Old habits die hard

Through the art of persuasion we have succeeded in making people realise the importance of hygiene, change in their food and sartorial habits, but so far we have failed to persuade people about the need for giving up the environmentally-harmful habit of using non-degradable plastic shopping bags. It is indeed surprising! Last year in October, the Sindh government launched a campaign against plastic bags with much fanfare but it fizzled out within a few months, like several other such drives in the past.

Realising the serious harm that non-degradable plastic bags cause to the environment, well-meaning citizens began noticeably switching to the good-old cloth bags. The media played a commendable role in convincing people of the need for discarding the hated plastic bags. Unfortunately, the government developed cold feet on the significant issue of protecting the ecology from the harmful effects of plastic bags. People and the media followed suit, and the ubiquitous plastic bags reappeared in the market. It is business as usual. The government introduced plastic bags of certain thickness, which it claimed to be easily degradable, in place of the usual plastic bags. But these bags failed to click as people complained that they gave out a foul stench. Shopkeepers say they are more expensive than the plastic bags generally in use.

So it is because of these reasons that the bad old bags drove out the newly-introduced bags. An environmental law, promulgated in 2014, prohibits manufacture, sale and import of goods of non-degradable plastic. But this law, like many other laws, exists only on the statutes books. Last year, the government had given manufacturers and retailers two months to end their stocks of the harmful plastic bags. Obviously, no one has taken notice of the government’s deadline. Half-hearted measures produce this kind of result. The Sindh Environment Protection Agency claims the ban on plastic bags stays and violators are being punished. However, the power of persuasion should not be ignored. Persuasion is often more effective than force.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2020.

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