25 years ago, the world shifted to plastic bags to slow down the rate of deforestation. Then came the culture of banning plastic bags (non-recyclable and non-degradable) which was started by Sweden in 2003. Now, many nations are following the suit in installments; restricting the production of plastic bags of few microns to now a complete halt in their production. It was hard to believe to our government could be implementing this law in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, which are very densely populated.  

One thing everyone complains about India is the garbage, which can be seen in almost everywhere, and its poor waste management. India has many dreadful stories to share due to garbage. Blocking of drains in Mumbai just makes monsoon worse, life comes to a stand still during rains as the whole city gets flooded in no time. Rag pickers don’t collect plastic bags because they are light weight and they get paid only in terms of kilos they collect. But with the ban coming into cities, it gives me joy that now considerable amount of garbage will be reduced,  there will be lesser pollution, lesser amounts of toxic  gases that would have been released on incineration, lesser clogging of drains, lesser number of breeding grounds for insects.

But the ban has created a fury amongst many Indians. Most of the reasons are related to food storage and packaging. Here is an example; milk is generally available in plastic packets not tetra pak or glass bottles. It has been estimated that milk costs will rise by atleast Rs.5/lt.  This would mean cutting down on the quantity of milk by a large part of the Indian society. Blocking of drains by plastics was one major reason why Mumbai government passed the law instead of implementing efficient waste management. Also, comes the argument of why should we give up on plastics when our per capita consumption is low.

The answer would be sustainability. I don’t completely agree on a complete ban on plastic bags as it is a cycle of protecting environment and reduce deforestation. In the end, we should judiciously use plastic and paper.