Like charity, clean drive begins at home in BTM 2nd Stage

A few like-minded residents’ welfare associations of BTM Layout 2nd stage have vowed to turn the area into a plastic-free zone.  

Business establishments like restaurants, vegetable shops and bakeries have continued to use plastic to pack their products, in violation of law. This has been contributing to environmental hazards in the locality.

As repeated efforts of the authorities paid no returns in implementing the plastic ban, residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) such as Solid Waste Management Round Table, Trash Minds, Kuvempunagar Permanent Residents Association will play the role of enforcement authorities by educating the residents and appealing to the traders to stop using plastic. 

Vince Augustine, a member of Trash Minds, told Deccan Herald that groups had been created on social networking sites such as Facebook and many had joined in, to volunteer for implementing the idea of a plastic-free zone. 

Meetings were held with members of various RWAs and experts in the field of garbage management. Resource persons were contacted to chalk out plans to implement the idea. 

According to Augustine, numerous alternatives to plastic are available in the market, but traders have not opted for them. The plastic-free zone initiative would work towards changing the mindset of traders by educating them about the economic benefits of using alternatives like papers bags, areca and banana leaves.

The members would go to the doorsteps of residents from Monday, asking them not to use plastic and appeal to them to segregate  garbage into organic, dry and electronic categories at source. This would reduce the workload on garbage collectors.

RWAs would conduct awareness campaigns and hold talks with traders giving them 15 days to stop using plastic. The members have planned to stage protests in front of shops and conduct raids with the help of BBMP officials as a final step to free the locality of plastic.