Last Friday, I visited the famous ‘sandhai’ also known as Friday Bazaar in Pallavaram. Finding my way through the moving mass of shoppers, my eyes started scanning. Not for the products on sale, but for plastic. I looked at people’s hands and was glad to see almost everyone carrying their own bags. It was also heartening to see that the 2-km stretch of the sandhai looked much cleaner.
“The ban on plastic bags and other single-use items was much-needed. A decade or two ago, when people went shopping, they always carried their own bags until the use-and-throw concept crept in and changed everything. I am happy we are going back to the traditional methods of shopping and I hope it will continue to remain that way,” says a shopper from Chromepet.
Traders too seemed to have taken good efforts to avoid plastic packaging and most of them were packing the items in paper covers.
A jaggery seller from Minjur said, “All the customers are bringing their own bags now and are not insisting on plastic covers. However, if I have to pack in bulk, the paper covers do not seem to hold the weight of the jaggery and tears soon. I don’t have an option for sturdy packaging yet and the alternatives available in the market are not affordable for me. I hope the government offers an affordable alternative for small vendors like me.”