To,

Shri Narendara Modi ji

Honourable Prime Minister of India,

New Delhi

And

Shri Prakash Javadekarji

Honourable Minister of Environment, Forests, & Climate Change

Respected Sirs,

Re: Discourage the use of plastic containers in Indian educational institutes by positive reinforcement

We would like to bring to your attention the enormous use of plastic in our country. Recent estimates suggest that we as a nation waste around 40 tonnes of plastic every day. This includes household products and industrial waste. Given that plastic takes over 500 years to bio-degrade, we are wreaking havoc on our environment.

While we cannot completely avoid the use of plastic in this day and age, we would respectfully like to suggest a proposal that creates this awareness among our youth as well as reduce the use of plastic in our educational institutes. 

Everyday millions of school kids in India carry water in plastic bottles and food in plastic boxes for their consumption.  This phenomenon has been in place for decades largely due to lack of access to potable water and health lunch alternatives. At the start of every academic year in June the market witnesses a huge surge in the sale of plastic water bottles and plastic lunch boxes. These plastic containers carried by the children are susceptible to loss and damage like other school supplies. The process of replacement also contributes to the growing problem.

The school management could help address this problem by aggressively advocating the use of stainless steel water bottles and stainless steel lunch boxes. Almost all schools in India follow a uniform code for clothing and foot wear. This code could possibly be extended to water bottles and lunch boxes.  The schools would have to take the first step by ensuring availability of safe drinking water to the children and offer wholesome, healthy lunches in their respective cafeterias. Stainless steel tumblers, plates and silverware should be used in lieu of plastic alternatives. This move could encourage working parents to let their wards drink and eat food at the schools at a modest cost.

In addition, the school could also offer branded stainless steel water bottles and lunch boxes for sale for children who would like to bring water and food from home. Children proudly wear the insignia of their schools on their uniforms. Extending this policy to water bottles and lunch boxes is not impossible.

Such a change is only possible if the government of India undertook a massive social campaign to educate the children and their parents about the environmental benefits that could be reaped by such a scheme. The government could offer subsides to schools that offer safe drinking water and healthy lunches to the children. The school also benefits immensely since their insignia will be widely seen by the public and they can also take credit for creating environmental awareness. Today’s children would be the future leaders of India who will enforcing policy in the 21st century. Can we not institute awareness when they are young and watch them grow while proliferating the same awareness?