Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

CAVEAT EMPTOR

Be eco-friendly

One evening, while standing in my balcony, I saw the dustbin round the corner dumped with carry bags. It occurred to me that today carry bags are omnipresent — in gardens, drains, garbage dumps, on tree branches and even in bird nests!

My mind drifted back to my school days when I used to do the occasional shopping for mom. Mom used to send me to the shop with either a cloth bag or a ‘wire’ bag and I always used to admire the speed and knack with which the boy at the grocery shop folded the newspaper into a cone and packed the grocery items. If you didn’t carry a bag, you simply could not bring home the purchased items, as there was no other alternative.

However, over the years, things have changed to such an extent that now, even carrying a cloth bag is often ridiculed as conventional, and considered to be below one’s dignity. This is mainly thanks to the advent of plastic! Consumers refuse to go to shops that do not provide carry bags.

The bags get thrown away after use, and in most towns and cities, the plastic problem has become a plague.

It is important to know that single-use polythene and plastic products such as carry bags, disposable cups, plates, etc. cannot be disposed of easily and take several hundred years to decompose.

Plastic waste left behind finds its way into the soil, preventing free flow of water and depleting its fertility. They also clog the sewerage system and drains. Sanitary workers are often made to get into sewer lines to remove the block caused by such products, and they either die due to asphyxiation or contract various diseases.

Moreover, we often hear of instances of stray cattle, which often die after chewing carry bags with leftover food dumped in street bins. Even marine life is affected due to dumping of plastic items near water bodies and beaches. These affect the environment.

Besides this, during the production and burning of plastic materials and PET bottles, toxic substances and noxious gases such as dioxins and furans are emitted. These can cause many health problems, including damage to the reproductive and immune system, respiratory difficulties and cancer. It is also startling to know that chemicals from the carry bags penetrate into food items packed in these bags; this could pose severe health hazards.

It is a matter of great concern that The Government of India notification, “The Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999”, with the objective of regulating the manufacture and use of recycled plastics, carry bags and containers, has never been implemented in Tamil Nadu, except in a few tourist places. Hence, we continue to have a situation of rampant manufacture, usage and indiscriminate disposal of carry bags throughout the State, from supermarkets and small vendors to households, which is indeed alarming. Stringent laws are the need of the day!

It is also essential that we, as responsible consumers, realise the severity of the situation and shun away from using carry bags, plastic cups, plastic toys, etc. Production will be considerably reduced when the demand is less. Don’t you think it is high time we appreciated and started carrying cloth or jute bags for shopping like our elders did?

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail