Banning plastic hasn't done nothing

Several single use plastic products were banned in India, effective from 1st July. This is what we had in  mind when we launched our 21 day #makanakaplastic programme at Panjim market last month. The idea was to give the people a replacement for plastic before it goes on the black market. Show them all their options, let them do the weighing. Shortly after the campaign, we started our  'Borrow a Bag' programme, where we sell #makanakaplastic bags to vendors, who can then give them to customers on deposit. The response has been amazing! 

While the ban may not be very well executed, and single use plastic is still everywhere, the awareness amongst the vendors is so exciting to see! We actually interacted with a vendor, Nitin who was very passionate about the environment and already had his own bags on rent at his shop. He started the same concept as us, 15 days earlier. 


Other feedback that we received is that even if the customers take their pulses in large reusable bags, the individual bags for each pulse are still in plastic. One vendor suggested making smaller drawstring bags on rent to tackle this issue. The same vendor also said that customers should be fined instead of vendors because they're the ones who insist on plastic and say they'll go to another vendor if they don't get it. 

The bags have to value in the customers' eyes. Maybe that's the place to start.

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