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Recycle-Me-Not
Things you thought you could recycle - but can't!GO!
Taking the plastic out of shopping
Jute is plastic-free! Use it! GO!
Cold Coffees
A coffee chain is cold about its cups, and the consumer and planet, lose. GO!
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Defuse the plastic bag bomb
- Carry your own eco-friendly cloth bag.
- Dispose of waste in paper bags.
- Refuse offered plastic bags at stores – always tell the shopkeeper they’re wrong!
- Reuse existing plastic bags, until they are totally worn out – then dispose responsibly.
Worldwide, the statistics of plastic use indicate that perhaps it's time for some change in attitudes elsewhere as well: typical annual plastic use per person in India is 2 kg (4.4 lbs); in Europe it's 60 kg (132 lbs) and in the US it's an astonishing 80 kg (176 lbs).
That's definitely some food for thought: where do you think your plastic goes when you throw it out?
Our sponsor body, the Green for Life Foundation, is running a campaign to create awareness about plastic bags and their ill effects. Send us your novel ideas to banish plastic bags completely and we’ll send you a bunch of the GFLF Campaign bookmarks, which will help you spread the message among your friends!
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The Supreme Court of India declares plastic to be "something more serious than the atom bomb."
Plastic bags must go!
Divya Dhamija
FEBRUARY 2013
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| DEADLY BITE : Turtles and other sea creatures are exposed to the threat of plastics - underwater, a plastic bag may resemble a jellyfish, natural prey for many marine animals, with deadly consequences. Now, urban cows have been found to be ingesting the material, thanks to the hundreds of discarded bags in our garbage dumps. |
India is the third largest consumer of plastic in the world. We consume around five million tonnes of plastic products every year, a large amount of which is in the form of plastic bags. Plastic bags are made of thin, flexible, plastic film or nonwoven fabric, and are widely used in packaging, storing and transporting goods. You carry foodstuff packed in plastic in them back home, as well as all the other things you purchase books, clothes, electronics… and then throw away the waste, in another plastic bag.
This overuse and improper disposal of plastic bags has now become one of the biggest threats to our environment. The public costs of plastic bag usage are firmly established. They take hundreds of years to degrade, are often toxic, and occupy most of scarce landfill space. Plastic bags lead to clogged drains resulting in sanitation and sewage problems, and to soil degradation, which hampers trees growth. Even urban animals have been known to often ingest plastic bags because of their indiscriminate disposal.
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Two Andhra Pradesh-based NGOs drew the Indian Supreme Court’s attention to 30-60kg of plastic bags recovered from the stomachs of cows because of the irresponsible disposal of plastics bags and a weak municipal waste collection system. The shocked bench proclaimed, “All of us are watching how our water bodies and urban sewage systems are getting choked by plastic bags. There is a need to expand the scope of our appeal to stop using plastic carry bags. Unless we examine a total ban on plastic bags, or put in place a system for manufacturers mandating them to collect back all plastic bags, the next generation will be threatened with something more serious than the atom bomb.”
A goat lies in a sea of plastic waste...
Easier said than done. Governments have used a variety of regulatory instruments - the mandatory pricing of plastic bags, explicit levies on each bag, taxes at manufacturing level, etc; but the problem remains due to poor implementation of regulations. India doesn’t have a national ban on the use of plastic bags.
However, the growing concerns have caused governments of several states – Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Sikkim and West Bengal to introduce legislation to limit the use of plastic bags or in some cases, effect a total ban on the use of plastic bags. While Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Meghalaya and Goa have prescribed norms regarding the thickness of plastic bags varying between 30 and 50 microns, the Government of West Bengal, has banned the manufacture, use, storage and sale of plastic bags of thickness below 40 microns and size lower than 16X12 inches.
West Bengal also has a blanket ban in ecologically sensitive areas, including the entire Sundarban area, the forest areas of the state, Coastal Regulation Zone areas such as Sankarpur, Frazerganj, Sagar, Bakkhali, the Hilly areas of Darjeeling district and the entire Siliguri Subdivision and the area under Siliguri Municipal Corporation which lies in Jalpaiguri District of West Bengal. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a farce. Right next to signs proclaiming Darjeeling as a no-plastic zone shopkeepers hand out what appears to be colourful fabric bags. Actually, they are really plastic!
Looks like natural fibre, passed as eco-friendly, really just plastic!
Chandigarh in 2008, Rajasthan in 2010 and Haryana in 2011 have imposed blanket bans on plastic bag use, too. Faced with the ban, shops in these states have responded mainly in two ways. The sellers of high-value goods such as garments and electronics have started providing their customers fiber-cloth bags free of charge and those selling lower value goods such as grocery stores have started a deposit-refund system where customers deposit some amount for a cloth bag, which is refunded when they return the cloth bag. Some shops are also offering 1% cash subsidies (on the value of purchases) for consumers using their own bags.
The Retailers Association of India (RAI) which includes big names Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Globus, Shopper's Stop, Lifestyle, Westside, Reliance Trends, Landmark and Crossword, are also enforcing the rule of charging customers for plastic carry bags to prevent indiscriminate use of plastic bags and say that there has been a minimum 30 per cent drop in usage since the first week of the action. The stores have put up posters and their staff informs customers about the rule. Bag charges vary from Rs. 3 to Rs. 12, depending on the size, starting from extra small to large.
The charge, hopes the government, will lead to significant decrease in use of plastic carry bags in the country. But does this solve the problem? Samriddha Ghosh, a student says, “Charging a few bucks per plastic bag is not at all helpful. People, who shop for thousands there, wouldn't care for a few bucks to get carry bags. It's just making money out of it.”
Although the rule requires all retailers to charge customers for the bags, small to medium-sized independent stores are either unable or don't want to do so. "We tried enforcing the rule for two months, but the customers were indignant," said a clothing shop owner from New Market. "Moreover we won't charge customers because those carrying our bags are publicity for us.”
Rishabh Jain says, “A better idea should be to use recyclable bags and have recycle centers in the malls. People can obtain points for depositing plastic bags based on the number of bags they bring. These can be exchanged for discount vouchers, etc. It benefits both the mall and the environment.”
NGOs urge discounts on use of own bags, file PILs and have awareness campaigns, but you can still see the “banned” items publicly. But green workers haven’t given up. They know realization is finally dawning on the perils of ignoring the environment. It’s time for an Ecolution – and it starts with us - every individual must set a green example, and there’s nothing simpler than ditching dirty, toxic, plastic bag for a more eco-friendly one!
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