Pak Tea House » Opinion » Say no to plastic bags
Say no to plastic bags
By Rai Muhammad Azlan Shahid:
Some three weeks back when I was entering my workplace I saw a notice from Welsh government saying that from 1st October 5p would be charged per carrier bag. I found that interesting and kept my opinion for that until I can observe the implementation and the public behaviour over it. I have been here in this country for almost a year and I have observed that God has given this country with immense natural beauty, this is one aspect of life here, God has also given this nation with the sense of responsibility towards the gifts they have. They always try to keep the nature alive and preserve it the way it should be. Now coming back to Pakistan, we have everything in terms of nature, but we are not interested in preserving the gifts that we got from nature. In addition, we cause almost all kinds of harm to the same nature that is considered as Mother Nature.
Taking the example of plastic bags is enough to prove, flying in the dusty air, blocking the gutters and causing it to over flow. piling up the rubbish and main feature of this small mountain of rubbish is plastic bags as 80% of total litter is estimated to be plastic bags and above 80% of drain blockages take place because of plastic bags, and best of them all burning them to add more glory to the air around in the form of dioxins and furans. Plastic bags also become shelter for mosquitoes where they breed and later on cause malaria and dengue. Because of bon-biodegradable nature they take 1000s years to get decomposed and the material used in the manufacturing i.e. chromium and copper causes allergies, many people who are in plastic bags business are at risk to have many diseases.
Banning plastic bags might not be a great solution but it will help in many ways, I have seen many people refusing to take bags just to save ‘bag tax’ and the result is there. In Pakistan, I remember in 2005-06, plastic bags were ban in Rahwali Cantt (Gujranwala) and there was strict implementation of it. There was a plan of doing the same in Lahore cantonment too. However, it remained in plans only. Around 4.4 billion plastic bags are used in Pakistan every year, so just imagine the cost we pay in terms of production, sales, and then disposal of such massive number of plastic bags. Wales is not the first country to take such steps there are many countries that has put taxes on bags and many countries i.e. Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Hong Kong, South Africa, Thailand, some states of Australia, and most interestingly Bangladesh have legislation over it and they have banned the plastic bags.
Plastic bag is a facility and carrying things without that might be very difficult to argue this point there are a few things we call them paper bags, bags for life (i.e. jute bags, cloth bag), and plastic baskets. However, if the usage of plastic bag is highly inevitable than we should move to the bags made with the vegetable based bio plastics that do not harm the landfills and natural environment. According to Federal ministry of environment report of 2009, 95% people use plastic bags in Pakistan and only 1% use plastic baskets and one percent use cloth bags. However, only 15% of these bags are properly disposed and rest of them are left free to destroy the things around, even recycling these bags is not good option as it adds hydrogen cyanide in the air that further results in breathing and chest problems As far as legislation in this matter goes, federal government banned these bags in 1997, Lahore high court ordered a ban on plastic bags manufacturing.
In 2008, and Sindh government banned the usage of plastic bags below 30-micron weight. Yet again, we failed in implementation as many federal ministers are in plastic bags manufacturing business. To deal with this implementation the “policy makers” used “un-employment card” as it will make around 0.75 million people jobless who are associated to this industry.
Such facts and figures make it to be really hard to go for a complete ban on plastic bags but many difficult and tough decisions must be made we use the same employment and economy excuse in the case of tobacco business. If this industry is really essential for the economy then the usage of new technologies should be made possible and bags with biodegradable material should be produced, and one of the top revenue generating industry remain alive. As far as this tough decision goes if country like Rwanda can do it than why not Pakistan.
Filed under: Opinion · Tags: country, implementation, Pakistan, people
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Plastic doesn’t really biodegrade because it requires same amount
of energy to biodegrade as it took to create the damn thing.
Strong Hydrocarbon chemicals will be the only lasting legacy of humans
even after their extinction.
Only way it can truly biodegrade is if bacteria learn to digest them.
It took millions of years for bacteria to learn to process trees.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A
is a female hormone mimic that means a male
fish can turn into female where there is BPA in water.
So just imagine what is happening inside you.
[...] people use plastic bags in Pakistan and only 15% of these bags are properly disposed off, informs Rai Muhammad Azlan Shahid, while advocating for banning them. [...]
Even those little “so called” reusable bags they sell at the supermarket that are supposed to be “eco friendly” are nothing but plastic covered material! Paper bags are made from trees that are re-planted and harvested every 10 years. This is part of the pulp wood industry and creates JOBS and new tree growth is good for the ecology for the use of animals. While the new trees are growing, the grasses in between create cover for birds and small animals for the (natural) food chain and the new growth trees provide many uses for the birds. Loggers need jobs; saw mills need the wood; the industry that manufacturers the heavy duty equipment for all of this is also job creating. So, tell me how PLASTIC can compare in any positive way to any of this?
Lady Guinevere
[...] Say no to plastic bags [...]
Paper, hah.
Why would you advocate paper instead of Jute which
has been used for this purpose for centuries.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_paper
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_and_paper_industry
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paper_mills
The sellers want to force their goods on you so they started using these plastic bags. Then they started with decorated costly plastic bags. So end up buying a lot of unnecessary stuff.
Best is that all states/govts. make the law that people must bring their own containers/tins/bags from house if the wish to buy anything. If you wish to buy a liter of milk then take a pot or bottle from your own house with you. That was how it was done in olden days. In those days capitalism and free trade had not become so wild, obscene, wasteful and destructive as they are today. This will reduce unnecessary/excessive consumption also.
There are a lot of alternative fibers that can be used; hemp, cotton etc. However, nothing that can be grown in such mass quality as wood. I read what Wikipedia said about the pulpwood industry. Where it is regulated here in the U.S. It is REGULATED, and here in South East where I live I see the results every day. The only bad thing about it is the poor quality of the logging trucks because they have to stay on the roads so much that the upkeep on these trucks is very high and the drivers, owners/operators just cannot afford to keep the trucks in good condition. Greenpeace is KNOWN to be overzealous in many areas while in others they are good for the environment as watch dogs. There will always be abuse no matter where you go. Do not get me started on the U.S. Department of Interior and their land grab for the minerals here that have been sold circutiously to the M.E. and the selling off of the wild Mustangs (hundreds of thousands of them) that ended up in the slaughterhouses! I digress! I just wish that was as regulated as the logging industry is! Paper bags biodegrade, just wet one down and see how fast it starts to disappear! Again I state, if you knew more about the food chain and more about the real environment and the wild creatures that depend on “new growth” of both trees and the grasses in between you would not be so impressed with what Greenpeace thinks that they know. For instance, are you aware that lightening is a Godsend to a natural forest because it does get rid of too many saplings and old tough grasses. The heat from the fire also makes the seeds open up and grow after the fire is gone. Unfortunately, because of man’s encroachment into too much of our wild lands, now when there is a wildfire, they all scream when their houses burn down when they should not have been there in the first place. There is a lot more to this than I can go into right here on PTH! It is a “forestry” issue! Greenpeace is full of a bunch of “Lefty” idiots who are knee jerk over educated book learners who have never stepped inside of a real forest. Just like the human rights activists; most of them are totally unaware of cultural differences of places where they choose to “meddle”! Sorry about the rant, BUT LEAVE THE PAPER BAGS ALONE! THEY ARE A TIME PROVEN GREAT ANSWER TO THE INDUSTRY!
Lady Guinevere – I have lived in the forest among the creatures, great and small!
[...] راي محمد أزلان شاهد 95% من الباكستانيين يستخدمون الأكايس البلاستيكية، فقط [...]
Even quarter of a century ago in Lahore .. while purchasing fruit or vegetables, for an additional Re 1 or Rs 2 one could buy an attractive palm-branches made toke-Ree (bag). No more! While I certainly do not shop a lot … I have seldom come across paper bags in lahori markets.
(Of couse, Nawaz SharrrrREEF is to be blamed for that too. And verily, I conform strictly to that dictum. My ‘evol’ is presistent ‘N resistent. Admits no exceptions.)
In Pakistan we indulge a Relentless Race for rabid Consumption. The Lesser you buy, lesser would be the pollution of platic bags.
That brings me to the problem of boring plastic politicians of Pakistan! They are the rising damp. Their rise has been meteoric in misdeed/s. And although a miserly lot, they should become generous towards wholeheartedly committing suicides.
(That will solve the organic problem of fertilizer shortage!!)
One of the Byproducts of Paper is Dioxin. End of story.
You little rant about greenpeace and us government doesn’t
change facts that there are no paper plants listed in the list
given above.
Look up Pine beetle to see what is about to come to even northern forests.
Plus you obviously haven’t seen machines can cut and strip a tree without
any human intervention. So much for Jobs.
O there are jobs to dig up burried carbon in North Dekota and Canada.
Ya that will keep your lifestyle in stable form.
Letter in the Daily Times (Lahore) of 07.11.11
Hair and hijab
Sir: This is with reference to Uzma Shahid’s letter ‘Hijab shampoo’ (Daily Times, November 4, 2011). Ms Shahid wrote, “It is hard to imagine how a shampoo’s formulation can cater to the specific needs of hair covered by hijab [headscarf]. If anything, such hair being less exposed to harsh sunlight and wind, should be in better condition than hair exposed to the elements all the time.” The letter also criticised the company that developed this shampoo for using religion to make a profit.
I wear a hijab and let me assure Ms Shahid, my hair are in no better condition than those exposed to sunlight and wind. In fact, I appreciate the fact that a company has finally given some consideration to women whose hair is not exposed to sunlight and air. I am a working woman and wear a hijab for at least 12 hours a day, sometimes even more. I leave for my office in the morning and by the time I return home in the evening, I cannot ‘sun’ my hair. Due to this, my hair has become weak and keeps falling. I have not tried the said shampoo yet but will do for sure. I also see no reason why a hijab shampoo should be equated with using religion for profit-making when I hardly see people complaining about any other beauty products. We should not look for a loophole in anything and everything related to religious attire.
SABEEN KHALID