The ban on thin plastics is here and Bangaloreans hope this would mitigate the city's garbage problem to an extent. Though plastic alone is not the cause for the mess, it is a big eye sore and the most conspicuous. Plastic bags lie around, fly around, stick to trees and shrubs, get into cows' stomachs and just don't go away. Higher population density, lack of dustbins and citizens' tendency to litter without conscience, have only added to the menace.
Some time ago, people used to scorn at those who didn't dispose of garbage properly. But today it is common to see Bangaloreans drop toffee wrappers, coffee cups, banana peels, pamphlets, paper plates and soft drink PET bottles wherever they like.
With a ban on plastic, it could be back to those old cloth bags, the 'brown paper packages tied up with strings', or the once familiar all-purpose bags made of plastic wires in which an uncle brought home a puppy and carried with him a papaya from the garden. It could be the time again to relive the pleasure of discovering a surprise gift, making a rustling sound while unwrapping a brown paper package that your dad brought home and exclaim with joy as you find fire crackers, or colour pencils, or your favourite book in it.
If the ban is indeed enforced strictly, one cannot leave home without carrying a bag since one will not be able to stuff tomatoes into one's pockets. And in any case, with today's inflation, one is forced to carry a bag as one steps out of the house -- to carry the money to buy your things!
Today, everything comes in plastic -- milk, coconut water and the full course of a meal from your favourite restaurant -- rasam and buttermilk included. One could soon be able to make omelettes by breaking plastic eggs.
Bangaloreans sure are accustomed to the convenience of polythene. With the city known for its fickle weather, plastic bags keep the shopper's head and bottom dry from the falling rain and the wet motorcycle seat respectively. But surely, when it comes to the overall good of the city, they would certainly be willing to put up with a little inconvenience, with their patented phrase: "Swalpa adjust madi."
And if they can learn this, there is no reason why they can't unlearn this new found habit of littering without qualms. But that's another story altogether.
Some time ago, people used to scorn at those who didn't dispose of garbage properly. But today it is common to see Bangaloreans drop toffee wrappers, coffee cups, banana peels, pamphlets, paper plates and soft drink PET bottles wherever they like.
With a ban on plastic, it could be back to those old cloth bags, the 'brown paper packages tied up with strings', or the once familiar all-purpose bags made of plastic wires in which an uncle brought home a puppy and carried with him a papaya from the garden. It could be the time again to relive the pleasure of discovering a surprise gift, making a rustling sound while unwrapping a brown paper package that your dad brought home and exclaim with joy as you find fire crackers, or colour pencils, or your favourite book in it.
If the ban is indeed enforced strictly, one cannot leave home without carrying a bag since one will not be able to stuff tomatoes into one's pockets. And in any case, with today's inflation, one is forced to carry a bag as one steps out of the house -- to carry the money to buy your things!
Today, everything comes in plastic -- milk, coconut water and the full course of a meal from your favourite restaurant -- rasam and buttermilk included. One could soon be able to make omelettes by breaking plastic eggs.
Bangaloreans sure are accustomed to the convenience of polythene. With the city known for its fickle weather, plastic bags keep the shopper's head and bottom dry from the falling rain and the wet motorcycle seat respectively. But surely, when it comes to the overall good of the city, they would certainly be willing to put up with a little inconvenience, with their patented phrase: "Swalpa adjust madi."
And if they can learn this, there is no reason why they can't unlearn this new found habit of littering without qualms. But that's another story altogether.
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