From selling alternative cloth bags at cost price to shopkeepers to putting up stickers outside store-fronts saying plastic bags are not available — the voluntary ‘Citizens for Sustainability’ in Sanjaynagar has done it all this past month. This is all to reduce use of plastic as much as possible.
They join “Hasiru Mitra” — an association of volunteers in HSR Layout and Somasundarapalya, who have managed to ensure that plastic ban is enforced nearly 70 per cent in their neighbourhoods since they began on January 16.
“We are about 20 volunteers and have focussed on educating shopkeepers as the success of this initiative mostly depends on them. An average kirana shop can save at least Rs. 600 a month by not giving plastic bags, they too have realised this,” said Subbaiah, an office-goer who heads the Citizens for Sustainability initiative in his spare time.
“Another alternative is to use cloth bags. The government as well as several NGOs give subsidised cloth bags to reduce plastic usage. We have identified theses sources and either direct them to these shopkeepers or procure it for them,” he said.
“We thought of the “rent a bag” option but we could not sustain it since all of us have full-time jobs and we could not afford to run it like some business,” he said, adding that they had enlisted the help of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.
However, the civic body has not been able to enforce it, as there still isn’t a complete ban in place.
Kavitha Reddy, member of Hasiru Mitra agrees. “There are still pockets that use plastic despite all the pressure and awareness campaigns as well as regular visits from the BBMP. A ban can work only if citizens consciously state that they do not want to use plastic,” she said.
“As far as the cost is concerned, plastic was once costly and it became cheaper only when demand increased. This too can happen with cloth bags. The best option here is to carry your own bag, which we tell residents to do,” Ms. Reddy added.
