The Plastic Ban

You know, we had a big plastic ban in Blore a couple of years ago. People literally stopped using plastic bags to bag their stuff for a whole like, day, and then went right back to using plastic bags left, right and center soon afterwards.
But regardless of those thin white bags that are used for bagging things, it's actually all the other plastics that causes just as much, if not more, harm to the environment. Every plastic bottle of water, or bag of milk, yogurt, rice, lentils, biscuits (God, do you know biscuits use as many as 4 different types of plastics just for a single package! Ridiculous! I'm looking at you, Dark Magic and no, I really don't need individually wrapped and stacked-in-a-row biscuits.
So here's a thought experiment (because before I actually do it, I would like to think through every aspect of it: can I go one day in a wholly plastic-free manner?
I'll give myself 3 passes, where I have to shrug my shoulders and deal with reality.

Let's see... when I wake up and go to the bathroom... hmm, will have to replace the plastic toothbrush with maybe... a neem stick? Will have to find someone with a neem tree first. Can't use the toothpaste from a plastic toothpaste holder... so will have to depend on... hmm... do they still sell tooth powder in those little aluminium tins?

Hmm... cap looks plasticy. Probably can't use this one.

Will need to use this one instead....

Can't take a bath using water from a plastic bucket, no.. will need to replace that with a tin can or something. Crap! Can't actually crap because the commode's lid is plastic, the water chamber is plastic, the little toggle that releases the water is plastic... will need to fill water in the aluminum tin can and pour... which means I'll need two tin cans, one for bathing and one for the loo. If I were truly obsessive about the details, the water pipes through which the water comes is also plastic, but jeez, let's give myself a break here- my first pass.


Ok, then clothes on (good thing my cupboard is wood, not plastic. Will have to choose something with no plastic buttons, zips or hooks... Fortunately, most buttons, hooks etc on salwar kameezes are metal), then into the kitchen, where I would promptly stumble. Rice, lentils both come from plastic bags from the grocery store. How would I go about this? I would have to take steel boxes with me when going to a place like Spar and go to their loose grain sections and will have to weigh the boxes before and after filling it up. Veggies and fruits... much easier here. Plenty of loose veggies that I can imagine have never touched plastic (yes, there may be plastic in the soil where they grew or they may have been transported in large plastic bags, but this will be my second pass for myself).

Loose grains

Oh but you know what? They don't sell mustard, jeera, turmeric and other additives loose. They all come in plastic bags. What to do.... ok, salt from the sea directly (Where to get sea water in Bangalore!!) and turmeric from the plant root and for spice... no red chillies (they come in plastic bags too), would have to switch to green chillies sold loose in small carts outside the house. Oh and no tamarind either, unless I get the raw fruits. I could switch raw mangoes (from our own tree!) for tamarind maybe.
Oil: nope.... all those olden day shops where oil used to be stored in big metal containers are no longer around. I would have to make things oil-free (in that case, why bother with mustard etc?)

For clean water: Our Aquaguard water purifier container is plastic, so will have to boil water from the tap.
No milk, coz that's all from plastic packets. Will have to find cows (and I know where!) to get pure, unadulterated milk directly from the udder. Will have to make curds... but the culture for this will come from curds in a plastic packet. Darn it! Will have to strive really hard and long to make plastic-free ghee... do this whole thing for a month or two, collect the cream, beat it by hand (because the food processor is plastic) and then make ghee... err, I think I'll just have ghee-free food.

Amazingly, I just realized, the whole system for cooking using gas cylinder is plastic-free. Metal cylinder, rubber tubing and metal stove. Hurray! No need to wonder where to get kerosene from! Phew!

Can't use a knife to cut the veggies or fruits, will have to switch to the traditional aravamanai.

 Ok, I think I might be able to cook a decent meal, at least once in the day. Other times, if I'm hungry, I'll have to eat fruits. No coffee or tea, because they come wrapped in plastic.

Money: no cards... actually even the new notes (cash) have plastic in them these days. Only coins then... that too only Rs.1, 2, or 5 since nobody will take a Rs. 10 coin.
Phone and computer- nope, too much plastic, both for charging and for actually using. That itself might be the deal breaker... not sure if I could survive without these two, but then again, it's only for 1 day. So maybe yes.

How to get to work? Plastic seats on buses and autos... will have to go standing, either in bus or in the metro and walk.

How to write at work? Nobody makes metal pens anymore.... okay, shall use pencils. Can't sign anything important though.

It's a good thing I don't do any wet lab work anymore- nearly all laboratory ware is plastic.

So that would be my day. My third pass would be not worrying about how to get plastic-free with kids. They have plastic book wraps, plastic baskets and food carriers, plastic pencil pouches, plastic food containers and even plastic pencils!
Even thinking about it is enough to drive me a bit insane.

It's simultaneously depressing to realize just how much plastic we use on a day to day basis, surprising that there are alternatives and disconcerting to discover that even just 20-25 years ago, we were using these alternatives and it's only the past few years that we have completely switched over to such a wide use of plastics.