A gem of a post. Hard hitting. Shows the problem and also possible and practical solution to it.
Once I happened to go to a beach near where we stay just after high tide and the sight there was a horror. The otherwise clean beach was completely filled with plastic bags that were washed ashore by high tide. As far as we could see, there were only plastic bags instead of sand.
After that I have always wondered how dirty the sea in and around Mumbai is and since we can’t see it, we are not even aware of it.

You don’t need to go to the sea or beach to understand the gravity of the situation. The drains and gutters outside your homes also give a very clear pic of our negligence. And when the roads get flooded, we just blame it up to poor drainage facilities and blame BMC and government.
I made it a point to show this slide show to my kids too.....and made them understand the Un-conscious cruelty we are implicating on our animals n environment

Very nice point raised Deepa, its totally our fault.

But, as you must’ve noticed, BMC has taken a nice step by concealing all the gutters in Bombay. If you pay attention, now we see a lot of plastic bags lying on the roadside because the golden route to the gutters is no more accessible!

Shame on us!!

Lol......you are correct Aneez. Since the gutters are being covered at many places, ignorant folks are gonna add more plastic decorations to our roads. If only we could implement fine on such actions! Cause baning (low graded) plastic hasn’t helped much in Mumbai at least.

I think the BMC already has fines for littering on the road, though I’m not sure because I’ve never seen anyone being caught or coughing up fine for their shabby act.

However, the closed gutters have changed the monsoon scene for sure. Now when the streets are flooded, we miss that typical scene of people trying to evade the gutters and heading precisely where the gutter is!!

I think it is a step in the right direction but people are not concerned enough to not use plastic.. Look at the supermarkets, when you buy grocery they promptly pack it in plastic bags and give you.. We cant even blame the people cos they will remain ignorant. Something must be done from top-down and not the other way. The best example is nilgiris district (Ooty) where plastic is completely banned and you are fined if you are seen carrying one. And the shops always use brown bags...

Jaiyant as I mentioned in a comment to my other post on ’Recycling plastic bags not the answer’, it needs to start from each ones home.
Again I say that it is not practical to completely avoid the usage of plastic....but u can avoid takin it for petty stuff!
This is how I do my bit to reuse plastic - As a routine every month I clear my collection of bags (that find their way in to my home along with veggies, fruits n groceries) and pass them on to the local vegetable and fruit sellers.
They in turn reuse the bags :)

Very nice gesture; goes a long way in proving that you indeed practice what you preach.

I wish everyone recognizes his responsibilities towards his environment.

I appreciate your effort and dedication Deepa. :)

Here’s the link to another post in my crusade against the plastic post - http://deepathukral.instablogs.com/entry/recycling-plastic-bags-not-the-answer/#comment-511967

Hi Deepa, thank you so much for the link. I had not read that. It is really shocking to know that recycling is not a great idea and that it can be so expensive. I agree with you that reusing is a better idea than recycling. I think another major culprit is the black plastic bag we use to throw garbage.

Reuse is the only mantra for plastic menace......apart from not using it at all.
You have rightly pointed out that the garbage bags are also a nuisance. We can substitute our bins with newspaper lining. But then it isn’t a YES with most of the garbage pickers as they find it convenient to transport the plastic packed garbage easily. I was banned by the local garbage pickers and they refused to collect my home’s garbage till I used garbage or any plastic bags :(
Lol

That is exactly why I brought it up. The guy who picks it up prefers black bags. Too bad you were banned Lol.. I’m sure I’ll be banned from getting rid of garbage too.. Just shows how dependent we all have become on plastic

I have found something interesting about why the garbage guys insist on plastic bags. If you notice, though we all give out our garbage in plastic bags, most of the garbage trucks on the roads carry garbage minus the bags.
Thats because these guys dump the garbage from the bags directly in the trucks and make money by selling these empty bags.

Though I am not sure if this loss of money can be the reason that they would go to an extent of banning from taking garbage if you don’t give it in plastic bag :)

If only we can easily get hold of oxo-biodegradable and other degradable plastic bags that have certain useful applications when used as garbage bags. Organic waste can be put into oxo-biodegradable plastic sacks and put straight into the composting plant, unopened, thus reducing smells, disease transmission by insects, and handling hazards.
But again where do we have such a organized garbage disposable system?

This brings us to another interesting topic to write about - Appropriate garbage disposable system :)

But Deepa, Oxo-biodegradable bags are expensive aren’t they? Staying green is an expensive lifestyle.. That is exactly why developing countries produce more non degradable waste than the richer countries...

Yes...Jaiyant, writing about various stuff on Ecofriend, I too have realized that it isn’t easy on pockets to live a green life.
Oxo-biodegradable bags are expensive over the regular ones and also you need to direct them to the right destination after stuffing them with garbage. Even if we use them, it isn’t going to benefit our cities as I don’t think our system is equipped to handle them.

Jaiyant, just came across this about biodegradable trash bags and thought of sharing it with you :)
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/Recycled-Garbage-Bags

Thank you Deepa for the link.. I hope to buy some for myself.. Sadly I don’t think it is available here.. People in India only look at the price before buying something and not what goes into the product.. if only people cared to spend a little a market could be generated for green products such as this.

Great post, Deepa.
I think plastics will turn out to be another WMDs in the long run, if we don’t mend our ways.
Also our garbage disposal is pathetic. Removing dirt away from eyesight is the duty done.
Kolkata ofcourse has done some work on waste disposal. They sort out waste and turn them into organic manure at ’dhapa’. But pile of plastic don’t make it to recycling plants and I don’t know where and how they are disposed off by municipal corporation. But given the spate of waterlogging in the city, we know where they end up!!
Campaign for proper use and proper disposal of plastic bags is need of the hour...

Thanks Madhuri.
Its nice to know that so many of us are concerned about plastic menace and in turn garbage disposable system (they go hand in hand).

I believe that cities like Mumbai and Kolkota are over-crowded and lack the infrastructure to accommodate surplus population. This could be one of the prime reasons for un-appropriate garbage disposable system.

Wait for Breaking News on flooded Mumbai on all news channels as soon as Mumbai is hit by rains again.

My company had done some work for BMC and out of my interest in conservation, I had spoken to quite a few people there about how they work about disposing garbage in Mumbai.

BMC had tried to implement the system of dry and wet garbage to be separately given, but it hasn’t worked out. Also most of the garbage is dumped in dumping grounds near deonar and also in places like Malad. Part of these garbage is picked by some companies to be recycled while most remain there for years giving out toxic fumes. Now all of you who are from Mumbai know INORBIT MALL in Malad. You may also know that the area around that was a dumping ground for many years and is now a hot property for swanky back offices. These offices are facing serious problems by the toxic fumes coming out of the ground on which they stand. There is a serious danger of this causing health problems to thousands who work in this area and they are also causing computers and a/c in this offices to breakdown. In fact I know of few MNC’s located there that have installed air purifying systems within their buildings.

And one of the main culprit of all this is plastic bags.

Deepa, you have put up a very insightful
post here and I hope it helps people understand the importance of bringing down the use of plastic bags.

Also, thanks to your post, my wife and I have decided to buy good cloth bags preferably from WWF to use for our shoppings.

As for garbage bags, you are bang on target that our country is just not ready with systems to handle bio-degradable bags so I guess we don’t have much choice as of now :(

Man.. That is scary.. They gotta live the fumes coming out of the very ground they stand upon. Bombay also lacks a good drainage system. Blame it on all the plastic accumulated in the labyrinths of the underground drainage system. That is exactly why Bombay gets flooded every time it rains. It is not even funny, because the roads in Bombay get flooded even if it rains a little. Well coming back to plastic BMC must train its personnel to at least learn to separate the degradable and non degradable waste, because training people is a herculean task where as personnel would be few in number..

Live with*

Thanks a ton Manish for your strong support :) Your inputs are very informative.
Its just too sad to know that we are too slow on this whole plastic menace. With expecting very little from the civic bodies, I feel only eco-conscious citizens can make a significant difference.

Now that I am on this lemme tell you one incidence from my society. Since last 2-3 years during Holi, I have seen kids as well adults using small polythene bags (thelis) instead of balloons. And this practice royally added on to the already choked up drains and gutters. This year I put my foot down and didn’t let my kids use those so called plastic balloons at all. Also I told the kids from neighborhood to stop it. But :( neither those kids nor their parents paid heed to my concern. Now this is where I blame the parents.... :(

This is an example of what Jaiyant has mentioned in his comment below, ”nobody accepts responsibility and those who do, are discouraged because of apathy from others..”

Deepa, fantastic of you to have taken up the matter with neighbourhood kids and their stupid parents. My suggestion is this year take it up at larger scale. Maybe get this point discussed at society meetings prior to Holi. And I am sure your kids will listen to you if you remind them of the presentation shown in this post.

By the way this topic has already got 34 comments and still counting :)
Kudos Deepa for bringing this up and I am sure this post of yours is going to make each and every one of us more conscious when it comes to using plastic.

Jaiyant, the sad part is a large % of people actually don’t care. They just don’t look at it as their problem. The attitude is ”oh, there is a problem but its not for me to solve”. And this I feel has become a part of our Indian thought process. We can only criticize but we don’t do our part.

Read a post yest in ecofriend (again by Deepa) about Japanese having built a massive storm water drainage system. Had actually seen it in discovery some time back and its truly awesome. Had also seen a program about elaborate drainage systems of Paris and how they use latest technology and more importantly team of absolutely dedicated and motivated people who feel so proud about doing their work to perfection so Paris can be free of garbage and flood water.

I hope the saying ”boond boond say sagar banta hai” is true and efforts of individuals who are conscious have some +ve effect on our city and country.

Hi Manish.. I have seen that program on Paris drainage system.. It is like an underground city.. So well kept well maintained, better than the streets of our Bombay and Poona.. Boond Boond se Sagar banta hai lekin I won’t contribute to the making of an Ocean the rest can do’ is the motto of most people.. Like you say nobody accepts responsibility and those who do, are discouraged because of apathy from others..

”Like you say nobody accepts responsibility and those who do, are discouraged because of apathy from others..” - Even if not discouraged, but the sheer number of people on the other side itself negates all the efforts.

On the other hand there have been 2 success stories in India too, that of Surat and Thane. After Plague, Surat has been transformed into clean city and the same commissioner was transfered to Thane and he cleaned that city too.

We need such dedicated people in power PLUS conscious citizens... its high time we did some soul searching and accept our civic responsibilities.

Surati people needed the plague to get their act together.. At least they did do something about their filth. I don’t see it happening in our other large cities. It is due to laziness, ignorance, corruption or lack of fund or all together.

If only that commissioner is appointed for bringing about the change throughout our nation. :) Actually its not one person’s act.....the whole system....including the citizens and the government need to work hand in hand to bring about a significant change.

btw Jaiyant, I have seen Bangalore also going from city of garden to city of traffic and pollution... hows the garbage and flooding scene there?

Manish, when I first visited Bangalore it was quite clean.. These days it looks like a garbage dump. People lack civic sense over here and garbage collectors are few. Back home in Pune grocers still roll stuff in newspapers in the old fashioned shops but over here it is all PLASTIC. And nobody seems to bother.. The Bangalore Nagar Nigam or whatever it is called is a lazy corrupt corporation that watches piles of plastic decorating the congested streets

Akin to BMC a.k.a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation of Mumbai :)

Jaiyant, this is what happens when city develops without proper planning. I knew some old timers from Bangalore (HMT days) who loved its slow pace and clean air. Sad that it too has gone Mumbai way.

Incidentally Pune is my favorite city and my wife and I really like it a lot.

Agree With You Deepa...
just today i was reprimanded by my son for collecting and storing so many plastic bags. the good thing abt the present generation is that they are becoming more aware of the losses that they can face in the future.

good job

Hey Radhika isn’t it nice to know that kids are becoming more eco-conscious than most of grown-ups? Since EVS is a part of their curriculum, I suppose they are understanding it more than anyone.....even if it means to study at school as a subject. If only we parents can also play an IMP role in taking it further from there.