Nagpur : “Plastic Ban in Nagpur, “Violators to face severe penalties”, “Nagpur to be plastic FREE”. Such slogans and warnings have been hurled at the common man and the small shop vendors every now and then. In an attempt to ban plastic, which is harming our environment, the Nagpur authorities have implemented a drive to stop the use of plastic bags a few times now. The latest attempt was as recently as July 2022. Every small street vendor and shopkeepers were asking the customers to either carry their own bags or were providing eco-friendly bags to carry products.
Blatant Violations
But all these efforts have suddenly come to a stop. One visit at a vegetable vendor and all this talk of banning plastic and proactiveness towards adopting eco friendly packaging material goes down the drain. As soon as you are done shopping, the vendor will whip out a plastic bag to pack your product and give it to you, with a smile. No sense of guilt or fear of consequence is seen on the face. It is just another day for them as they pack our food life threatening material.
Ground Reality
However, one needs to be realistic. Plastic is multiple times cheaper than other eco-friendly packaging options.
For small vendors, who operate on thin margins, plastic packaging is the best way to keep costs at the minimum while delighting the customer by giving a free packaging bag.
Unless the cost of eco-friendly packing drastically reduces and plastic bans are followed up by the administration, rather than making it a once a while event as if it is a festival, plastic is here to stay, with us and after us.
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