The fact that it takes everyone to contribute to making our place ‘Plastic free’ makes it the responsibility of every individual to put in their share towards this cause. People should avoid the attitude that one person cannot flip the existing situation of plastic pollution and that it might not matter in a larger scale, because in most of history, it has always been the power of an individual that has made a larger impact in the society. Every single person should put their shoulder to the wheel to ensure that they make their lives compatible to a plastic free environment.

Personally speaking, my lifestyle as such does not greatly involve the purchasing of things from a grocery store, but when I go to shops at times, I do not take plastic bags and plastic water bottles. This has been my attitude for a very long time, and this ‘Plastic Drive’ initiative in our office has turned me even more conscious. I also make sure my colleagues in the office segregate the plastic separately and that it is disposed responsibly.

The initiative (Plastic Drive) is surely a good step towards a better and safer environment.

Even before this initiative in our office I used to be aware and concerned about the use of plastic. To be honest, I have always followed a few good habits from my childhood days, for example, whenever I used to travel in train, I never throw out the waste packets, instead I will wait for the next stop and I get down to throw it in a dustbin. That is something most people fail to do, instead they throw it away from the windows. Of course the Railway department does not keep dustbins, but they have a garbage bag in every coach into which people can throw the wastes. This ‘Plastic Drive’ initiative at the office made me realize that it is not enough to only dispose wastes in dustbins, but it is more important to segregate the wastes according to the categories and dispose it responsibly. The Kerala government banned the use of plastic bags below 50 microns in 2016 and it made a pretty good impact on the people. Whenever I go to Kerala, I notice that people avoid using plastic bags, instead, they bring their own cloth bags.

Likewise, I am sure that the ban of plastics in Tamil Nadu from 2019 will definitely bring a good change.

But the challenge lies in the complete eradication of plastics, right from the small grocery items packed in plastic covers to PET bottles. It is necessary to come up with an alternative that is waterproof and cost efficient like plastic, only then people will start changing from plastics.

I am from Kerala and I stay in a sub-urban locality here in Chennai. Every day on my commute to office, I get to see a lot of bins that are overfilled with plastic bags and most part of trash lie on the roads and pavements. Apart from the fact that plastic is harmful for the environment as a non-biodegradable waste; it is the improper disposal of plastics that concerns me the most.

I’ve been a person who consumes a lot of plastics, at least in the office. After this ‘Plastic Drive’ initiative in our office, I have definitely changed my mind-set towards the use of plastic, especially “Single-use Plastic”. I have started bringing my own bag to the store. I am trying to make my family aware of the negative effects of plastic towards our environment and I am convincing them to change their lifestyle to avoid plastic. Lately, “Plastic Pollution” has been the discussion point amongst my friends.

I am sure that these small contributions will definitely make a huge impact in the coming generations.

This ‘Plastic Drive’ initiative in our office has definitely made a notable impact in me, in fact, I have started carrying cloth bags whenever I go to shops and I changed from using plastic containers to stainless steel containers in my home. I am trying to avoid using plastics wherever possible and I am sure that it has changed me as a person concerned about our environment.

It is definitely a late but a good decision that the Tamil Nadu Government has made to ban plastics in the state from January 1, 2019. Whenever I notice small shops using plastic bags, I ask the shopkeeper about not starting to avoid it. Many of the shopkeepers I discussed with are waiting for the government implement the ban of plastics and have least concern about the positive impacts that the ban of plastics would bring to the environment. I feel that this attitude must change within the people in order to get an effective outcome from this plastic ban in our state. ‘Small drops make an ocean’, so I believe this ‘Plastic Drive’ initiative in our office is definitely bringing a change. It can be implemented in other offices as well.