While we surely cannot do away with the basic facts of our dietary needs or hygiene care. Have you ever wondered where we would stand if we had no material to carry these basic requirements in? Plastic, as hazardous as the environmental activists claim it to be, I am sure you would agree that it is the go to thing for our day to day lives. Think about it, can we honestly do away with plastic especially without a viable alternative at our disposal?
Image Credit: Deluxmall.com
International Plastic Free Day is perhaps just another day with a fancy name, one that is observed only in the calendar and not in reality. How do you carry your groceries, your stationaries, your evening snack, your toiletries and other items without plastic carry bags? I know, you would say Just bags, you would say cloth bags, you would say paper bags etc. However, can all of us afford to buy these bags? Yes, I am talking of the masses. Well, all of us know that we are charged minimum Rs. 3 for carry bags at any counter we go, because they have been made of materials used as alternatives to plastic. Can everyone really afford that? Imagine someone who buys a snack worth Rs.5 for tiffin, and he is asked to pay Rs. 3 for the bag to carry it! Weird right?
Yes, I have come to believe that plastic is that indispensable but perilous fact of our lives much like tobacco is to a smoker. While there are alternatives to plastic like metals containers, jute or even paper bags their prices are either embarrassingly high or not easily available or will fade like water color when subject to heavy downpour.
Image Credit: oceanconservancy.org
So, I feel, a plastic bag is really the poor man’s air, even if that air is poisonous, until something really worth giving plastic a tough competition arrives. However, the environmental massacre that plastic perpetrates among other things cannot go unnoticed. Its demerits outweigh the merits by a vast margin and yet, without a feasible alternative, plastics are as versatile and useful as ever. They can be resilient and hard and at the same time flexible according to your needs.
Image Credit: treehugger.com
Well, I am not at all opposed to spreading awareness about the hazards of plastic, especially to marine creatures. But in my opinion, we also need to find a proper solution to it. What we can do instead to minimize the negative effects is to ensure a hassle free but efficient disposal system, one which encourages the participation of one and all. Science and technology today has come a really long way from the time when plastic was invented. And I am sure, with proper research we will soon find an alternative to plastic as well. Till then I feel a total ban would not make any sense!
