Gurgaon: In order to discourage the use of single-use plastic, MCG launched a steel utensil bank in ward 29 on Monday. The bank will rent out utensils free of cost to the residents to be used for gatherings, bhandaras (community meals) so that people don’t use single-use plastic plates. The utensil bank was launched on Monday in Sector 48 and has 1,000 sets of steel utensils.
This is the second such steel utensils bank set up in the city. The first bank was set up in Sector 10 by a councillor. “I organise community meals twice a year and used to use single-use plastic plates for serving. However, I realised the harm I was doing to the environment. Now I have set up this utensil bank so that people do away with using single-use plastics and adopt steel, which is sustainable and eco-friendly,” said Kuldeep Yadav, councillor of ward 29.
Giving an example that how such small changes can create a big difference, MCG commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said that the Haryana government has banned single-use plastic bottles in government offices. “We will soon ask the food delivery companies to start using biodegradable packaging material,” said Singh during the inauguration of the utensil bank.
Dheeraj Kumar, MCG’s joint commissioner for Swachh Bharat Mission said that residents should avail this facility and should replace single-use plastic plates and cutlery with utensils during their wedding functions and other gatherings. “We should be environment-friendly and instead of going for fancy plastic plates and cutlery we should use steel,” said Kumar.