{"id":2828,"date":"2016-05-09T02:46:45","date_gmt":"2016-05-08T21:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2828"},"modified":"2016-05-09T02:46:45","modified_gmt":"2016-05-08T21:16:45","slug":"plastic-ban-mumbai-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2828","title":{"rendered":"What Will it Take to End Our Toxic Affair With Plastic?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span><\/p><\/div>

he hardest part of letting go, is saying goodbye.\u201d The lyrics to the classic Megadeth song were playing in my head as I struggled with a load of tissue boxes, mosquito repellents, milk packets, and <\/span>loose cigarettes<\/span><\/a>. What could fit in my pockets was jammed inside, some of it I held in my hands, and I tucked the rest between my arms and body and prayed to the God of balancing groceries. The reason my usual supply run had turned into a circus juggling act was my own fault \u2013 I\u2019d gone to the general store without a cloth bag the day after the plastic ban. The state of Maharashtra had just bid adieu to single-use plastics, and that meant no more carry bags from the kirana store.<\/span>\n\nI knew the inconvenience I was suffering on the walk home was for the good of the planet and our future generations, but there was an emptiness in my heart that belied the stuffed nature of my pockets. Like the end of a long, toxic relationship, the fallout of the state\u2019s <\/span>breakup<\/span><\/a> with plastic was wreaking havoc on my emotional state. How do you say goodbye to something you\u2019ve known your entire life?<\/span>\n\nOne of my earliest memories is of drinking Energee from the Aarey stall near my house. Greedy kid logic told me that if the pineapple-flavoured milk tasted delicious through one straw, then using two must double the pleasure. That memory still makes me groan, both for all the unnecessary straws I used and for all the extra sugar I ingested as a child. The two-straw method was far from my only offence against our environment. Like all of us, I\u2019ve been guilty of using a plastic bag as a glove to catch intruding insects in my living room, as well as using garbage bags as shoe sleeves while travelling. <\/span>\n\nWhen plastic is everywhere, you learn to use it for everything.<\/span>\n\n

When you\u2019ve lived in a consumerist society your entire life, sustainability feels like an uncomfortable fit at first.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nThis is why I\u2019m curious to see how the <\/span>plastic ban <\/span><\/a>plays out in Mumbai. As the beef ban and demonetisation have showed us, the government is quite adept at stamping out practices and commodities it deems undesirable. At least the plastic ban hasn\u2019t come close to triggering civil war, like the other two. In fact, in a rare occurrence, this is a ban that seems to be well received by the public at large. Why shouldn\u2019t it be so? It\u2019s a forward-thinking measure with clearly defined long-term benefits. <\/span>\n\nYet, it still causes pangs of distress.<\/span>\n\nAfter all, plastic is almost like an <\/span>honorary family member <\/span><\/a>in most middle-class households. Let\u2019s face it, you\u2019ve probably seen the giant plastic bag filled with little plastic bags more than that cousin whose wedding you\u2019ll be forced to attend in December. There\u2019s plastic to be found in every room of the house, from the soap cases and shampoo bottles in the bathroom to the Dominos oregano and chilli flake packets on the dining table. Every little trip outside the box results in you coming home with a little more, whether it\u2019s the carry bag you got your goods in, or the wrapper itself.<\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s going to take a mammoth effort on everyone\u2019s part, consumers and retailers alike, to free the city\u2019s lungs from plastic\u2019s chokehold. It certainly won\u2019t be easy. To paraphrase Spider Man, \u201cWith great awareness, comes great responsibility.\u201d <\/span>\n\nWhen you\u2019ve lived in a consumerist society your entire life, sustainability feels like an uncomfortable fit at first. Perhaps, instead of grieving over the loss of minor conveniences like two straws for an Energee, we should focus our energies on starting small. For instance, I\u2019m never going back to the kirana store without my new best friend, the jhola.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do you say goodbye to something you\u2019ve known your entire life? After all, plastic is almost like an honorary family member in most middle-class households. But, to paraphrase Spider Man, \u201cWith great awareness, comes great responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[2317,19,79,80,4569,5710,5711],"class_list":["post-2828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth","tag-environment","tag-india","tag-maharashtra","tag-mumbai","tag-plastic","tag-plastic-ban","tag-sustainability"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Will it Take to End Our Toxic Affair With Plastic?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do you say goodbye to something you\u2019ve known your entire life? 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