Amritsar’s hospitality is known to one and all.With community service, cleanliness and environmental protection on mind, this ex-banker embarked on a journey both young and old can draw inspiration from.At every venue post langar, Avtar Singh Ghulla ensures that the floor is cleaned and waste disposed of. Though seva fills Ghulla with happiness, the use of foam disposable plates is what puts him off.Avtar Singh Ghulla, who worked with Punjab and Sind Bank manager, has been cleaning up post langars for over a decade now. He collects disposable plates, thermocol plates and other waste left behind after langars, particularly in areas around the Golden Temple, and disposes those of.Talking about his seva journey, Ghulla said former Akal Takht Jathedar Ranjit Singh would always bring up environmental issues. That how plastic was harming the nature.“That was when I decided to do my bit,” Ghulla said.In 2012, Ghulla began approaching langar organisers around the Golden Temple, urging them to stop using disposable plates and manage waste generated during langars. When his appeals were met with a lukewarm response, he decided to embark on the seva path.In 2013, a year before his retirement, he got a cart on a motorcycle arranged.He would reach each langar venue and collect used thermocol plates and other discarded material, disposing those of. After retiring as a bank manager, Ghulla began encouraging langar organisers to replace thermocol with biodegradable leaf plates (pattals). To make the collection and transportation of thousands of pattals easier, he got a special tool fabricated with a sharp steel spike that can pierce and compress hundreds of pattals at a time. This allows bulk packaging, making transportation efficient.Ghulla said: “I collect around 5,000 to 7,000 pattals from a langar venue. Over the years, he has sent around 4-5 lakh pattals to the recycling facility of Pingalwara’s Green Manure project.At the facility, the pattals are shredded and mixed with soil and cow dung before being allowed to decompose, ultimately contributing organic matter to the soil.His campaign has also persuaded several langar organisers in the city to completely stop using thermocol and switch to pattals. Ghulla, however, is not in favour of replacing thermocol with steel plates.He said washing every steel plate could consume several litres of water and required detergents made of chemicals. Around 15 volunteers of the Ekjot Langar Sewa Society now assist Ghulla in the initiative.“I do not have the financial capacity to organise a langar, but I can contribute through this form of seva,” Ghulla said.Ghulla is also associated with the Chief Khalsa Diwan’s environment committee. His work has been acknowledged by the Punjab Government, the Municipal Corporation and religious organisations. He was specially honoured with a certificate of appreciation by Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann during the Independence Day function in Ferozepur.