Banish plastic from campuses

In the run-up to World Environment Day on June 5, the environment ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC) have directed all schools, colleges, universities and other higher educational institutions to ban the use of plastic cups, lunch packets, straws, bottles and plastic bags on their campuses. This directive is in the backdrop of India being the host of this year’s World Environment Day celebrations led by the United Nations. The theme is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’.

A letter to the heads of higher education institutions says, “Hosting this prestigious event is a step towards our commitment to undertake global leadership on addressing all forms of pollution, reducing emissions and investing in sustainable development efforts. This is an opportunity for collective efforts to reduce the use of plastic and the Human Resource Development Ministry has desired that the students be encouraged to refuse, reduce, and reuse plastic products in their daily use”.

Various agencies have been striving to control plastic use for quite a few years. Realising that Bengaluru generates about 350-400 tonnes of plastic waste per day, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike imposed a ban and penalty on the use of plastics in April 2016. All such efforts have met with only limited success, and plastic has come back to the market again. The current effort to discourage use of plastics at the level of early and higher education is laudable.

The UGC insisted that environmental education modules be taught in colleges and universities after activist M C Mehta filed petitions repeatedly in the Supreme Court, citing the high pollution in river Ganga. But today, environmental education has become a ritual in universities. No serious steps are taken to bring awareness among students.

Indiscriminate use of bottled drinking water, canned foods and beverages is allowed on campuses. Hot food is being served on plastic plates. Despite the availability of various platforms for communication like the internet and smartphones, etc., flex banners are extensively used in many institutions for diverse publicity purposes. There is a need to bring these practices to an end.

The harmful effects of plastic are advertised by the scientific community to such an extent that no one is ignorant about the damage plastics cause the environment and the human body.

Plastic dishes and containers leach chemicals into food. Plastics contain Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that, once ingested, mimics estrogen in our bodies. Studies have shown that these chemicals can cause breast cancer and lower sperm count. Pregnant women, infants and children are especially at risk.

The more a plastic container is heated and cooled, the more the chemicals in that begin to break down and mix with the food inside. As a result, detrimental and expensive health issues can arise. In many eateries in Bengaluru, idly is cooked over a plastic sheet spread on the cooking plate and hot liquid food is poured into plastic containers in packed meals. The Scientific American says that when plastic is heated, it leaches chemicals 55 times faster than normal.

Student involvement

To create awareness on plastic contamination, students must be engaged in cleaning the premises along with the housekeeping staff. In the process, they will learn about the seriousness of the issue and refuse plastics and eatables packed in such containers.

Educational institutions can install drinking water purification plants in their premises to provide clean water to students and totally ban the sale and use of bottled water. Children should be educated that the culture of using bottled water is disgraceful, not a status symbol.

About two years ago, a group of students from an environmental group called Green Army in our institution, out of their own conviction, decided to carry steel plates and tumblers to college to have their food from the eateries on campus. Several juniors silently followed this practice despite being scoffed at by their peers. If the authorities have the will, such practices can be emulated at the institutional level. Merely improving greenery around campus alone should not fetch an institution the ‘green’ tag.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which ranks our higher education institutions, should seriously consider this aspect of social commitment during their appraisal.

In a recent message to the nation during his visit to the Shimla Water Catchment and Wildlife Sanctuary, President Ram Nath Kovind, being enchanted by nature, wrote: “India is nature’s favourite child and so we should live in harmony with nature, with a sense of compassion, fraternity, civility and mutual dignity”. The best time to instil these qualities in people is when they are still in school and college. Let us take the initiative forward through collective will.

(The writer is Professor, Department of Zoology, Christ University, Bengaluru)