BHUBANESWAR: With the countrywide ban on single-use plastics having kicked in from the beginning of the month, the State government has decided to involve school students in awareness generation at the community level towards curbing the use of hazardous materials.
Educating children from a fairly young age on the detrimental effects of plastic on the environment and health will have a spiralling impact on society. The children will take the message home and will act as catalysts in ending the use of single-use plastics both in individual households and communities in general, sources said.
The School and Mass Education (SME) department has asked the district education officers (DEOs) to initiate necessary action in this regard. The drive will also focus on plastic waste management in respective campuses as well as in urban sanitation processes.
Earlier over 194 schools in the State Capital had been involved in the ‘Mu Safaiwala’ drive to make people, especially school children aware on the hazards of single-use plastic, and polythene and encourage them to keep their surroundings clean to create a healthy environment.
Sources said more such measures will be taken at school level in the districts to sensitise students and encourage them to not only discard single-use plastic but also motivate others to do so. The schools will work with the ULBs for this purpose.
The DEOs have also been asked to follow the handbook of Niti Aayog and UNDP containing case studies and best practices of plastic waste management at different places to work out similar plans or replicate such practices as per the local need to improve the plastic waste management on campuses.
Officials said the move from the department came after Niti Aayog in its regional meeting in Puri asked different stakeholders to implement the plastic waste management practices and share the noteworthy models with other ULBs to help them learn, observe, adapt and replicate them in their jurisdiction.
Following the Central government’s decision, the State government has imposed a ban on manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified single-use plastic items from July 1.
The identified items such as disposable plastic plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays, wrapping or packaging films around sweets boxes as well as earbuds, plastic sticks for balloons, flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol), invitation cards, stirrers, cigarette packets and plastic/PVC banners of less than 100 microns have been banned.