You should have not asked for a plastic carry bag! – The price of the plastic -alternatives is not greater than plastic pollution

The Big Bang announcement called Plastic Ban had made quite an impression. We could see reduced amount of plastic circulation in the city in these few days. It has been 3 weeks so far since the implementation of the ban and the results are good. Shopkeepers, both the mighty and the petty have adapted to the change but despite the best efforts, there has not been a hard stance against plastic from the people’s side. By people I mean You and I. We have this gift called as ‘memory’ which remembers and reminds all the balderdash we don’t want but forgets to highlight what we need.

I forgot to take the cloth bag that I got previously bought for 10 Rs in a shop where I went to buy grocery. I had to again pay another 10 Rs. Forgetfulness is at its highest among us. I am not the one alone in this. I found out there are some stores which even provide plastic bags to their long-time customers. A small canteen runner I spoke to recently,had embraced the ban since Jan 1 and is utilizing the state-sponsored carry bag that is made of starch. He doesn’t charge heavy price for the cover when I order takeaways. He gives caution that there is no plastic carry bag in his shop to the customers who come for takeaways and he only uses the government issued covers. When asked, he said the number of people who come to his shop for takeaways find it a little hard to use the cover confidently as it fails to hold much weight. Though the ban has not affected his business, the void it created has not wholly been filled by the newer alternative.

A tapioca chips seller whom I spoke to while buying chips, said he has not been affected by the ban. He and his wife have found an alternative that could fit their budget. They themselves have made paper bags from newspapers for parceling the chips. Based on the grams a person needs, they issue a paper bag of varying sizes.

While for solid foods such as this it is possible, for the juice items, I must say that not all shops have turned to aluminium covers. Plastic covers still exist in circulation. In many canteens and hotels, although they use paper bags for the outside packaging, inside them use plastic covers for packing the gravies, curries and fries. It is not that easy to bid farewell to plastic.

While this is the case, a good deposit of single-use plastic sheets for covering new shirts was found near a clothing retailer in the city. The city’s waste disposal box was just ahead but the person responsible for disposing the plastic must have failed to follow the instructions by his superiors. Yes this is also a huge concern. Plastic used for potato chips, soft drinks, water bottles are not properly disposed by people and even if they advise their housekeeping personnel to do it responsibly, chances of they failing to execute with precision is high.

Plastics are still used for packing pulses, oil, milk, cloths, corporate eatables and more. If it is a ‘No’ for the grocery seller, then it must be a ‘NO’ for everyone. Let me just say that a fictitious person in a week consumes 2 flavored potato chips, a pack of noodles and a bottle of soda. He disposes the covers in his dustbin but he cannot say with surety that his housekeeping service would have disposed it in the right place. These are still going to pollute the land. Let’s just make it simple, if plastic free city is what we need, then we should tell the authorities to ban every form of plastics used for packaging. Not just the small timers but the big timers too. Single use plastics used by anyone is still a risk to the environment. Let us have an absolute ban of single use plastic that is dispassionate.

While the authorities worry about that, we have something to worry. We should not forget that many have given up their plastic business and shifted to these alternatives. We should not forget that if one person starts to ask for plastic carry bags without guilt then others will follow. So let us tell ourselves to be committed to this much-needed rule of the State. Most of all we should ask ourselves not forget to take that cloth bag we have at home to shops.