Hi All, It is necessary for all of us to follow this habit of carrying our own shopping bag. I remember that early during my childhood this we use to carry shopping bags, baskets to buy vegetables and other stuff. So, it is just a habitual change which is required and everyone can get back to the old eco-friendly habit of carrying your own shopping bags.
Regards Chaitanya http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Carry-your-own-shopping-bag/articleshow/5187018.cms BANGALORE: That plastic is non-biodegradable is something even children are aware of. But has this awareness curbed the use of plastic? Most parts of Bangalore are still littered with thin carry bags, plastic cups and plates. These very plastic bags, with a life of over 100 years, clog our storm water drains and lakes. National Geographic launched a campaign on Sunday in the city asking shopkeepers to avoid plastic. Their message to customers is `Bring your own bag' (BYOB). As part of the campaign, National Geographic will spread the word in the city's most visited shopping hub, Commercial Street. The channel has created special ecofriendly bags to be distributed there. "This is to create awareness that customers should carry their own shopping bags. For the next 10 days, volunteers will stand near our shops, take plastic bags from the customers and put all the stuff into cloth bags. The customers will receive free cloth bags, which we hope will create awareness. It is ecofriendly and reusable. Commercial Street shopkeepers are going to support this campaign," said vice president of Commercial Street Association, Ajai Motwani. A good plastic bag costs around Rs 4, while a reusable cloth bag costs around Rs 8 to Rs 10. The shopkeepers on Commercial Street plan to rope in MNCs to partially sponsor cloth bags. They will have the company branding on one side and that of the shop on the other. "That way, the retailer will pay only Rs 4. In a month or two, we can hopefully make this possible," added Motwani. On an average, shopkeepers at Commercial Street spend more than Rs 1 lakh on plastic bags every month. Director general of police Ajai Kumar Singh launched the campaign. "Such campaigns are crucial for our existence. It is easy to deliver speeches but very difficult to act at the individual level. As far as environment is concerned, we are all acting like the famous anecdote of poet Kalidasa. We are cutting the tree branch we are sitting on. I remember a trip to Darjeeling, to the spot where Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore were picturized on a pretty toy train. Today, that rail track is littered with plastic. Every beautiful spot we go to, there is plastic," he said. Children carrying plastic bags emptied the contents into the cloth bags given to them. They also participated in a painting competition on the theme `Paint My Earth Green'. Also, cable operators like In Cable, Hathway, You Telecom, Kable First, Siti Cable and Den Network are part of the campaign. Promos will be aired on all networks with Vasundhara Das and Anil Kumble supporting the cause. ECOFRIENDLY ARECA NUT PLATES Wings Global Foundation, an organization that is trying to promote the use of areca nut plates, has roped in popular eateries in Bangalore. Nilgiris, Daily Bread, Nandini Palace, Empire Hotels, Mast Kalander, Kamat Yatri Niwas, Juice Junction, NMR Fast Food, Sukh Sagar, Bangalore International Exhibition Center and Nukkad at BIA have started using areca nut plates, according to Vinod Dubey of Wings Global Foundation. The organization is also closely working with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to get as many eateries as possible to convert to these plates. PLASTIC ACCESSORIES `Thunk In India', started by a bunch of young designers from Bangalore, uses non-recyclable waste material like tetrapacks, plastic packets and polythene bags to make fashion accessories such as bags, wallets, pen holders, jackets, bottle holders, mats, lamp shades, etc. They also use areca, lantana and coconut husk.
