Zero Waste Centres Final

8/3/2019 Zero Waste Centres Final

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Zero Waste Centres(A Programme undertaken by THANAL)

Profile of Partner Organization

Submitted By

Harambee Group(Nicholas Kimuyu & K.R.Raja)

e-mail id: [email protected]


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Acknowledgement

We wish to thank the following persons for their incredible andInvaluable support in the process of producing this document. We wish toextend our heartfelt gratitude to Mr.C.Jayakumar Founder Member of Thanal

and Renowned Environment Activist who spared his time to give us thehistory, story and activities of Thanal.

We also grateful to Mr.Shibu.K.Nair, the Programme Director of ZeroWaste Centre at Kovalam who gave us valuable insight on Waste Managementsuch as Recycling process of Plastics.

We also thankful to Mr. Baby Chand, The Programme Director ofOrganic Bazaar Thanal, Who took us to meet Farmers practicing OrganicFarming, Roof Gardening, Bio-Gas Unit,

In addition, we also appreciate Ms. Seena and her colleagues whointroduced us to the Thanal Management Team.

Finally we convey our special thanks to Our IISE Fraternity includingCatalysts, Participants, and Administrative Team for their support andencouragement in the pursuit of this task.


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Introduction

The International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) in Kerala(South India), the IISE is an Institute that operates under the umbrella ofBraille without Borders (BWB).www.bwb-iise.org

The IISE focuses on leadership training in order to create socialchanges in the world through Innovative social projects. The participants areinspiring visionaries who mainly come from developing nations such as

Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tibet, USA, Thailand,German, India and so on, we are third year batch of participants,

All of us have overcome significant life challenges ranging from visionimpairment, disability, poverty, war, discrimination and exploitations. We havea passion to make the world as a better place and the strength to be forces ofgood rather than victims of circumstance. Throughout IISE's 11-monthprogramme, participants develop all the necessary skills to succeed as socialinnovators/entrepreneurs.

Here, we are learning Social Entrepreneurship; learning modern waysof Community /Social Development and Innovative Business techniques, theaim is to establish us as astute Social Entrepreneurs. After the course each ofus is expected to go back to our various countries to establish a viable SocialEnterprise (Social Project & Supporting Business)

Out of 21 participants, We Mr.Nicholas Kimuyu from Kenya andMr.K.R.Raja from India, formed group called Harambee. Harambee is Swahili

word. It means pulling together or Unity. We chose Zero Waste Centre ofThanal as our partner Organization to apply the Harambee philosophy indealing with Waste Management and Environmental Issues. We will beworking together from May to July in the advancement of better bagscampaign and related activities.
http://www.bwb-iise.org/http://www.bwb-iise.org/


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Objectives:

Deepen our skills by implementing everything we have learned.

Understand the challenges and opportunities of working in an NGO inIndia.

Understand how to create effective and divergent campaigns.

Experience the power of passion while creating positive social change inour local community.

Learn how to work across cultures and with diverse teams inchallenging and low resource situations.

Learn how to start up and/or improve an NGO or a new activist group.

Get in the habit of creating reasonable budgets, doing accounts, writing

progress reports.

Create action plans with clear defined outcomes/deliverables anddeadlines.


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Profile of Zero Waste Centre

Name of the partner organization: Zero Waste Centre Thanal.

Address: Zero Waste Centres,RB Towers,Azhakulam,Kovalam P.O.,Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala - India. 695 527Tel: +91 471 2487139

Email: [email protected]@thanal.co.in

Web: www.thanal.co.in

Legal entity: Thanal Conservation Action and Information Network, workingsince 1986 and now the members of this network have registered itself as aPublic Charitable Trust in December, 2003.

Legal status of Thanal: Registered under the Trivancore Charitable Trust Act-

1955.

Governance system of Thanal:

Board of Directors,Advisory Board andProgramme Management Team

Director Ms. S. Usha,

Thanal Board Members:

Mr. Harish Murukanandan. Bengaluru,Ms. Daisy Thampy.Kochi,Mr. Jayakumar C. Thiruvananthapuram,
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.thanal.co.in/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.thanal.co.in/


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Programme Management Team

Ms. S. Usha,Ms. Sreedevi Lakshmi Kutty,

Ms. Lekshmi B. Kannan,Mr. C. Jayakumar,Mr. Babychan T.J.,Mr. Sridhar R.Mr. Shibu K. Nair

Thanal Advisory Board

Dr. Santhi S. Thiruvananthapuram,

Dr. Sharadini Rath. Bengaluru,Dr. Sukanya. Bengaluru,Mr. E.S. Jayachandran. Thrissur,Dr. G. Nammalvar. Trichy,Dr. V.S. Vijayan. Thrissur,Mr. Devinder Sharma.New DelhiDr.Narasimha Reddy.Hyderabad,Dr. Ramanjaneyulu.Hyderabad,Dr. Chandan Mukherjee.Kolkotha,Mr. A.V. George.Kottayam

Thanal have legal and financial advice: Occasionally,

Story:

Save Silent Valley was a social movement aimed at the protection ofSilent valley, an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala,India. It was started in 1973 to save the Silent Valley Reserve Forest in frombeing flooded by a hydroelectric project. The valley was declared as SilentValley National Park in 1985. Nonetheless the controversy surrounding thevalley is still on. Through this silent Valley campaign a group of young peopleincluding Mr.C.Jayakumar Renowned Environment Activist formed Thanal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Valley_National_Parkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroelectrichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Valley_National_Parkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Valley_National_Parkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Valley_National_Parkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroelectrichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Valley_National_Parkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Valley_National_Park


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The history of Thanal:

From a Natural History learning Centre working on an informal waynetworking with organizations and individuals with common interests in

protecting and nourishing the environment, Thanal has evolved into a public-interest research, campaign and advocacy organization. In the last five yearsThanal has started working on various issues, with Environmental Health andJustice as its foundation. It is in the process of institutionalizing the Trust andsetting up clear processes for growth, capacity building among the staff andvolunteers and also for bringing in visible accountability. Much of theorganizational matters are still evolving and we see the next two years asperiod of maturing.

Members:

Thanal has no criteria for membership, who have commen interest andcompassion with Thanal can become members even volunteering.Profile of the main contact person:

The contact person for Zero Waste Centre Mr.Shibu.K.Nair ProgramDirector, who is expert in Research, Analysis and Advocacy. He has handful

field experience and enormous knowlege in waste management. He hastravelled all over the country to propogate the concept of waste management.

How is the organization structured?

Board of Directors,Advisory Board,Program Directors,Program Managers,Office Managers,Campaigners,Production Unit members,Stake holders.


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What roles and responsibilities do the members carry out?

Meeting,Decision making,

Organizing events such as clean up beach, World Plastic Free day, Awareness,Research on Environment, Pest control, Agriculture,Marketing through Organic Bazaar,Networking,Campaigning,Monitoring,

Vision: Let us work together for chemical safety and Toxic free world.

Mission:Gather for All Beings,Alternative Farmers Direct Retail with Environmental Stewardship andAccountability.Environment Education in Understand and Involve.Sustain Agriculture.Food Safety and Food Security for All

What are the long-term and short-term objectives?

Thanal has the following objects declared in its memorandum of declarationas a trust.

1. To carry out research, on matters pertaining to environmental health,environmental justice, biodiversity, natural history, sustainableagriculture, social justice and public health and to advocate on thesame and plan and implement action programmes for the effectivedissemination of the findings, in public interest.

2. To carry on educational activities among the public for creatingenvironmental awareness by conducting educational programmes andthrough publication of printed materials , production, screening,exhibition and broadcasting of audio-visual materials.


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3. To conduct national and international campaigns on matters ofenvironmental justice and environmental health so as to build publicopinion for a clean, healthy and safe environment.

4. To plan and implement action programmes focusing onenvironmental education, conservation of biodiversity andecosystems, natural history, sustainable and poison free agriculture,toxic free production and clean industries.

5. To build up public opinion against activities, this has long-termadverse impacts on environment and humanity, and to intervene insuch matters immediately by taking appropriate and effectivemeasures includig legal action, to prevent such destruction and toprotect the public assets and natural heritage.

6. To start institutions to undertake and encourage programmes andresearch projects to achieve trust objectives.

7. To develop and implement schemes for environmentally soundpolicies, guidelines and practices.

8. To affiliate organizations and provide technical support forconservation programmes.

9. To provide support for those groups and individuals engaged inproduction of ecologically and economically sustainable products.

10. To facilitate capacity building and impart training for the weakersections in the society with special emphasis to help begin and runsustainable employment generating activities.

11. To provide a platform and to form a collective network of individualsand institutions with a mission "Gather for all beings."


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Current activities:

Zero Waste

Zero Waste is a unique way one looks at resources one of the mostfuturistic, current and profound ways that modern societal change is envisagedin the world today. It is based on three fundamental principles ethics,efficiency and economy. It is a total systems approach that goes beyond justsegregate reuse reduce-recycle. Hence it is a logical planning approachincorporating principles of effective human and material resource utilization toavoid the conversion of discards into waste in a manner that revitalizes thelocal economy.

Zero Waste Kovalam

Zero Waste Kovalam is an attempt to implement zero waste concepts ata tourist beach destination in Kerala, India. The project was conceived andlaunched as a fall out of an anti waste incineration campaign launched byThanal in 1996. The project was drawn in 2001 focusing on building capacityand relationship among the local community for lobbying for better resourcemanagement policies, generating clean and sustainable employment throughdiscards recovery and material substitution.

Zero Waste Centre

Zero Waste Centre, a part of the Zero Waste Kovalam programme wasestablished in April 2003, as a Resource Use Education Centre with theobjective of product design and development, imparting training and buildingawareness about resource use. The Centre evolved from the need tocomplement the effort of the Zero Waste Kovalam Programme which demandsideas, products and designs that are diverse and eco-friendly. It has been ableto share the lessons learnt in economical and ecological way of handling wastewith local self governments, Institutions and the local people and has helpedbuild relationships and partnerships among various stakeholders.

Environment Leadership Training

Environment Leadership Training provides opportunity for people toperceive the local environmental as well as development issues and toencourage them in timely interventions to correct the situation. The content ofthe training varies depending on the nature and role of the people from


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sensitization to highly technical sessions. This programme builds capacity inthe community which enhances public participation and contribution in localplanning, development and conservation activities.

Community Action for Pesticide Elimination

CAPE evolved as a network in October 2002, when farmers, activistgroups, public health professionals, researchers, voluntary organizations cametogether with many pesticide impacted communities and formed a platform -the Community Action for Pesticide Elimination to take forward the jointstruggle to keep our fields, food and lives free from pesticides. It was launchedon a workshop on Pesticides and Health organized in Bangalore.

Pesticides and its impact on the system have become too ominous andthreatening in the country and yet little considered when matters of health and

environment are discussed. In the last two or three years we have seen thatmany communities all over the country have realized that they have beenenslaved by pesticide use and driven to suicides or have been livingcontaminated lives. Pesticides as a major source of health crisis came to beseriously recognized with the tragedy in Kasaragode due to Endosulfanspraying, and now we see such poisoning happening in other areas as well.Even while the food safety, the life of the villages and the future of soil andwater in the country is being affected, it is quite an irony that the environmentand health planning in the country do not consider pesticides and its impact.

Save Our Rice.

Rice is the most important crop for Asians. Rice means not only food,but also culture, livelihood, nature, art, education ... everything. For us inIndia, especially in the south, east and north eastern regions, rice is the staplefood and it decides the landscape and rural economy. It is our heritage. It isour identity.

Unfortunately in the last 10-15 years, all the possible threats we can

imagine, are making rice cultivation unsustainable. Unpredictable climaticchanges, new trade policies, dismantling of support systems, loss of soilfertility, pest outbreak, loss in biodiversity, increasing cost of labour and otherinputs, decreasing gross returns, etc. have created a situation where farmersfind it difficult to sustain rice cultivation. Along with these, changingagriculture policies and campaign on the advantages of other uses of rice fields


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have attracted farmers and in many areas rice fields have given way tohorticulture, urban development, development of landfills and industrialexpansion. This is threatening the very existence of our culture and ruraleconomy, relationships and ultimately ecology. Most importantly, this is

threatening our food security and livelihood security.

This campaign is an attempt to bring in and network everyone interestedin sustaining rice cultivation - farmers, consumers, NGOs, students, children,teachers, leaders, policymakers, media, academicians, scientists and in abroader sense, the general public to explore the chances of sustaining riceand rice-culture. Rice and rice-culture is just not an agricultural affair. So thewhole society, whose culture and identity is linked to the rice-systems, shouldcome together, talk, experiment and find ways to save rice from being pushedinto oblivion. The campaign covers the whole of Asia, connected and

coordinated by various organizations and groups. We at THANAL propose tointroduce the campaign in South India, West Bengal, Orissa and Chattisgarh.

Natural History Studies

Thanal sees that life's basis is ecology and hence its activities, howeverdiverse and human-oriented, are based on conservation where protection of theenvironment is primary to sustain life.

Most of the members in Thanal are nature enthusiasts and nurture apassion for the wilderness and wild life. Many of our members who grew upwith the Nature Club movement are in their own ways bird lovers and weparticipate in bird surveys and also organize awareness camps. We wereassociated with the publication of the very popular book - Kerala Birds - bythe renowned ornithologist K K Neelakantan. We also organize bird surveysand have some studies to our credit. In the last five years (since 1999), wehave organized Bird Surveys at Aralam wildlife sanctuary along with theKerala Forest Department.

Tourism is a growing industry in the Kerala State and the coast andbackwaters are much affected by the pollution and negative effects ofconstruction, development and waste. A preliminary compilation was done onthe impact of Tourism on the wetlands for Equations, Banglore (2000).

The coast which adorns the State in its west dips into the Arabian Sea


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and is one of the States great boons. The coast is intensively active withfishing. But indiscriminate fishing, trawling, development activities, especiallyfor tourism, harbours and even mining have affected life here.

Marine Turtles have been of great concern for us, and another of ourfounder members and the Director, C Jayakumar has been working on MarineTurtle conservation for nearly a decade now. He has done studies to map themarine turtle landing sites in the State. This study was supported by the WildLife Institute, Dehradun and also by the Kerala Forest Department (2002).Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development ( KRPLLD) alsosupported a research on the community participation in marine turtleconservation(2002). Most of this research work is completed and we are inphase of action to identify conservation spots and work on community leading

the action for protection.

Of late some of our members have felt the need to study Butterflies,Reptiles, Amphibians and Insects especially with the role that the beings playin supporting our life systems. These are some of the areas that have beenidentified for future work, but much depends on the interest that the youngmembers of the team who have propounded them can sustain.

Material Substitution

Material Substitution focuses on phasing out materials and productswhich are unsustainable and toxic like plastics and replacing them witheconomically viable and ecologically sustainable materials, products andservices which have minimum impact on environment and health. Materialsubstitution encourages responsible resource use and mindful consumption.The Material Substitution programme has trained both women and youth toproduce Environment friendly products using local materials. The project hascreated more than 100 new jobs in the first three years. The Centre runs freevocational training on production of eco-friendly products, conducts periodicaldesign development workshops and facilitates network of individuals and

enterprises engaged in the business of eco-friendly products and services.

Entrepreneurship Development Programme

Entrepreneurship Development Programme helps local entrepreneursdevelop skills in writing proposals, budgeting, pricing, marketing and businessmanagement for running and managing small enterprises. The Centre


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maintains a constant relationship with the small enterprises and extends thesupport for procuring raw materials, production, quality control, pricing andmarketing.

Organic Farming

Organic Farming promotes environment stewardship among farmers bygiving them technical assistance and training for toxic free agriculture. Localwomen prepare processed food with organic produce. Inspiringly womensparticipation is dominant in both the production and marketing sectors.Marginal activities have now become a mainstream sustainable business whichyields them decent profits.

Product Gallery

Coconut shell based curios and utensils

Cups, mugs, containers, bowls, oval dishes, pen stands, flower vases, jewellary

Paper based products

Paper bags, file folders, note pads, photo frames, curios and jewellary

Discarded cloth based products

Pouches, bags, banners, wall hangings, mats and cushions

Terracotta products

Utensils and curios

Natural fibre based products

Screw pine leaf based file folders, baskets, bags, boxes etc.Banana fibre based bags, baskets, table matsBamboo based curios, utensils, pens, stands and jewellaryJute based bags, file folders, pouches etc.

The ongoing projects:

Clean-up Kovalam Beach,Organic Bazaar,Production of eco-friendly items,


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List of services offered by Thanal:

Capacity Building.Training,

Organic Farming,Awareness Campaign,Bio-gas unit,Clean up programmes in beach.Target group:

Self help groups,Small & Medium Enterprise,Policy Makers,

Panchayat,Farmers,General Public,Students from schools and colleges,

Who are the beneficiaries?

All section of peopleCurrent beneficiaries,

Student Community from 6 Govt High Schools,

30 women Self Help Groups,FarmersTourist,Hotels,Families,Villages,

Who are the stake holders?Farmers,Government,IISE,Coastal Guards,Schools and Colleges,


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What has been achieved so far?

Instrumental in Banning Endosulfan in India.Genetically Modified food Crops control in Kerala.

Capacity building training for Women and Youth.Set up Organic Bazaar and Organic farming in Kerala.Introduced Cheap sources of energy,Organized occational clean up program in the Beech.

Which tools are used to spread the message, to market their products, tocarry out their activities?Print Media, such as Daily National and Local News papers,Electronic Media such as Online Petition to Top Government Departments,Natural Clubs in Schools,National Service Scheme in Colleges,Publication and Research Reports,Posters, Leaflets, Newsletters, Books,What are the current Challenges?Negative Attitude from People, who wish to continue using plastic bags ratherthan Cloth bags,Manufactures who produce plastic bags and bottles in large scale,

Big shopping Malls who wish to continue to distribute the Plastic bags.Inadequate Funds to carry out the activities,Short-term and long-term needs of the Organization:Long-Term Needs

They wish to clean environment and free from plastic items,Toxic free soils and food items,Preservation of endangers creatures such Turtles, birds, sea animals.They want to build capacity of other NGOs in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and northIndia.

Short-term Needs

Funding for extending their programmes,


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Cooperation:Who does the organization network with?

Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) www.no-

burn.orgMr.Jayakumar is a founder of Thanal, a GAIA member organization thathas initiated and sustained a highly successful zero waste project in thetourism town of Kovalam. A leading zero waste visionary from thedeveloping world, He brings to GAIA his grassroots appreciation of howsociety can benefit from alternative approaches to building healthy andsustainable communities. Thanal in January 2007 hosted the GAIAWaste Not Asia Meeting in Thiruvananthapuram. He is also a partner ofthe Pesticides Action Network Asia-Pacific and the International

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Elimination Network.

Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific

http://www.panap.net/Pesticide Action Network North America

http://www.panna.orgGrassroots International

http://www.grassrootsonline.orgAssociation for Indias Development

www.aidindia.org

EEDhttp://www.eed.de/en/Global Green Grants

www.greengrants.orgThe New World Foundation

http://newwf.orgCentre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad

http://www.csa-india.orgVanagam Tamil Nadu

http://www.vanagam.comCREATE

Paramakkudy, Tamil NaduSahaja Samrudha

http://www.sahajasamrudha.orgLiving Farms

http://www.living-farms.org
http://www.no-burn.org/http://www.no-burn.org/http://www.thanal.org/http://www.no-burn.org/http://www.no-burn.org/http://www.thanal.org/


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Deer Park Institute

http://www.deerpark.inIn which areas does the organization cooperate with other NGOs or

governmental departments?Policy Making,Education,Research,Resource Mobilization,Campaign,

Budget:

Since Thanal does not have regular funding, It was difficult to establishtheir butget. On the other hand some of the program directors commit theirfinance, time and expertise to run the program.Does the organization have an accountant?

Yes,

How much of the funding is coming from donations?

We couldn't establish

Who are the donors?Non-Residential Indian

What were the fund raising activities?

They haven't organized fund raising activities.Can the NGO receive funding from abroad (FCRA)?

No. It does not have FCRA

Does the NGO have other sources of income?Personal donation from directors and Managers

--


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SWOT Analysis of Thanal

Strengths:

Dedicated Members and Groups,

Diversified Services and Products,

Powerful tools of disseminating Informations

Proper Networks with State and National Level,

Weakness:

Inconsistent of funding,

Lack of professional in some areas,

Limited resources,

Lack of participation from communities

Opportunities:

Innovative Ideas and Services,

Research based solutions,

Representing and Participating in National and International Conferences,

Threats:

Negative attitude from Common People,

Manufacturers of plastic bags and bottles,

Shopping malls packing plastic bags,


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Action Plan for Act 2

Phase I

Goals:

To familiaries with Thanal.

Visiting to different program run by Thanal.

Researched on other models of waste management across the globe.

Producing profile of Thanal.

Create Media tool for Awareness.

Activities

Visiting Thanal, website,Interacting with Thanal team.

Meeting with stake holders and farmers.

Googling the internet.

Interviewed Thanal directors and secondary research.

Create accounts in e-mail, Facebook and Twitter,

Owners

Harambee (Nicholas & Raja)

Timelines

9th to 23rd May 2011

Outcomes:

Learned more and builded rapport with Thanal members and beneficiaries

Visited Organic farm land, Bio-gas unit, roof gardening, organic bazaar andmain office.

Found out some partner organization on waste management in Ghana,UK,German.


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Prepared a comprehensive Thanal profile and created Facebook and Twitter [email protected]

Phase II

Goals:

Food Forum for youth festivel organise by Thanal.

Organising Awareness campaign for Local Communities in Vellayani.

Conducting survey in schools and colleges.

Activities:Preparing for the visit.

Discussion with Panchayat Board Members.

Visiting schools and meeting with Teachers and Natural club members.

Owners:

Harambee (Nicholas and Raja)

Timelines:

30th May 2011

6th to 27th June 2011

Outcomes:

participate in the forum.

Meet and sensitize local communities.

Conduct betterbags campaigns
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Phase III

Goals:

Organise Public fair in Trivandrum,

Activities:

Working with Thanal

Consulting with Catalyst and Participants

Preparing for events.

Owners:

Harambee, IISE and Thanal

Timelines:

1st to 23rd July 2011

Outcomes:

Successful fair in Trivandrum

Appendix

Research on Harmfulness of Plastic and Alternative solutions

Plastic Bag Reduction

One of Planet Ark's most successful campaigns has been the national 'Plastic BagReduction' campaign. During its time, the campaign achieved great results including anagreement between governments and retailers to reduce the use of plastic bags. Thecampaign highlighted the need for people to start using reusable bags and since 2002 morethan 10 million of these have been sold.

This has led to an agreement between governments and retailers to reduce the use of plasticbags. Around 5 billion plastic check-out bags are still currently used by Australians everyyear, however since this campaign began in 2002, more than 10 million reusable bags havebeen sold.

www.planetark.org
http://www.planetark.org/http://www.planetark.org/


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Plastic Free Kanyakumari:

When was the last time you carried bag from home when going out forshopping? When was the last time you stuffed your purchases in a cloth bag

instead of the plastic one? When I was kid, the shop keepers use to wrapgrocery items in paper and we used to carry cloth bags (bright yellow bags inparticular) when we go shopping. Things have changed drastically in shortspan of years. Now we are so used to plastic bags in life that for even smallpetty purchases, the shop keepers provide us the plastic bags. It has becomeintegral part of our life.

Have you ever thought about how many plastic bags are in usage everyday? Every year,around 500 billion (500,000,000,000) plastic bags are used worldwide. Imagine the quantityof bags that would be in use in a growing economy with a billion populations.

Why do we need to say NO to plastics?

Plastic is forever and they litter the landscape.

Plastic is poisoning our food chain

Plastic affects human health

Plastic bags kill animals

Inspite of this hard facts plastic usage has become almost indispensable in our daily life andone cannot even imagine a life without them. But then for the larger interest of Planet Earthstrong action has to be taken. Our previous generations have managed their life withoutplastic bags, so can we all that needs is an effective discipline on the part of the Governmentas well as the public to curb this practice.

Couple of weeks back when I visited Kanya kumari, I was pleasantly shocked. The plasticscarry bags and cups are banned in the entire District, consisting of 1057 rural habitations, 56Town Panchayats and 4 Municipalities. The ban has been welcomed by the public and it ishugely successful. How did this happen when this idea failed in the neighboring district ofThiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala?

Yes, the public do have the practical difficulties. Shift from plastic bags to non-plastic modeis not that easy but the people of the district have got used to the change in life style. Yes, itis a change in life style. One has to carry cloth bags when going out to make smallpurchases, you need to carry utensils when you plan take-away food parcels. Inspite of thesesmall inconveniences the no-plastic momentum has sustained and well received by public.The credit for the Plastic-free Kanyakumari goes to Rajendra Ratnoo, the District collector

who started the campaign and makes sure it is effectively implemented through three prongstrategy.

This is how Rajendra Ratnoo and his administration made the change happen. In his ownwords:

What made us to succeed is that we did almost a six months long campaign andthis campaign had some specific strategies, such as


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1. Campaign had three components- Awareness generation, Training forbehavioral Change of all stakeholders and Enforcement from a preannounceddate i.e. 1st April

2. Focus in the trainings beyond knowledge i.e. on change in attitude andbehaviour

3. Leading by example before preaching i.e. before launching the campaign inPublic Domain, First Collector and his family stopped using plastics, thenentire Collector Office Staff and District Level Officers said NO to it, then wetargeted the Leaders and opinion makers, including Honourable Minister forTourism, MLAs, Municipal and Town Pt Chairpersons and gradually we wentdown upto ward members, SHG leaders, Traders, and sanitary workers!

4. Multiple Channels of Communication, including vernicular media, Schools,Colleges, FM Radio, SMS,Voice calls from District Collector to all citizens,through religious leaders i.e. both mass media, and interpersonalcommunication strategies were used!The results of our team work are very encouraging and we are following andmonitoring the Enforcement!Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board providedgood support in the campaign.

Have we not heard for umpteen times the phrases charity begins at home, be thechange, well here is an administration and the administrator who lead by example and thenimplemented the change very effectively. The administration and the public of Kanyakumarideserve a big round of claps and cheers.

During my stay I did find a couple of small restaurants packing the sambars and chutneys inplastic bags. When I found that the there is an official Facebook page by name Plastic-freeKanyakumari, I joined and pointed it out. Immediately next day, I came to know that theshops were raided and action taken. Can you believe it?

Visit Plastic-free Kanyakumari face book page :

http://www.gingerchai.com/2010/07/15/plastic-free-kanyakumari/
http://www.gingerchai.com/2010/07/15/plastic-free-kanyakumari/http://www.gingerchai.com/2010/07/15/plastic-free-kanyakumari/


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Planet Earth's new nemesis?

British shoppers get though eight billion a year, but elsewhere the humbleplastic bag has become a menace, with one country even banning themoutright. Could the UK follow suit?

Supermarket shopping in Ireland is much the same as anywhere in Europe, or indeedthe rest of the world.

But one element British shoppers would find distinctly foreign is the need to pay forplastic bags at the checkout.

Since the beginning of March, supermarkets have been forcedto charge shoppers a 15c (9p) tax on each new plastic bag.

The idea was introduced as an attempt to curb the litterproblem created by so many bags. And anecdotally, at least, itseems to be working.

Within a couple of months, shoppers have switched to re-usingcarrier bags. Customers now routinely turn up "pre-armed" witha clutch of polythene and one of the biggest chains,Superquinn, says the number of bags it distributes has droppedby 97.5%.

Being thoughtless

Now there is speculation that the UK could follow suit.Environment minister Michael Meacher is said to be interested in the scheme and theenvironment department says it has "concerns about the number of plastic bags thatare routinely handed over by supermarkets".

It's not just litter that is the problem. Environmentalists decryour thoughtless reliance on plastic bags - Britons get througheight billion a year, equivalent to 133 per person.

Made of polyethylene - more commonly known as polythene -

they are hazardous to manufacture and are said to take up to1,000 years to decompose.

Elsewhere in the world, their role in environmental destructionis even more drastic and so, it seems, a revolt has begunagainst the humble plastic bag.

In March, Bangladesh slapped an outright ban on all polythenebags after they were found to have been the main culprit

We get though more than 130each a year

At 9p a go, would you bring yourown?


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during the 1988 and 1998 floods that submerged two-thirds of the country. The problemwas that discarded bags were choking the drainage system

'Plastic flower'

Taiwan is moving to ban the free distribution of plastic bags, while, next month, the

government in Singapore will launch a campaign to discourage their use.In India, cows are ingesting plastic bags as they forage for foodon the street. They then end up choking or starving to death. Thesame happens to turtles, which commonly mistake plastic bagsfor jellyfish, say environmentalists.

In South Africa, they have been dubbed the "national flower"because so many can be seen flapping from fences and caught inbushes.

They are even big in America, despite all those Hollywood films featuring "moms",returning from the supermarket, overburdened with paper bags. Four out of five grocerybags in the US are now plastic.

From paper to plasticYet this trend is a fairly recent phenomenon; the result of advancements inmanufacturing.

Thirty years ago paper still ruled. In the UK, the switch toplastic was a result of growing competition in the supermarketsector, says Dr Graham Godwin, a former technical executive atMarks and Spencer.

"Plastic was the material of choice in those days and it wasmore hygienic, if for example something spilt as you carriedyour shopping home."

It is also stronger and faired better in the damp British climate.

Crucially, however, plastic bags have become cheaper thanpaper. The so called "T-shirt" bags that are freely available atsupermarkets are made of lightweight, high-density polythene.

'A people problem'

They cost and weigh a fraction of the older and thicker, stretchy polythene bag thatshops used to charge for.

So has the bottom finally fallen out of the plastic bag market?

Not surprisingly, those with a stake in the industry deny reportsof its demise. The fault is with human behaviour, not the bagsthemselves, says Peter Woodall of the Packaging and IndustrialFilms Association.

"Lots of people recycle them as bin bags. If you make peoplepay for them, they will have to go out and buy separate binbags," says Mr Woodall.

"Plastic requires a great deal less energy in manufacturing thanpaper and because the vast majority of our plastic bags areimported from Asia, a switch back to heavier paper bags,means it would take more energy to bring them over."

UK's plastic bags

32% come fromMalaysia24% from China20% from Thailand

A novel way of "recycling" yourshopping bags

Cows in India are mistakenlyeating bags


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So for the meantime at least, British shoppers will continue to see plastic as fantastic.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1974750.stm

A world drowning in litter

Overpackaging is adding to the rubbish mountain

By David ChazanBBC News Online

As industrialised countries run short of sites for dumping waste, the need to recyclemore rubbish grows increasingly urgent.

Waste disposal is also a headache in developing countries withfewer resources to devote to collection and recycling.

Ireland is the latest country to declare war on the ubiquitousplastic bag. In Ireland and other industrialised countries, the aimis to reduce the number of polythene or plastic grocery bagsdumped in landfill sites.

In countries such as South Africa or Bangladesh, however, plasticbags are a major eyesore. Easily carried by the wind, they hangin bushes, float on rivers, flap from fences, clog drains, chokeanimals and blight landscapes.

In South Africa, they have been dubbedthe "national flower".

Ireland introduced a 15% governmentlevy on plastic bags this week todiscourage their use - a move that maysoon be followed by a number of othercountries.

Traditional remedyBangladesh has gone further, passingnew regulations aimed at banningpolythene bags completely and re-introducing the more traditional - andeco-friendly - jute bag, thereby giving thecountry's ailing jute mills a much-needed boost.

If every human alivetoday consumednatural resources andemitted carbon

dioxide at the samerate as the averageperson in thedeveloped world, thenwe would need atleast another twoPlanet Earths, if notthree

WWF

Bags of rubbish in a Londonstreet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1974750.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1974750.stm


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South Africa's Environment Ministry wants to phase out thin, throwaway plastic grocerybags and introduce thicker, re-useable ones.

Some shops in Ireland are replacing plastic bags with paper ones.

In Britain and many other countries, new measures are being considered to increase the

recycling of waste.Running out of land to fill

Britain, France, Italy and Ireland are among Europe's "dirtiest" countries, with mostmunicipal rubbish dumped in landfill sites.

Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Canada and some parts ofthe United States, on the other hand, find ways to use a muchhigher proportion of their waste.

In some cases about half of municipal rubbish is re-used,recycled or composted.

Unsurprisingly, countries that achieve high recycling ratesgenerally force or encourage households to sort their rubbish

into different categories - such as glass, metals, paper, organicand food waste and plastic packaging.

Commercial and industrial waste amounts to far higherquantities - but environmentalists say more of it is recycled.

Britain, for example, produces about 77 million tonnes ofcommercial and industrial waste a year, compared with 29million tonnes of household waste, according to Paul Frith of theInstitute of Wastes Management.

Your weight in waste

But Mr Frith says that some 27.7% of commercial and industrial waste is recycled,compared with only 11% for household waste.

If you imagine collecting together everything you use in a normal day, the result mightbe a hill of rubbish.

It would include plastic from shopping bags and the wrappingfrom the sandwich you might have eaten at lunch, thefertilisers, chemicals and pesticides used to grow your food andthe wood from your newspaper.

It might also include the day's share of the metals and plasticsin your car and household appliances, not to mention thepollution they cause.

"Every day, the average American uses 101 kilograms of stuff -that's approximately the weight of a large man," said Payal

Sampat of the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington-basedenvironmental group.

The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) says recycling is onlyone approach to reducing the waste mountain.

"Overpackaging is a big problem, as is the fact that so many ofthe products we buy are short-life products and made of


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synthetic materials which are difficult to recycle," WWF's Diana Brown told BBC NewsOnline.

"Consumers must make a link between buying and waste," she urges. "Everything youbuy will end up as waste. Buy less and demand less packaging; buy products that canbe re-used and recycled."

Ms Sampat of Worldwatch would like to see more schemes thatencourage manufacturers to recycle waste from their products.

In Germany, carmakers barcode the different components sothat scrap metal recyclers can easily identify the materials usedin a given part.

Ms Sampat says recycling can even boost profits, pointing outthat you need 95% less energy to produce aluminium fromrecycled sources.

But she stresses that "an ideal scenario is that we use less andconsume less".

Two more planetsWWF says that if everyone in the world consumed as much as the average person in anindustrialised country - and emitted carbon dioxide at the same rate - we would need atleast another two planets.

And waste is multiplying - more people in the developing world are consuming productsand packaging once reserved for developed nations, while developed countries aregenerating larger quantities of waste each year.

Add to that the increase in global population, and there can be little doubt that wasterecycling has to be a top priority.

If, that is, we are to avoid drowning in a sea of our own garbage.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1849302.stm

WAR ON PLASTIC

by Jan LundbergNorthern Californians Against Plastic

new report: plastics additive of great toxicity: deca-BDE

Plastic as toxic trash is barely an issue with health advocates, environmentalists,

and even those of us looking toward the post-petroleum world. Instead,"recycling" and future "bioplastics" distract people from keeping plastic out oftheir lives. As the evidence from our trashed oceans and damage to humanhealth mounts, plastic can no longer be conveniently ignored. The days of naivetrust and denial need to be put behind us, and a war on plastics declared now.

It just keeps piling up
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1849302.stmhttp://culturechange.org/plastics_additives.htmlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1849302.stmhttp://culturechange.org/plastics_additives.html


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If this sounds unreasonable, decide after reading thisreport. One recently discovered principle aboutexposure to toxic chemicals is that very lowconcentrations can trigger worse damage in many

individuals than larger exposures, in part due to thesensitivity of our genes. Also, potency is notpossible to predict when various plastics' chemicalscombine in our bodies and cause synergisticreactions later on.

One must acknowledge today's extreme dependence on plastics. They arepervasive, cheap, effective, and even "essential." The list of plastic types goesfar beyond what we can start listing off the top of our heads. If a product orsolid synthetic material is not clearly wood or metal, chances are it is plastic --almost entirely from petroleum. Computers, telephones, cars, boats, tefloncookery, toys, packaging, kitchen appliances and tools, and imitations of amultitude of natural items, are but part of the world of plastics. Living withoutthem would seem unthinkable. However, these plastics are essential to what?Answer: essential to a lifestyle that is fleeting -- historically speaking.

There are people who say they cannot live without something, and those whoyearn to do so. People think it is a matter of choice. However, when thecoming petroleum supply crunch hits and cannot be alleviated by moreproduction -- world extraction is soon passing its peak -- a combination offactors will deprive global consumers of the constant flow of new products nowtaken for granted. Therefore, we will not have a choice when we must dowithout.

Secondly, but not less critically, the ongoing use and "disposal" of plastics is ahealth disaster, because we are never rid of the stuff. All the plastic that's everbeen produced is still with us today... unless, of course, it has been incineratedwhich spews a plethora of toxic substances into the air. But wait, hasn't therebeen progress? Plastic grocery sacks are 40 per cent lighter today than theywere in 1976, and plastic trash bags are 50 per cent lighter today than in the1970's. However, growth of the market cancels out any gains, and plastics'pollution just accumulates whether in the air, water or soil -- or our bodies. Inthe case of the picture at right, paradise is clearly trashed by modern"convenience" [source: cawrecycles.org]

Most North Americans urinate plastics. Sperm counts are at an historic percapita low. Cancer is an epidemic. Birth deformities, sex organ abnormalitiesand eventual cancers are becoming more common -- all traceable to certainchemical exposures to the fetus. If the human race is not driven extinct bynuclear holocaust or complete distortion of the climate, it may happen throughwonderful plastic and other petrochemicals. The foregoing is an "unscientific"


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assertion, but later in this report we provide some evidence to give everyonepause.

Iraqis behind U.S. forces' barbed wire, petroleum bottle

The movement's first U.S. battle

The current, high-profile battleground is San Francisco. Following the exampleof Ireland and other countries that have put a fee on plastic bags, the groceryshoppers of San Francisco may soon start paying a fee of 17 cents per bag. Thatfigure is the cost that the citizenry is already paying in general taxes for some ofthe costs of plastic-bag trash, such as cleaning up the litter and unclogging thewaste system.

The American Plastics Council claims that the bag fee is a crazy idea, saying in the San

Francisco Chronicle that "this will hurt those who can least afford it." Just the opposite istrue.

Northern Californians Against Plastic presented figures to show that if each of the 347,000+households in San Francisco were to purchase a couple of cotton or canvas bags, over theapproximate 10-year life of those bags the total amount saved -- compared to everyoneusing eight bags each week at 17 cents each -- by consumers would collectively be over$300 million. And, the bag fee would mean revenue to fund programs for the poor such as


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free reusable natural-fiber bags. The Chronicle and the Commission on Environment (theSan Francisco body putting the bag fee proposal to the Supervisors for an ordinance) havethis new information.

A movement to spearhead the fight against plastics is forming now. While there have been

municipal bans of polystyrene (styrofoam), the plastics/petroleum industry has had a freeride at the expense of the health of the planet and our bodies. While endocrine disruptorsand estrogen imitators have been targeted by researchers and public-spirited writers andhealth organizations, government has done next to nothing as it bows down to industryinterests. The War On Plastic will encompass not just a few "problem chemicals" or "theworst plastics," because they are all bad in at least some single way. We must reject theentire toxic petroleum plague to our fullest capability, beginning now.

In California, to complement the fledglingCampaign Against the Plastic Plague formedthis year in southern California, we atCulture Change have joined this effort witha northern California emphasis. One of ourfirst projects is to support the San Franciscobag fee. We are visiting more Californiancommunities as you read this, promotingbag fees and bans on certain plastics. Next,the whole state. We will face increasingopposition. But when our rationale and data are considered, almost no one will be able toturn away and ignore the issues.

Waiting for technology to save the lifestyle of using unlimited plastics, by havingbioplastics replace the petroleum, is no help. We find that after studying the problems with

plant-based replacements (see end section), and seeing the examples of other environmentalproblems saddled with non-solutions, fundamental change is the only reasonable approach.Such change will address the whole -- our social system, the ecosystem and the economy --instead of spinning our wheels on the ineffectual reforms of mere symptoms of ourextremely wasteful society.

Science misleads in the cancer game

The ubiquitous presence of plastics is already killing us. Exactly "how" is never going to becompletely isolated. Eighty per cent of cancers are environmentally derived. When wewonder where the epidemic of cancer is coming from, can we say that plastics gave Ms.Jane Doe cancer? Perhaps, but cancer is coming from not only plastics and their associatedtoxins as well as from radiation sources, smog, the modern chemically tainted diet,household and workplace chemicals, etc. To say cancer is "genetic" is to put the onus onour intrinsic humanity, so as to ignore the 80% environmental-source principle.

The absolute proof that a case of cancer came from a particular cause or chemical is usuallylacking, except in the case of certain rare cancers from identifiable chemicals. Or, amassive exposure can be blamed for specific cancers when it assaults a community such asUnion Carbide's mass poisoning of Bhopal, India. The lack of exact, causal evidence


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clearly pointing to plastics, for example, when considering cancer, is most convenient forthe status quo. This points up the faulty approach of focusing on a certain chemical villain,or set of bad chemicals -- as if the rest are safe and the technocratic bureaucracy will saveus. The public is encouraged by industry to think a certain cancer is caused by

overexposure to a certain chemical not yet regulated, so corporate profits can roll along inthe context of technological progress that the public has been trained not to question. Inreality, thousands of marketed chemicals and their combinations have not been tested to seeif they are harmful.

Whether or not scientists can measure a substance should not be the point. What we don'tsee or detect can be lethal enough. Migration and release of plastics' chemicals into ourfood, water and skin is of little interest to the government and its corporate friends. Butcertain principles won't go away:. For example, polymerizing does not perfectly bind thepetroleum chemicals together, especially when substances such as carcinogenic plasticizersare added after polymerization. Did you think that cute "rubber" duckie in the bath tub washarmless? Think again.

The U.S. public is thus treated every bit as shabbily as the Third World victims of plasticpollution. In India, where much of Americans' plastic "recycling" (mostly trash) is sent, theauthorities dismiss the sad public health impact there by asking, "How can you prove thatthese plastic and lead recycling factories are causing these problems?" [source: Plastic TaskForce, Berkeley Ecology Center] In a land like India where biotech crops and corporatefast-food outlets have been sabotaged, it is possible that folks there may intensify theirdestroying whatever is destroying them.


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When the environmental movement holds back forthright judgment, and the environmentand our health are not protected, people do need to take on plastics and other threatspersonally. This is because the mainstream movement to protect the environment andpublic health is going practically nowhere. This is exactly what industry and its scientists

want. It's as if industry is funding the environmental movement; in large part it is.

Your War on PlasticsWe all need to be awakened, as if a "Pearl Harbor" event suddenly was telling us thatplastics threaten us. However, the prevailing attitude by those already concerned aboutplastics is that we must just focus on reducing the use of one or two key plastics whilecontinuing to push recycling. This philosophy of compromise, without stating the wholetruth that plastics must be eliminated as much and as fast as possible, is a deadly mistake.The funded environmental movement and public health officials are needlessly resigned toaccepting a plastic world just because ignorant consumers have habits. The approach ofpromoting only the bringing of one's own bag for shopping, along with the recycling congame and waiting for bioplastics, has failed and needs to be abandoned publicly.

Paul Goettlich is the director of Mindfully.org, a nonprofit dedicated to exposing the effectsand costs of technology on our bodies and society. The plastics section on Mindfully.org isthe most extensive wholistic set of documents and scientific data that exists on plastics."There are no safe plastics," Goettlich says. "The tendency of environmental organizationsis to proclaim what the worst or the best plastics are, so we can go on using them. It is illconceived and does not address the relevant issues. All plastics migrate toxins into whateverthey contact at all times. It does not matter if it is water- or oil-based; hot or cold; solid orliquid," says Goettlich.


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Analogy:: When war is used as a solution in reacting to an alleged threat or terror, etc.,(Saddam, Noriega, ad infinitum) we fail to focus on the real problem -- the cause of thewar, which is usually corporate America. We are distracted by one alarm after another,while war profiteers and jingoistic politicians bleed us dry. Its the same with plastics -- the

chemicals are the battles but the war is really about plastic and petroleum dependence. Thefocus of environmental organizations is the individual chemical, while refusing to promotereal solutions such as reusable nontoxic, nonplastic replacement of containers and bags.Instead of wondering what plastic might be safer to microwave, we say "None. And don'tmicrowave anyway. It creates free radicals -- the precursors to cancer -- in your food."This is war, and we've already been critically damaged. Join us!

As discussed in "Plastics your formidable enemy," published last August in this column, thesupply of petroleum products such as plastics will dry up thanks to the extreme marketresponse that we can anticipate as soon as geologic reality triggers panic. The peak of oilextraction is imminent, with natural gas to follow soon after. Most plastic bags are madefrom natural gas (methane).

A host of poisonous chemicals are imbedded in plastic that are unstable, causing geneticdamage and resultant disease. To reiterate, as it is not possible to attribute mostenvironmental diseases to specific chemicals or products, industry gets a free ride in killingpeople and the planet for profit. The reductionist approach of science, and the dominationof research by corporations and corrupt government agencies, tricks citizens into cedingtheir power to specialists wedded to the economic/academic system and its inherent flaws.

Here are a few of the critical, insurmountable challenges from plastic's production anddisposal:

= Clear plastic food wrap contains up to 30% DEHP [di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate]. Thissubstance is also in intravenous blood bags. This poison was identified by the State of

California for its Proposition 65 list of carcinogens and mutagens, but industry pressure gotthe listing weakened.

= In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it was found that 1,000,000 times more toxins areconcentrated on the plastic debris and plastic particles than in ambient sea water;

= Six times as much plastic per weight than zooplankton is in any given amount of seawater taken from the middle of the Pacific Ocean;

= Triclosan, in plastics as well as antibacterial soaps, deodorants, toothpastes, cosmetics,and fabrics, is shown to cause health and environmental effects and compound antibioticresistance. Researchers found that when sunlight is shined on triclosan in water and onfabric, a portion of triclosan is transformed into dioxin.

= Migration from all seven categories of plastic designated with numerals on packaging,including the recyclable types 1 and 2, are (partial list): Acetaldehde, antioxidants, BHT,Chimassorb 81, Irganox (PS 800, 1076, 1010), lead, cadmium, mercury, phthatlates, and theacknowledged carcinogen diethyl hexyphosphate.

= Many more such additives are often present, creating in our bodies synergisms that can be1,600 times as strong as an estrogen imitator/endocrine disruptor/single chemical may be.


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= The main issue surrounding the use of polyvinylchloride (PVC) is the impact of toxicpollutants generated throughout its life cycle. A Greenpeace (UK) study from October 2001stated in its headline, "UK Government report on PVC misses the point, but still condemnsPVC windows and floors." Unfortunately, Greepeace did not quite get it either when it

advocated for plastic replacements seemingly less poisonous: "PVC should be phased outand replaced with non chlorinated materials - timber, linoleum, polyethylene, PET,polypropylene and others." Will Greenpeace declare War on Plastic?

Who is the enemy in this war on plastic, besides you and me? At the December 1, 2004meeting of the Campaign Against the Plastic Plague, a spy from Dart packaging was presentand kept entirely to himself. Dart touts its "single-use foodservice products worldwide."Another adversary is the American Plastics Council (APC) which has sent its "suits" tointerfere in the city of San Francisco's process of cleaning up the plastic bag mess. APC hasa website that promises to answer all your questions about plastics. But its search enginecomes up empty for "migration", "endocrine disruptors" and "estrogen."

Bioplastics?"A lot of bio-engineered row crops, using petroleum fertilizers and plasticizers to make thethrow away society perpetuate itself, is not appropriate. A mess of slowly degradingrubbish on our fences and shores could be worse than non-degradables." - Captain CharlesMoore, plastics pollution researcher.

Because of our huge population size and high consumption levels, there would not be mucharable land or species-diversity left over if the consumer demand for plastics, for example,were to come from agriculture (no matter if it were organic or GMO-maximum pesticide),even if it were possible to do this to the Earth and our communities. We cannot imagine aplant-based approach only for plastics and not expect that other fossil fuel needs would not

be part of the same approach of agricultural strip-mining. There would be competition forland from many pressures and interests, trying in vain to replicate the petroleum economywith a plant-based one..

That is another reason the real solution comes down to just cutting consumption ofpetroleum to the max. How about no plastics -- not using plastics to the extent we canmanage doing so. We will be forced to deal with virtually total shortage of plasticproduction due to imminent petroleum crash. So there goes bioplastics and othertechnofixes right out the window, because they will not be in place to ramp up. Better notto dream about them, but rather get on with preparing for a sustainable future based onreality.

The promise of the technofix (bioplastics in this case) gives the consumer the idea thattomorrow and for some years one will probably do just what one did today as toconsuming. The rationalization is that although we are doing wrong and it can't go on long,"human ingenuity" and "science" will "solve our problems" some day; as "they" will "thinkof something."


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As we've seen with energy issues, this mindset of the technofix and "clean" energy downthe road just puts off facing the fact that consumption must be slashed immediately,particularly when the infrastructure for the "green" Utopia for energy consumption wouldrely on the present petroleum-based infrastructure. The critical context is vast

overpopulation, already achieved thanks to petroleum dependence.

I would predict that plant-based plastics will be niche products and used very locally,similar to alcohol fuels which are only realistic for meeting very local, limited needspossibly, in certain parts of the world.

Bioplastics would also attract toxins in the ambient sea water, as petroleum plastics do. Allthe more reason to declare War on Plastics. Period!

The following is from a government analyst friendly to the campaign against plastics:

"Biodegradable plastics are often (not always) made from soy and corn.Making plastics from agricultural products will encourage a massive shift ofproduction from petroleum-based products to products that rely on petroleum-based pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizers. So, we are not moving away fromreliance on petroleum products, rather we would be encouraging the use of moretoxic forms of them. Mass agriculture on the scale that would be necessary toproduce the plastics to feed our consumer society will significantly increase thedegradation already caused by industrial-style agriculture -- that is, the use ofwater, energy, the use of pesticides, the depletion of top soil, and the resultingsedimentation of rivers and nearby waterways caused by soil erosion.

"If additional criteria were added to plastics that are biodegradable or

compostable that made them sustainable, then I might feel more comfortablewith the shift away from plastics made from hydrocarbons. Specifically,sustainable agricultural practices should be used with the development of anyagricultural materials grown for plastic production (i.e. no GMOs, nopesticide/insecticide/ fungicide use, and other principles of sustainableagriculture that prevent soil erosion). Use of waste agricultural materials, suchas byproducts from growing sugar cane, should be given a higher priority sinceit closes the loop on production.

"Another concern is that the ASTM standards for biodegradable andcompostable plastics do not address the issue of plastic additives. So, there is no

reason to believe that the plasticizing additives that cause cancer and hormonedisruption will not be used in these new plastics. Prohibition on the use ofharmful chemicals additives should be added to the criteria for sustainableplastics. For example, Dupont is marketing "Greenpla." When you check theirwebsite about biodegradable plastics and see Dupont's "Biomax," we see itsgeneric name is "Polybutylenesuccinate/terephthalate" [Note that the lastphrase, phthalate, is in a class of highly toxic compounds. - ed.]


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From Paul Goettlich, whose comments were directed, as were the above comments in thissection, to the Campaign Against the Plastic Plague participants in early December 2004:

"The concept of "biodegradable plastic" is at best a ploy by industry meant to

divert our focus away from the real problem: single-use containers andpackaging."The concept that something can take on the properties required for containersto then be composted into its original components -- just as found in nature -- isa stretch at best. Engineers and scientists may come up with any number ofstandards that attempt to define nature, but what it conforms to is a reductionistmodel that does not work when applied to whole systems.

"I am completely against promoting biodegradable products. They are thehappy alternative that allows people to continue consuming without regard tomany associated issues. PLA plastics utilize corn grown on corporatemonoculture farms and will be some variety genetically engineered corn thatwill be resistant to Monsanto's Roundup.

"This type of farming will never be sustainable. It uses more pesticides thannormal conventional farming, and nearly 100% more than sustainable organicfarming. Conventional farming uses pesticides because it is a monoculture --one crop is grown on thousands of acres. That fact alone is the very reason whypesticides must be used. Monoculture farming's lack of diversity is the chiefcause of the pestilence require pesticides.

"In genetically engineered crops such as Roundup Ready corn -- as opposed tonormal conventional corn -- pesticide use is actually increased rather thandecreased. Crop output is also reduced rather than increased. And it isimpossible to contain the pollen from genetically engineered crops, makingorganic agriculture a doomed concept at best. Everything that the industryclaims about its GMO crops is categorically false.

"Industrial farms also destroy communities they are in. Unions are busted.Communication between farmers is destroyed. An adversarial mood is instilledin the community. The farmer is rapidly being disappeared by the likes ofMonsanto. It will do anything and say anything to make a buck. PercySchmeiser [sued by Monsanto for having Round-Up-ready plants inadvertentlygrowing on his farm) is a perfect example. It is not wise to ignore theconsequences of dealing with Monsanto, Cargill, and any of the otheragribusiness giants.

"Consolidation of farms is having an enormous effect on farmers. So manyfarmers have left farming that it is no longer a category in the US Census --disappeared on paper. And the ones that remain generally need to supplement


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their income with one or more extra jobs, meaning that farming is almostconsidered a hobby rather than a profession.

"The message I'd like to leave everyone with is "watch the doughnut not the

hole." In other words, watch the real issues and don't be distracted by corporatesmoke and mirrors. The hole is the allure of being able to maintain our currentlifestyles while not causing environmental and social harm. But there is no easyway out. Consumption is consumption no matter what pretty picture is paintedof it. Corporate America has many millions of dollars to invest in promotingproducts.

"At first look, the concept of biodegradable seems admirable. But follow thelinks out in all directions until you think there are no more, and then dig deeper.It is not enough to merely see that a plastic degrades. What we don't seeamounts to so much more and must be considered before any new technology isaccepted."

"Alternatives to (petroleum) plastics," according to the Berkeley Ecology Center's PlasticTask Force do not include bioplastics:

Reduce the use source reduction.Reuse containers.Require producers to take back resins.Legislatively require recycled content.Standardize labeling and inform the public.

Could it be that the solid waste nightmare precludes their embracing bioplastics? The

Berkeley Ecology Center is the oldest and one of the most thorough recycling operations inthe U.S.

December 9-20, 2004, Berkeley/Oakland, California

http://culturechange.org/e-letter-plastics.html

Monday, 14 May, 2001, 13:02 GMT 14:02 UK


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Bombay gets tough on plastic bags

Market traders are not allowed to use plastic bags

By Lovejit Dhaliwal in Bombay

Bombay is stepping up its campaign against plastic bags, with police raids on factoriesand shops that may be manufacturing or handling them.

The council banned the bags last year, to stop them littering thestreets and clogging up the city's sewerage system.

At vegetable markets, traders now hand out recycled paper bags

There is still plenty of sweeping and clearing up after themarkets close, but where the ban has been strictly enforced, theamount of litter on the streets has been dramatically cut.

'No value'

The municipal council is keen to see the same happen elsewherein the city.

"Plastic bags have been creating havoc," says Ajit Kumar Jain, one of the councilcommissioners. "Number one, it is adding to the garbage.

"You know, they don't have much of a recycling value, therefore even the rag pickers,waste pickers, they do not pick those bags and they sort of dump it in the drains.

"Now once they are in the drain, they completely clog the drainswhich contributes to flooding intensity, so that is primarily thereason why thin plastic bags are being banned."

With the monsoon season due to arrive soon, the council is keento avoid a repetition of last year's flooding. But this is not theonly problem caused by plastic bags.

Professor Rashmi Mayur, an adviser to the United Nations onenvironmental issues, and head of the International Institute fora Sustainable Future, says the effects of plastic bag littering

reach far beyond the city, and there are health implications foreveryone.

"Increasingly, all the farms are saturated with the plastic bags, and people don't knowwhat the plastic does when it leaks," he says.

"And they grow vegetables, they grow grains and it's all up-taken by the vegetables andgrains and these chemicals have an enormous amount of neurological problems in theblood and so on."

Plastic bags havebeen creating havoc

Ajit Kumar Jain,Bombay council

People don't knowwhat the plastic doeswhen it leaks

Professor RashmiMayur


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Tough penalties

A small municipal enforcement team carries out raids on innocuous-looking shops. Theteam watches suspect premises for days.

"For 15 days, we are coming here... we are getting 100-150 cases of plastic bags which

are very thin and coloured," said Pradeep Savan, the assistant security officer in chargeof one raid.

The penalties for handling or manufacturing these thin bags are relatively high. Shopsand factories can be heavily fined and closed down for a month. The council says itscampaign has been a success, pointing out that it has seized well over 2,000kg ofplastic bags.

"This has become an issue. I mean, people have started talking about plastic bags,"says Ajit Kumar Jain. "You go to any shop and the shop people are also very cautiouswhen dispensing the things, and everybody, by and large, has understood what exactlyis the problem created or caused by the plastic bags.

But despite the posters and notices, thin polythene bags still appear on the streets. It isclear that Bombay's people need to take this issue more seriously.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1329600.stm

Zero Waste Centres Final

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Transcript of Zero Waste Centres Final