The Tamil Nadu government is working on alternatives to single-use plastics as part of its ambitious Meendum Manjapai campaign (return of cloth bags) campaign. The state plans to run a large campaign targeting children and youth against the harmful effects plastics and how to get rid of them.
According to the Department of Environment officials, the state government intends to introduce trendy school bags made of Jute and other alternative materials. This will help them to be popular among youth and children.
The environment department will engage self-help groups in all district to make alternatives to single-use plastic. Supriya Sahu principal secretary of Tamil Nadu Environment, says that there are 14 options to single-use plastic.
Sahu stated that there are alternatives to single-use plastics and that they must be available on the market in large quantities. People will continue to use single-use plastics until then. We are currently creating a campaign among schoolchildren and youths against the threat of plastic.
Sahu also stated that the department had issued surprise checks at commercial establishments in order to ensure that ban is enforced. Plastic bags and other items are still being used despite the fact that there are no alternatives to single use plastics.
M. R. Manojkumar is an environmental activist and chairman at Tamil Nadu state Institute for Research and Studies of Environmental Protection based out in Kanniyakumari. He said to IANS: “Of course, there has been a ban on single-use plastics. But what is the alternative? We must clearly revert to the Meendum Manjapai campaign, as yellow cloth bags were part our culture and this plastic culture can be used and thrown away. Let’s revert back to cloth bags, jute bags, and other bags that can still be used, saving the environment, and our culture.
Senior officials of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board agreed that the ban would not work if there were alternatives. IANS was informed by a TNPCB official that cloth and jute bags were the main alternatives and that large quantities are being introduced to the market. He said that cloth and jute bags were the main alternatives, and that large numbers are already on the market. This is not enough. There must be more of these bags on the market to ensure that the plastic ban is effective and save the environment.
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The headline and text of the above article were published from a wire source.