Youth fails in fight against plastic

Though many citizens in the country are aware of the adverse consequences of plastic, the majority of them still use plastic.

A survey has been conducted in Mumbai on 500 students in city-based schools and colleges.

It revealed that nearly 45 per cent of college students and 52 per cent of schoolchildren still use plastic.

The survey was conducted by a group of 11 students who are pursuing their first-year Bachelors in Arts (FYBA) at St Xavier’s College.

The Maharashtra state government banned plastic one year ago and surprisingly 24 per cent of college-goers are not even aware of it.

Interestingly, the percentage is lower in school students. Only 18 per cent of school students are not aware of the government’s ban on plastic.

Several schools have started various initiatives to make the city plastic-free, 67 per cent of college students and 55 per cent of school students do not participate in such activities.

The state government enforced a ban on plastic in June last year and issued a notification on this. The violators would be fined ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 for the first and second-time offense.

If they violate for the third time, then they will have to pay ₹25,000. In addition to that, they may also face imprisonment for three months.

After that, schools and colleges started several activities to create awareness of the dangerous effects of plastic on the environment among students. However, several do not even care to participate in them.

The survey was intended to evaluate the effectiveness of the ban in the city.

The survey also focused on sensitizing students on the ill-effects of non-degradable plastic products.

Some participants of the survey expressed that it is difficult to stay away from plastic as it is crucial in lives. Yet considering the harm it does, they want to reduce the plastic use to protect the environment.

Photo: Stop plastic pollution by Marco Verch under Creative Commons 2.0

Image Reference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/43112189730