Consultivo Blog | Social & Sustainability
Use of alternative eco-friendly products like
glass, grocery bags made of paper, eco friendly food packaging like corn starch cutlery, corrugated or paper boxes etc. can be a step to reduce plastic pollution.
Did you know plastic production has been growing at an average of 8.7% every year? From a production of 1.7 million tons in the 1950s to about 300 million tons being produced every year, it has become one of the fastest growing industries in the global arena.
Isn’t it a matter of concern for us?
Yes, it is!
A hero or a devil in disguise?
What do we do then?
Use of alternative eco-friendly products can be a step to reduce plastic pollution.
Alternatives like glass, grocery bags made of paper, eco-friendly food packaging like corn starch cutlery, corrugated or paper boxes etc. can be used.
Although all plastic cannot be recycled, recycling of plastic contributes to energy usage reduction. The energy saved can have other uses like generating electricity via a Waste-to-Energy Plant. Even energy from waste incineration can contribute in recovering the calorific value of plastic, which can be put to other uses. Thus, these may contribute to plastic sustainability which will further help in reducing plastic pollution, water and air pollution, reduced spaces taken up by landfills etc.
Change begins at home…office…anywhere! You just need to start now!
In India itself, a number of measures have been taken up to reduce plastic pile-up. Cleanliness campaigns like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan have focussed on cleaning up the streets in both rural villages and urban towns. Sikkim became the first state in India to achieve the status of the plastic bag free, it was the first state to ban plastic bags in 1998.
Similarly, in Mumbai, lawyer and environmentalist Afroze Shah along with his neighbour started the Versova beach clean up drive in 2015 and has succeeded in removing more than 7.2 million kg of plastic from the Versova beach. Shah’s act inspired clean up drives of other beaches in Mumbai, the latest being the clean up of the Dadar Beach led by a Thane-based NGO Aarna Foundation.
At Consultivo, we say NO to plastic bags.
Instead, we have designed and been using our own eco-friendly tote bags (Read the blog to know more).
It’s never too late to #BeatPlasticPollution. You too can!
India steps forward to Beat Plastic Pollution?
This year, India is the global host for the World Environment Day, the theme being “Beat Plastic Pollution” with an aim to increase awareness among citizens of the world, old and young so as to contribute to environmental sustainability focussing on preventing plastic pollution.
Many other countries have stepped up too!
Many countries have already taken the initiative to ban plastics completely.
In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country in the world to ban thin plastic bags due to reasons of drainage clogging which led to flooding in rainy seasons.
Countries like Kenya, Mali, Cameroon, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, South Africa, Rwanda, Botswana have either banned or imposed taxes on the use of plastic bags. European countries like England, Italy, Wales, Scotland and Germany currently have similar measures in place. In the United States, measures are in effect in some states like California, New York, Seattle, Hawaii, Washington D.C., Rhode Island, Maine etc. South America includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Columbia whereas, in Asia, we have China, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan having bans or fines in effect on the use of plastic bags.
Let’s be the change to Beat Plastic Pollution!
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Category: Blog
Tags: Social & Sustainability
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