Half a century ago plastic entered our lives in medical miracle substance it is now ubiquitous so Is plastic waste; Carry bags, toys, straws, wrappers and now COVID-19 protective gear.Humanity has produced about 9 billion tons in its lifetime and most of it has ended up clogging our drainage or in landfills or is polluting the natural environment. Every year about 13 million tonne plastic ends up in oceans ,most of it is single use plastic that is labeled as disposable because it's not recyclable.Thin single use plastic is so light that it is hard to catch and it is carried around with ocean currents, it is projected that by 2050 the weight of plastic will exceed the weight of all the fishies in the sea. With ocean currents and change in temperature the plastic gets broken down into tiny pieces which the marine animals then confuse for microplankton, birds feed on them and some of it eventually ends up in human food.
India has one of the highest growing rates of consumption of plastics which is 16%, on one hand it fuels the manufacturing and consumption in the fast pace of development that India has. It is astounding that 90% of it ends up unprocessed, in landfills, clogged in drains and oceans.
The Indian government has put in place certain regulations to curb the use and irresponsible disposal of single use plastic waste. Programs to inspire change in consumer behavior and awareness on a broader level have proven to be much more meaningful and impactful than top down enforcement of institutional intervention when it comes to plastic use. The most effective way to minimize such plastic use is reduction of use and refusal to use, and that's where the role of small communities and individuals become significant. One such program that helps motivated individuals and small organizations is United Nations’-- ‘The Tide Turners Young Leaders Plastic Challenge’ aimed at spreading awareness among the youth and enabling them to go forward and impact how plastic is treated and used around them.
In landlocked Bihar, a densely populated state, multiple rivers run through it, and most of them are severely contaminated with plastic. And if not in the river, the plastic ends up as toxic fumes in the atmosphere because it is burned.
A campaigner for UNEP’s Tide Turners Challenge who goes by the single name - Rituraj - is transforming the way plastic use is treated. About 1500 young scouts from Bharat Scouts and Guides - which is a very active group of motivated individuals, working on social issues in Bihar - took up the TIde Turners challenge and made around 50,000 people pledge that they will stop using plastic in their homes. “I strongly feel that transformation can only happen when we get the youth and community to collaborate on finding solutions, we need to ensure that our society rids itself of single-use plastic products so that we can free beautiful Mother Earth from this plastic menace.” says Rituraj.
His movement has drawn the attention of the state government. In the fight against plastic waste, he has encouraged the Bihar government to announce a ban on many single use plastics and Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) commonly known as thermocol, which is primary pollutant in rivers and ocean. The ban will be enforced from the month of July in 2022, according to BIhar Plastic Industry Association, the state will start manufacturing biodegradable plastics from May 2022. The state government has also endorsed Rituraj’s plan to have 15 Campaigners in every school, Rituraj calls them “plastic warriors.”,Rituraj and his volunteers from Bharat Scouts and Guides(BSG India) are supporting the Indian government’s National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and UNEP’s Counter Measure initiative which aims at Identifying the outlets of land plastic into water bodies and seas.
“I have always been concerned about environmental and social causes and that is the main reason I joined the Scouts movement,The Tide Turners programme provided me with the opportunity to fight for a cause that is so dear to my heart” he said.
Rituraj is an inspiration to many and serves as an example to all of us of how a bottom up approach to sustainability can lead to sweeping policy level changes and a motivated individual can start with his home, his community.
Vivek is a writer who writes to explore. His interests include philosopy, psychology, poetry, cinema, mythology and international relations. Above all he’s interested in making sense of complex systems-how they work and influence each other. An alumnus of Calcutta University, he has a bachelor's degree in Physics.
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Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master, it was rightly said. Electronic devices have grown into an inevitable part of our daily lives.
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