Many countries have, time and again, attempted to reduce the use of polythene bags by encouraging populations to switch over to more environmentally- friendly measures. Slogans like ‘Go green, plastic is obscene’, and ‘Plastic bags stop with me’, among others, have been churned out by organizations, both governmental and nongovernmental, as well as by private companies, advocating for a ban on or discouraging plastic use. Nepal has been no exception.

The increasing amount of plastic that litters roads and streets, particularly within the Kathmandu valley, has gained widespread attention.

Various initiatives and campaigns have been undertaken in the past. Even malls have jumped on the anti-plastic bandwagon on occasion. However, all such initiatives have all eventually floundered.

Perhaps one of the more promising developments was seen in 2002 when Nepal’s Supreme Court directed the government to enforce a ban on the use of plastic bags. The government dithered, however, and the ban remained largely confined to paper. A decade later, in 2011, the government came up with the Plastic Bags Regulation and Control Directive. This directive came with a ‘punishment mechanism’, and was accompanied by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s decision to ban polythene use, but both failed to make an impact. 

Similar campaigns launched by major market outlets―namely the Namaste Supermarket (in 2008) and the Bhatbhateni Supermarket (in 2009)―never went beyond a couple of months of their launch dates. Both stores re-introduced plastic bags as Kathmandu’s addiction to plastic seemed to far surpass its environmental concerns.

Like many other urban centers in South Asia, Kathmandu faces daunting environmental challenges: air and water pollution, poor solid waste management and haphazard development among them. The rate at which urbanization is unfolding, compounded by the exponential rise in population, has taken its toll on the environment.

In a bid to alleviate these issues, the Himalayan Climate Initiative, a non-governmental organization, has recently taken up a new stunt with support from the Hamri-Bahini Green Social Enterprise ― what it calls an “effort to create green jobs for the disadvantaged young women of Nepal.”

As part of the campaign, the Bhatbhateni Supermarket chain will try to wean shoppers off plastic bag-use by charging them one Nepalese rupee ($0.01) per bag.

Cloth bags made by women at the Hamri-Bahini Green Social Enterprise will be made available as alternatives at 30 rupees per bag.

According to campaigners, the Bhatbhateni Supermaket will add 50 paisa to every rupee charged for a polythene bag, and the sum will go to a Hamri-Bahini fund designed to help set up a social enterprise in the future.

“This will definitely have an impact,” says Prashant Singh, chief executive officer at HCI. “The social enterprise concept guarantees the campaign’s sustainability.”

Tanka Aryal, executive director of the Citizens’ Campaign for Right to Information, is skeptical, though, and says that it is imperative that service providers disseminate necessary and adequate information to the public. “It is the right of any consumer to get timely information on any changes in the services associated with their day-to-day lives,” he says. “Many commercial enterprises have been found cheating customers, in the guise of ‘doing something good’ or ‘supporting a social cause’.”

Aryal believes it is unlikely that the supermarkets that have decided to charge a rupee for a plastic bag will ever come up with incentives that focus on more viable solutions. “A reduced price on an environmentally-friendly jute bag, for instance, would make more sense,” he says, adding that, so far, there are no records to prove that attempts to discourage the use of alcohol and tobacco have succeeded in spite of the heavy taxes levied on these products. “Their worldwide production and consumption have remained unaffected by increased prices.”

Yes, Kathmandu’s history―like its streets―has so far been littered with empty slogans and failed campaigns.

At present, over 200 plastic industries are still in operation inside the city, and more are in the pipeline, all thanks to the government’s laxity towards monitoring, and proper regulation.

The success of any environmentally-motivated campaign here will depend ultimately on public support.

The level of awareness among populations and public attitudes is what will prove decisive in whether or not such campaigns succeed.

What is most important in the long run, then, is determined action from all concerned groups. Only then will a “green and clean” city really be possible.

By Pragati Shahi

(The Kathmandu Post)