Plastic ban: Kurukshetra NGO to provide steel utensils, eco-friendly items

Tribune News Service

Nitish Sharma
Kurukshetra, July 3

Out to battle plastic, a group of environmentalists under the banner of Green Earth, a non-government organisation (NGO), has come out with an initiative of providing steel utensils for non-commercial activities and arrange alternatives of single-use plastic items at no profit no loss basis for the locals in Kurukshetra.

No end to single-use plastic

Kurukshetra is a religious destination. There are a number of religious organisations that arrange langars and distribute prasad on a daily basis, but many of them have been using single-use plastic items. — Dr Naresh Bhardwaj, Executive Member, Green earth

Executive member of the NGO Dr Naresh Bhardwaj said, “Kurukshetra is a religious destination. There are a number of religious organisations that arrange langars and distribute prasad on a daily basis, but many of them have been using single-use plastic items. We have been running a campaign against single-use plastic and making people aware of its ill effects. After the ban on single-use plastic came into effect, we decided to use this opportunity to further intensify our campaign by launching new initiatives.”

“The NGO has started a ‘Bartan Bhandar’ in which we have arranged 100 sets of steel utensils, including plates with sections, spoons, and glasses. These will be provided to people free of charge. But we will appeal to them to add at least one set of utensils while returning so that the number of sets could increase and more people could avail benefit of the initiative,” he added.

A seminar was organised in Kurukshetra on Sunday where information about the initiative was shared with representatives of more than 60 social and religious organisations, he said.

“We have received a good response. Two organisations have announced to give 50 utensil sets each as their contribution,” he added.

Members of the NGO said the government had banned the use of single-use plastic. There were many plastic products, which people used on daily basis and this could be avoided, they added.

People were a little curious about the pricing of single-use alternatives available, they said. The NGO had displayed a wide range of alternatives, including cutlery made of paper, wooden, sugarcane bagasse and leaf, they added.

“To encourage organisations and people the NGO has also decided to arrange alternatives for them on a no profit no loss basis,” they said. The NGO had tied up with manufacturers of single-use plastic alternatives in Jharkhand and Odisha so that these products could be arranged directly from them for local residents and organisations, they added.

“An exhibition was also organised today in which the NGO displayed alternatives of single-use plastic and other plastic items that can be opted to save the environment and keep our body healthy. We have a team of 12 volunteers, including Monika Bhardwaj, Sushil Kumar, Dr Ishwar Singh, Sanam Raj, and Kuldeep Singh. They will hold more seminars in the coming days to educate locals,” Dr Bhardwaj said.

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#Environment #kurukshetra #Pollution #Polythene Ban #Single Use Plastic Ban