Thursday, February 09, 2006

We Need A Concerted Effort To Reduce Plastic Use

For years, environmentalists have been seeking a curb on the plastic overload in our daily lives. Fibe months after the horrors of the July 26 deluge last year, the Maharashtra government has finally decided on an Ordinance to ban thin plastic carry bags.

Normally, a plastic ban is greeted with a howl of protests from the manufacturers’ association. This time, however, the partial ban has been accepted fairly quietly by the sector.

However, effective checks can be achieved through educating the users about the perils of a plastic glut and effective disposal of non-biodegradable matter. Unless the use of plastic is regulated systematically, the ban will serve no purpose. As CSIR chief and polymer expert Dr Raghunath Mashelkar points out, it is not plastic that is our enemy, but the manner in which we use it.

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