in big terms. But sometimes, it's the small things that hit hardest. A river that fed generations now chokes. A forest once thick with Deodars smells like ash.

This year, on June 5, the world is marking Environment Day with a focus on plastic pollution. South Korea is pushing for a global treaty. That matters. But what matters just as much is what we do here, in our own towns, in the corners we call home.

In Jammu and Kashmir, we've begun something significant.

Over th...