There comes a time in our lives when we have to pull the plug on toxic relationships. For me, it came in September 2017, when I decided to break-up with single-use plastic and shift to a more sustainable lifestyle. The problem was that I didn’t know how to take action against single-use plastic aside from reducing my consumption, documenting it and sharing on social media. But in January 2018, I had the ‘aha’ moment when I came across the concept of “Plogging”, which is a mix of jogging and picking up trash. The idea originated in Sweden and spread across the world like wildfire with several local chapters in Europe and Asia springing up. This also became my way of challenging the everyday use of plastic.

This was the beginning of my single-use plastic free journey. And it came with its own share of ups and downs.

Plogging helped me question the status quo as I asked those uncomfortable questions I wasn’t willing to ask myself. Like for instance, why is there a straw in my coconut water? Why does my coffee always come in plastic cup? My toothpaste, my clothes, my fork, my shampoo…..all plastic…and how does this happen? And How do I change it?

Plogging led to a paradigm shift in how I perceived plastic and, more importantly, waste. Plogging is just not about jogging and picking up trash, it’s a deep dive into the complex world of plastics for us! So I started reducing my single-use plastic footprint immediately, starting from chips to chocolates, and ice cream. Mind you, cutting down on these items was the hardest because convenience and lifestyle habits are hard to edit. But when I see the larger picture, of how reducing my individual plastic footprint could have a big impact on the environment, it had a sobering effect of me.

Through plogging, not only did I reduce my own plastic footprint, but I also realised that we must change the way we produce and consume plastic. The solutions are readily available and economically viable. This shift won’t require use to adopt monastic lifestyles. And as these solutions become cheaper due to rising demand for sustainable products, innovation will create more answers and open up possibilities.

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To begin with, we have to fix our own consumption and littering habits. On a broader level, we have to take a hard look at the way we have chosen to live. We need to realise that most of what we consume, we can do without them. Much of this waste is going to eventually end up in oceans and pile up on our landfills. So why bring them into our ecosystem, when we know that our institutions won’t be able to cope with it?

Besides, it is also unfair to think that our municipal authorities will be able to take care of our waste, no matter how much it is. NO. They will not be able to deal with it. The problem is not just from the individual consumption point of view but also from the policy side of things. Individual actions, and policy changes need to go hand in hand. That means we should do what we can to reduce waste and pressurise the government to bring in changes that will help deal with our waste more sustainably (not the landfill or incineration route).

We all love to purchase new things. Most of us aren’t of course deliberately wasteful to be honest.

But it can be difficult to find the necessities of daily life without a plastic container, wrapper etc. Get into the habit of reusing the materials you have till the time you can, and try to repair what you have.

Most of the plastics today are neither recyclable or recycled, despite them saying so.So we keep adding to the mountain of plastic garbage that’s already there. We need to start moving towards, just like I have, a world in which we ditch all useless plastic at the same time attach value to the good plastic, so that it is not sent to a landfill.

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About the Author:

Founder of Plogga India (@ploggaindia), Abhimanyu Chakravorty is a journalist and a climate activist. When he’s not writing stories, he organises plastic cleanup drives across Delhi/NCR. Last year, he undertook a trip across 5 south East Asian countries solo on his motorcycle to promote plogging as a way for individuals and communities to Rethink their plastic consumption habits. His #PledgeToPlog project was recognised and featured by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Find him on social media :
Twitter: @abhiman1987
Instagram: @hainglachele .