THE world's a wasteland, said T S Eliot, not
too long back And, indeed today Mankind is turning
out to be a bane for Nature's treasure troves,
thus turning the land into a wasteland. Man's
own inventions are now becoming his Frankenstein.
With each new novelty that Man creates, comes
irrevocable damage to the surroundings, First
it was the industrialization, which added a feather
in our cap but with it we also got grime, smoke
and more stretches of wastelands. There has not
been any looking back every since and we have
gone from strength to strength in our ceaseless
task of erosion and plundering.
The new age menace appears to be the ubiquitous
Plastic bags. No modern age poet has eulogized
the plastic bag for; its culture has seeped in
so deep into our lifestyles that we dread to accept
its non existence. Of course, pages have been
written about this sheep in wolf's disguise. Yet,
we prefer to turn a blind eye. And of course,
the Wasteland continues to conquer fresher pastures
each day.
However, there is a glimmer
of hope. For, some like minded individuals have
decided to raise the alarm. And how? Pune decided
to take things in their own hands when a group
of people from various organizations realized
the menacing effect of the plastic bags and decided
to find means of reducing the use of the plastic
carry bags. Thus, in December 1998 at the Dharti'98
Eco-fair organized at the University of Pune,
the One Million Cloth Bags (OMCB) campaign was
launched. The plan of action was clear. It was
decided to substitute plastic carry bags with
cloth bags wherever possible.
The core group consisted of Sanskriti Menon and
Shreelatha Menon of CEE, Jaya Gadgil of NIE, Danita
Daniel and Jayshree Oberoi of WWF, Pune, Kranti
Yardi of the Kirloskar Cummins Nature club, Aishwarya
Mavinkurve of the IE group, Shantha Bhushan of
Kalpavariksha, Radhika Bapat, a student and Sarita
Pungaliya of the Aksharnandan School. Coordinating
this entire campaign was Aanchal Sondhi of Kalpavriksha.
The intial few months went in formulating the
game plan. In June 1999, the campagin decided
to go public and the main objective was to target
all the schools in Pune and also to involve corporate
bodies to the extent possible to get more cloth
bags in use. For the past one year now, this campaign
is trying to convert people from plastic to cloth.
Various methods have been adopted. A set of 12
posters has been made targeting school children.
Thus, they are easy to read, informative and yet
not loaded with statistics, informal and of course
fun, This of course entailed the need of funds.
Help came from Rotary Club, Pune Chapter who took
up the expenses of the posters.
The general public is now gradually noticing the
campaign. Many vegetalbe vendors are saying a
firm NO to plastic bags and are insisting upon
cloth bags. This shift is heartening. But, on
the other hand, many shop owners prove reticent,
as they fear the loss of customers. Besides cloth
bags are more expensive for them. This definitely
proves to be the biggest impediment. Therefore
the customers have to be more conscious & insist
upon cloth bags or better still, carry their own
bags.
As a team effort, the OMCB campaign seems to be
gathering momentum each day as they are gradually
moving to the magic figure of 1 million cloth
bags, which they hope to achieve by December 2001.
Aiding this campaign to reach its target earlier
all the members are individually pushing it in
their respective capacities.
Danita Daniel (WWF) and Aanchal ( Kalpavriksha)
organized a meeting of principals and representatives
of about thirty convent shcools of Panchagani.
A cloth bag campaign along the same lines of OMCB
was launched in Panchagani. The Kirloskar Cummins
Nature Club has taken up the twin task of creating
awareness and getting the school students to make
cloth bags. CEE has been instrumental in making
the poster set and the slides. They are also involved
in dealing with the Plastic Manufacturers Association,
Pune to have a positive interaction with the manufacturers
and maybe arriving at a solution that is mutually
acceptable.
It is Herculean task ahead but this dedicated
lot continues tirelessly in their effort to fight
against the plastic revolution. Says, Shantha
Bushan, a member of the core group, "We are not
against the use of plastic, We just want to make
a beginning in trying to reduce the unnecessary
use of plastic carry bags. These can easly be
replaced with cloth or paper bags. Eventually
this will result in at least 10% drop in the plastic
menace. Little by little we are sure a bigh difference
can be made.
The question that comes to mind next is that why
are children being targeted and not the adult
age group? Relpies Jaya Gadgil," In the course
of our research and interaction with the general
public, we found the older generation are much
more reticent. They are already so overcome by
their compulsion towards plastic bags that any
other option is less convenient and therefore
not adaptable. Children on the other hand are
much more open and it is easier to impress upon
them the hazards of this product. Besides on many
occasions we have found that children exert more
pressure on their peer cicles to make the shift
than we can ever hope to.
Thus the war continues. The battle is now being
fought on an uphill course hence the pace is slow
and frustrating.But of course victory is certain
for the team with truth on its side and the support
of the future citizens.
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