Yesterday, India hosted U.N. World Environment Day. This year’s theme was “Beat Plastic Pollution.” Held in the capital of New Delhi, the event highlighted protecting the environment—at least briefly—in a country where trash is everywhere.
Tuesday saw numerous official environmental gatherings across India. There were also clean-up campaigns along the Yamuna River, and mall food courts agreed not to use plastic plateware for one day.
India can use all the help it can get. With more than 15 million people, New Delhi and its surrounding cities produce an estimated 17,000 tons of trash daily, according to Indian officials and environmentalists. Much of that trash is plastic.
Purposefully polluting the Earth God made goes against His command “to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15)
Amardeep Bardhan is trying to do his part to reduce plastic waste. He owns a company that makes plates and bowls from the leaves of areca palm trees. The plateware has the feel of thick paper plates. It biodegrades in seven to ten days. Bardhan’s company doesn’t harvest any palm trees. Instead, workers wait for leaves to fall to the ground.
“In this entire process, we are not harming the environment,” says Bardhan.
Elsewhere in New Delhi, some fancy restaurants and hotels are doing away with plastic straws. Aditya Mukarji, a nine-grade student, has been pressuring them. He launched a campaign after seeing a video of veterinarians trying to remove a plastic straw from a turtle’s nose.
Thanks to citizens like Bardhan. Mukariji, and others, India has seen recent progress in cleaning up New Delhi. But there is much still to be done. The hope is that everything doesn’t just go back to normal today.
(AP Photo: Ram Nath rummages for plastic bottles and other reusable trash while rowing a makeshift boat through murky waters of the Yamuna River.)
