Who Is Leading The Way In Eliminating The Use Of Plastic Garbage Bags?

By Author: John David
Total Articles: 11
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The answer may surprise or shock you depending on your perspective but the worlds largest democracy is certainly drawing a line in the sand.

The Pioneer newspaper in New Dehli India published an op-ed article on November 5th of this year stating the following tidbit of information.

India cannot remain insulated from the worldwide campaign, launched on environmental grounds, against the use of plastic in carry bags and for packaging. The Ministry of Environment and Forests is reported to have framed rules for a complete ban on all plastic bags, containers and laminated packs, including those used for packaging chips and paan masala. Plastic manufacturers and sellers are permitted to file their reactions within two months of the notification. As a non-biodegradable material, plastic clogs drains and sewers; chokes water systems; litters tourist spots and pilgrimages; precipitates landslides during the rainy season in the hills and mountains; and kills cattle by accumulating in the bellies of famished animals, which feed on refuse in plastic bags.

Gearing up for the Commonwealth Games, slated for next October, ...
... the Delhi Government ordered a complete ban on the use, sale and storage of all kinds of plastic bags on January 7. The ban, meant to cover all shopping areas, eating places, hotels and hospitals, is routinely flouted despite the threat of a prison term or fine, or both. The notification reportedly does not specify whether bags, with thickness of 40 microns and more, are permitted to be used, as before. Almost a year later, polythene bags of all sizes flood the markets and mandis; litter roadsides; and overflow garbage dumps. Cattle, pigs and dogs scavenge for food amidst lethal piles of polythene. The Yamuna, as the recipient of the city's refuse and industrial effluent, is choked with non biodegradable garbage bags. These also clog the drainage system, raising fears of a deluge in the event of heavy seasonal rains. This certainly could not be the world class city that the ruling regime intends to showcase for foreign visitors during the Games. One can only hope that the ban is now enforced.
It is an enlightening story from New Dehli and when we think of the global warming discussions going on in Copenhagen next month and people wondering what President Obama will do to lead the way, take a look at the biggest democracy in the world and follow their lead. India is the home to more than 1 billion people and that is a lot of non biodegradable trash bags. From a world economics perspective, this market alone can justify the mass production of biodegradable trash bags made from Mater bi which is a corn based polymer that is used by the Biobag corporation in the production of their biodegradable garbage bags, and other products.
If your grocery store carries biodegradable trash bags, thank them. If they don't, ask them if they will. Lastly, lets be smart about what we put in our landfills and at our curbs. Do you really want the history of your kitchen to be preserved forever? Congrats India on taking the lead on a large scale. The world is watching.

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