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Thursday March 28, 2024

‘Go Green’ launchs cloth bags to reduce pollution

IslamabadTo change a mindset or habit takes a lot of time; commitment and an earnest resolve. Plastic bags are cheap; convenient; strong and disposable. Here lies the problem. We are so used to them that it will take years for us to discard them even though we know they are

By Ishrat Hyatt
March 27, 2015
Islamabad
To change a mindset or habit takes a lot of time; commitment and an earnest resolve. Plastic bags are cheap; convenient; strong and disposable. Here lies the problem. We are so used to them that it will take years for us to discard them even though we know they are a menace and bad for the environment. You only have to see the thousands of plastic bags scattered around the country; clogging drains and being the biggest item in garbage heaps to know how widely they are used.
There are a number of NGO’s big and small who are trying their best to promote bags made of paper and material but they have not been too successful. Paper bags cannot take the weight that is sometimes put in them and burst at awkward moments; cloth bags are stronger but cost more so they cannot be thrown away except every now and again. Anyway, the effort to say ‘no’ to plastic bags needs to be continued if we are to save the environment from pollution and make it healthier for ourselves to live in.
‘Go Green’ is a small family initiative of a mother and daughter team, started with the aim of replacing plastic bags with cloth bags to reduce pollution levels in Pakistan while simultaneously helping to uplift an underprivileged children’s school in Barakao run by the Al Firdous Welfare Association. ‘Go Green’ also provides income for the women who stitch the bags. To make them more attractive, they are good to look at as well, with funky or pretty designs and the use of coloured and flowered material also makes them look better in comparison to the plain white ones - you could use it as a hand bag as well when out shopping. Bags are sold in two sizes for Rs100 and 200 and all the money is given directly to the women who stitch the bags as a source of livelihood as these women come from poor economic backgrounds and are often married to men who provide no income or mistreat them
To quote a report, ‘The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean.’ Buy a cloth bag today and help to make a better future for all inhabitants on earth. For more information you can go to the ‘Go Green’ FaceBook page or https://www.facebook.com/firdousassociation