Aiming for Zero

ZERO WASTE HIMALAYA VOLUNTEERS PETITION CHIEF SECRETARY WITH 3-POINT SOLUTION TO ADDRESS LITTERING AND BANE OF PLASTICS
Zero Waste Himalaya volunteers from Sikkim Government College, Tadong, recently submitted a petition to the Chief Secretary regarding issues of solid waste management practices that required the State Government’s immediate attention. This was a follow up to an earlier petition submitted to the Government by the group last year on the previous Zero Waste Himalaya Day [08 August, 2013].
The petition focuses on three major issues- recommending a ban on use of disposable materials at all eateries and switching to reusable options for serving food; review of the Plastic Bags Ban Rule in the state for improving its effectiveness and implementation; and putting an end to the practice of using packaged drinking water at Government meetings.
A recent study made by the ZWH Group on the plastic bag ban has reportedly indicated that it is not being implemented strictly. Also, the popular alternative to plastic bags in many cases is the polypropylene nonwoven bag or PP bag which is being wrongly portrayed as cloth, but is in fact just another form of plastic.
A report highlighting findings of the Plastics Bags Ban survey was also presented to the CS along with a report of the awareness programme carried out by the ZWH group at MG Marg on Zero Waste Himalaya Day last month. The group also presented a sample cloth bag with a Zero Waste message that could be used as a reusable shopping bag in lieu of the plastic shopping bag.