“Don’t,” I said sharply as the fruit seller was about to put a bunch of bananas in a black plastic bag. Thrusting a cloth bag, I continued, “Don’t you know plastic is banned?” He calmly responded, “Ma’am, you have brought a cloth bag and therefore you are talking like this. Most customers don’t carry any bag with them. If I don’t give them fruits in a bag, they will just walk away to the next seller. Therefore I keep some plastic bags. I need to sell and feed my family.”
I meekly told him that in Kerala, roadside vendors wrap items in newspaper. He stood by his views and said, “And how will the customer carry the bundle? A bag is still needed.” I realised that for plastic ban to be effective, the role of buyers is far more important. Ruminating on such thoughts, I dropped my plan to buy materials for a road trip such as disposable plates, cups, bottled water and chips. Well, all those items would be made of and kept in plastic and polymers. I remembered with fondness my mother’s preparation for car journeys in the 1960s. She would cut banana leaves from the backyard, cut, wash and wipe them, and apply a light coat of oil and make them supple by gently waving over a fire. She would keep soft idlis smeared with mulagai podi, fold the leaf and wrap it in newspaper. Aroma from food kept in the dickey would make us eagerly wait for the next stop. For train journeys, she would make similar packets of tamarind rice and curd rice and keep chips and fries in an ever silver (the common term for stainless steel then) sambadam. I vowed to adapt eco-friendly practices as much as possible.
My husband returned home in the evening with a gift and a bouquet. The gift was in a cardboard box wrapped in a shiny, crinkly plastic sheet. The bouquet was wrapped in a transparent plastic sheet with small red hearts. Seeing my expression of disapproval, he said, “What was the need to use plastic wraps?” I reminded him with indulgence about our daughter’s gift of a book wrapped in newspaper with my favourite word puzzles and one corner decorated with a weave of coloured paper strips. She practises plastic ban sincerely and has instilled the habit in her little daughter.
It is possible to avoid plastic in many daily activities with conscious effort. But there are many areas beyond the realm of an individual such as milk, oil and food materials in plastic pouches and the extensive use of plastic in packaging. Perhaps the end user can still play a role through segregation and safe disposal of plastic wraps and containers. When invented, plastic was viewed as a wonder; a durable and convenient material of a kind that the world had never seen. The most admired quality of durability has now become a curse. All living creatures are facing an existential crisis due to the everlasting quality of plastic. Despite the threat, the use of plastic is so easy and extensive that it will stay unless a suitable eco-friendly alternative is found. Until that happens, everyone needs to do his or her bit by consciously reducing, reusing and recycling plastic in daily activities.
My husband was about to step out in the scorching sun to buy something and I asked, “Have you taken a water bottle and cloth bags?” It takes time to change habits.
vijayacardio@gmail.com
