The Plastic Ban in my Neighbourhood

All the societies and communities in my neighbourhood have formed the Waste Management Team. This team focuses on cleaning the neighbourhood, and work in partnership with the elected representatives of the area to build parks etc. One such event organised by the Team was the Plastic Ban Initiative.

How was it done:

All the communities in the neighbourhood got together and organised a Walkathon. This was not an ordinary walkathon where there are winners. This was a walkathon to create awareness of how harmful single use plastic bags can be. Many people carried posters which had slogans like -

"Ban THE Bag", "Leave Plastic Live Fantastic", "Beda!! Beda! Plastic Beda!" etc.

The walkathon started from the neighbourhood Bus Stand to a college which was about 2 Kms away.

All societies gave all the families taking part in the Walkathon a cloth bag.

The Start of the Walkathon:

When many people had assembled, the area corporator came to the Bus Stand. Over there he addressed the gathering and hoisted the National Flag. And then the Walkathon began!!! The Police had come to take care of the traffic and ensure Law and Order was maintained. Everyone held their posters nice and high and were shouting out slogans. There were about 500 people who came from the neighbourhood.

The corporator went from shop to shop and advised them not to use single use plastic bags. He had given all of them a deadline, beyond which they cannot use the plastic bags. 

I had great fun holding up the banners and shouting out slogans with my friends. Small kids aged 4-6 were holding cute little posters. 

The End of the Walkathon:

The police did a good job controlling the traffic outside the college campus to make way for the people walking. Once everybody reached the college, our MLA arrived. He had brought with him some biscuits and water bottles which he distributed to everybody present. This event was also covered by the media. After this the MLA and the corporator interacted with the Waste Management Team. Then slowly everyone started dispersing.

The Reason why plastic is harmful:

• Plastic is a a very harmful substance. It does not decompose very easily.
• On burning, it produces very harmful gasses which can be harmful to both us and the Atmosphere.
• Plastic releases harmful chemicals in the soil, which may seep into the groundwater.
• If plastic has been trashed into the ocean, then the marine life present will be seriously affected.