Plastic bags a silent threat to environment

Plastic bags of diverse colours and sizes are found flying around freely, scattered in the streets, swimming in the gutters, posing a serious environmental threat. It is a typical sight in Rawalpindi. Some of the bags are piled up as waste around street corners, often burning, leaving unpleasant odours.
“Plastic bags have gained profuse. I blame the city fathers for failing to check the menace of plastic bags, which keeps our sewer system blocked,” says Asghar Ali, Satellite Town resident.
“W can just dream of plastic free city. There has always been small talk to distract our attention from the real problems. The waste management in the city, despite the RWMC/Albayrak campaign in some UCs, is appalling. There is still garbage in the streets and in most places the sewers are uncovered,” adds Asghar.
“The last time the city government tried to ban black carry out plastic bags — a move that proved woefully ineffective, and was roundly criticized — could have been successful if there was a educational programme in place and the people were encouraged voluntarily to shun plastics. In this manner, environment could have been saved. Fostering awareness campaign to reduce the use of plastic bags and search for alternatives is a must. All necessary steps must be taken for much needed reform,” says Azra Abbas, a school teacher.
“Under that ban, black plastic bags vanished from shopping malls, big retail outlets, but were still available at smaller stores and were used for garbage disposal. Nearly all food products were wrapped in white plastic bags. How could there be a complete ban when even something as basic as potato chips packet came wrapped in a plastic cover,” adds Azra.
“Although the environmental threat stemming from plastic bags is severe due to lengthy disintegration processes, the challenges posed by the abundance of plastic bags, which are often seen as a minor issue, have been overshadowed by existing problems and continue to remain unsolved,” laments Mushtaq Hussain, an advocate.
“People have no alternative to plastic bags for shopping now. Had the alternative been available in the market, many would not have bought plastic bags. Shopkeepers and vendors are dependent on them, as they sell products in them to customers at the city markets. Plastic bags are very convenient, and unless there are equally attractive alternatives, people might not give it up completely,” says Alya Imam, a government employee.
“What the environmental advocates say now, we used to do in the past. If I rewind history, the non-use of plastics is not new to us. During my childhood, grandma used to take a basket (usually a cloth bag) to market to buy things.
Unknowingly we have shifted towards consumerism and waste production. As our lifestyles have changed we have also changed. We just need to go back to our roots,” says Binte Zahra, now herself a grandma.
Aleena Hussain, an environmentalist, says: “Plastic bags never biodegrade, but they do breakdown. As they do so, any toxic additives they contain — including flame retardants, antimicrobials and plasticisers — will be released into the environment. Many of these chemicals may disrupt the endocrine system, the delicately balanced set of hormones and glands that affect virtually every organ and cell in the bodies of humans and animals.”
Against that backdrop, banning plastic bags may not seem like much. But the measure is expected to be beneficial, since discarded bags are much more than an eyesore.