Beats thirst. Refreshing” is what the familiar model would say on sipping the bottle of a famous soft drink. But the scene to which I was a mute witness would have startled the model and the company alike.
A shopkeeper poured the contents of the soft drink bottle into a plastic cover. Bereft of gas and chillness, the contents looked like any other liquid in its new home, was secured with a rubber band and handed over to a female customer. The shopkeeper feared that his bottle would not be returned and the customer too didn’t want to take the pain of coming back only for returning it. That was the latest avatar that the polymer has taken. It could be defined simply as a complex compound.
Arguably, one of the best as well as deadliest inventions of our times, hard plastic in the form of water buckets, furniture, pipes and toys for children is unavoidable in our daily life and is also biodegradable to some extent. Considering the safety in handling, plastic medicine bottles are also welcome. Though we could keep away from the Internet, television or mobile phone for longer periods, we can’t do away with plastic in daily life. When we have reached a point of no return, there is a global campaign against the use of plastic because it is non-biodegradable and thus toxic.
Those born before the 80s would have carried a stainless steel vessel suspended from a hanger to bring the liquid side dishes from the hotels. Similar was the case for oil as we took containers to fetch them. Nowadays, oil, too, is packed in thick plastic sachets. The hotels or shops can’t be blamed for the present trend of handing over “take away” food or oil in plastic covers because our laziness has contributed to it.
There is no point fretting and fuming that these covers choke the soil and the environment if not properly disposed.
That is not the end of it. Attractive jute and cloth bags and folders are wrapped with thin plastic sheets to keep away from dust. There is a study which says Indians identify themselves in Western countries by not removing the plastic sheets wrapped on furniture, car seats and cycles so that dust doesn’t accumulate on them. This paves the way for emanation of toxic gases and foul smell.
Vegetables, fruits and flowers remain fresh inside the plastic covers. At least we are not foolish enough to think that wrapping ourselves in plastic would keep us fresh.
Supermarkets have restrained from giving plastic carry bags or demand a small sum for one carry bag in order to encourage the customers to bring their own cloth or jute bag the next time they shop. But will the customer mind the small money which will be less than the car parking charges? Instead, the malls could go the greener way by supplying bags made of eco-friendly material for that amount.
One would have shed tears of blood in seeing the wooden doors and windows of their house reduced to rubble by the termites. Thus, the hard plastic counterpart which comes in attractive colours is preferred as it is also easily washable and the aesthetic look doesn’t fade away too soon either.
The other good news is that the plastic debris is now mixed with tar to lay strong roads.
The awareness on the evils of using plastic has gained ground. Paper covers, paper and jute carry bags and varieties of cloth bags try to regain their place, lost a quarter century ago. Only the customer can bring about a change. Let us not forget to take the hanger-suspended vessel with us the next time we go to fetch the spicy sambar along with our takeaway food.