SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2024
We have a great number of galaxies, a plethora of colored planets but only one green and blue earth. Planet earth is distinctive as is our small state of Goa, which is not immune to environmental issues of its own.
Speaking about the two major issues that Goa is currently facing, Mahesh Patil, Chairman Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) said that ‘single-use plastic’ and ‘solid waste management’ are issues which need dealing with as they contaminate the environment.
“There are two aspects to control these problems, one is a legal aspect and the other is an administrative initiative. Single use plastic is legally banned up to 50mm size, so we have stopped giving consent to all the plastic manufacturers in Goa. The second aspect is that the industries have to register with us, the pollution control board,” Patil said.
He further stated that GSPCB has sensitised the panchayat and municipalities on taking action against outsiders selling plastics in the State.
“We will also be conducting an awareness drive, on June 6, and a full day program on ‘single use-plastic’, where they will discuss about the legal aspects and how to manage the whole thing. The Chief Officers of municipal councils and Block Development Officers have been invited to give their insight on the matter,” he said.
Talking about sustainability he said, “The theme for this World Environment Day is ‘only one earth’. We have to change our lifestyle for the sustainability of our planet. Fortunately for our industry what we are trying to do is apart from normal course of activities. We are trying to inculcate the habit of sustainability, like water-harvesting, opting for renewable resources like solar energy. These are part of the terms and conditions we insist upon.”
For them awareness, implementation and training are their main focus areas along with EPR (extended producer responsibility).
“Instead of regulating duties, we believe it’s a shared responsibility to get all stakeholders together and implement sustainable practices,” the GSPCB chairman said.
Plastic pollution has caused problems for generations. But some social organizations in Goa have taken small steps to eliminate the plastic footprint in the environment. One such store is Walkover-Toys and Baby Mega Store, Panjim. NikhilTavora of Walkover store said, “To be a bit more environmentally consciousness and cut down on the use of plastics that end up finding their way into our garbage and non-biodegradable waste, we’ve moved like most businesses to cloth bags. It might be a little more expensive and we have to pass that cost onto customers but we end up being more responsible as a business.”
He further said that following this move, “Customers are also encouraged to carry their own bags. They have to pay for our bags, which they can reuse for any other shopping requirement.”
Another such organization is COOJ Mental Health Foundation, Bastora which makes and sells newspaper bags and handmade papers too.
“We make two kinds of box bags called small bakery bags and big bakery bags, and these are made by our clients suffering from psychological disabilities as part of their vocational therapy. Whatever bags they make, we sell it,” said a COOJ staff. Speaking about the customers, the COOJ employee said, “We have our regular customers as well as restaurants, which take orders and purchase our eco-friendly bags. Due to the pandemic, we went online so we still have 50-60% occupancy coming from the online medium.”
People are changing from plastic bags to cotton or jute ones but are they changing from polyester fabrics to organic and sustainable ones? Another element of sustainability is the clothing choices we make. Designer clothing store in Goa, Sepia Stores, founder Praful Makwana, shared his view on the matter.
“Sustainability and organic clothing is extremely important for us, right from the fabric to the dyeing to stitching and packaging, we follow a purpose which is entirely hand driven and we ensure we use minimum electricity when we are stitching, minimal wastage of resources when we are producing the garment and also that our packaging is zero-plastic, either it’s made up from bamboo or corn-starch,” Makwana said.
Stressing on the importance of sustainable clothing, he further added, “Sustainability does not mean that, you buy it today and again tomorrow, no it means that whatever you have in your wardrobe, you reuse it and revamp, and mix-match clothes with the stuff you already have, it’s not about asking people to buy again and again, no you buy once but you make a sensible choice and we focus on durability rather than fast fashion.”
He remarked that presently a lot of Goans are becoming aware of making sustainable choices when it comes to clothing but when it comes to making choices for the environment, Act4 Goa an online driven organization seeks to encourage Goan’s awareness and participation by ensuring clean-up drives and campaigns are as effective as possible.
On being asked what their sustainable plans are for this year’s environment day they said, “We are collaboratively working on five different cleanups in different locations across the state this Sunday, in collaboration with the Goa Waste Management Corporation and the Corporation of City of Panjim (CCP), which is supporting us in this initiative.”
In addition to that there are 15 such cleanliness drives happening across the state. There are a bunch of workshops and several different activities inspired by world environment day.
“Sustainability has different aspects. We’ve seen it in terms of avoidance of plastics and usage of eco-friendly products, with regard to fashion and through environmentally friendly and necessary drives. Sustainability can be summed up using the three Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle to live in harmony with mother nature,” he said.
