India consumes an estimated 16.5 million tonnes of plastic annually. Of this, 43% of plastic is manufactured for single-use packaging that mostly finds its way into garbage bins.
At this time, when the entire country is struggling to deal with the menace of plastic waste, a small village in Sikkim has shown the will to ban single-use plastic.
According to a report by BBC, Lachung, a small village in Sikkim doesn’t allow tourists to carry single-use plastic into the village.
This campaign is being run almost entirely by locals and cab drivers who make sure that people do not pollute the village with plastic waste.
This tiny Himalayan village is also a popular tourist spot. But tourism didn’ t come easy to it. It brought a lot of plastic waste along.
Three years ago, locals of the village decided to frame a law and ban the use of single-use plastic. The villagers not only confiscate any plastic items carried by tourists, but is also leading the way in using biodegradable items back home.
The locals don’t just throw away all the confiscated plastic bottles. They try to reuse them in whatever way possible.
And if tourists insist on using single-use plastic bottles despite the ban, they are fined by the locals.
This is the kind of attitude change we need all over the country to tackle the problem of single-use plastic.
You can watch the BBC video here.