Organizing poster-making competitions, encouraging students to give speeches, signs warning about the use of plastic – these are some of the ways schools in the national capital are raising awareness about the ban on single-use plastics that came into effect from 1 July The residents’ associations (RWAs) also contribute by making their members aware of the ban.
The director of a government school in Shahdara said they have been working to raise awareness about the ban on single-use plastics among students by talking about it in the school meeting. Now that schools have reopened after the summer holidays, they will make it clear to students how important it is to use alternatives to plastic. Similarly, another government school in North Delhi plans to host poster-making contests, speech contests to highlight the importance of the ban.
“We discussed the ban with our students in the meeting, but we plan to hold competitions about it. Students learn something very quickly when they learn it from their peers. For example, if a student gives a speech about the plastic ban, his friends and other students will take notes, while if teachers tell them, it would sound like a boring lesson to them,” he said. The principal also said they have students. asked to stop using plastic bottles and disposable glasses and to use their alternatives for the sake of the environment.
In May, the Delhi government had issued an order asking all schools in the national capital to set up a separate area in their buildings to store reusable utensils as part of its plan to reduce single-use plastics (SUP). to be phased out gradually. The Directorate of Education (DoE) has said in a letter to schools to replace plastic dishes with those made of steel or glass, etc., and keep them in a separate storage facility (‘bartan bhandar’).
Private schools said they have been plastic-free in recent years and have taken numerous measures to help them live sustainably. Jyoti Arora, director of Mount Abu School in Rohini, said they have been plastic-free for several years and even received an award for them during Sheila Dikshit’s tenure as Delhi’s Chief Minister.
She said that the students make paper bags from old newspapers that are kept at the entrance of the school. There are several signs in the school stating the harmful effects of plastic. The school also has a paper recycling unit and the school’s eco-club is quite active in coming up with new initiatives. Sudha Acharya, director of ITL Public School in Dwarka, said they have been completely plastic-free for the past three to four years. They had started it since 2014, she added.
Acharya said their students were congratulated by the government of Delhi during the Plastic Vikalp Mela which started on July 1 and will end on July 3. In the school, the canteen uses disposable wooden cutlery, while the students have switched to steel water bottles and tiffin boxes.
“Even when buying plastic, the students look at the quality of the plastic they buy and whether it is biodegradable. In the school we don’t use plastic folders, but paper folders that are painted,” she emphasized. Atul Goyal, chairman of the United Residents Joint Action (URJA), an RWA body, said they have notified their members of the ban and have also distributed paper bags among them.
However, he said the ban must be implemented on the ground by the government and stressed that the dispensation must strictly allow it to happen.
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