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India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

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Re: India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

#131

Post by tluyben2 »

hive_mind wrote: post #126

This is India. Starving, thirsty, injured (hit by cars and trucks) cows and dogs roam the streets, hobbling along, limping along. There are people starving on the street-side. The poorest children are openly prostituted on the streets. How are they going to enforce a rule regarding plastic bags? The rich will continue to do whatever they want. The middle-classes will continue to do whatever they can get away with. Th…

Smoking in public seems a bit extreme, but for instance smoking in bars/restaurants was introduced in the country where I lived first in 2006 and tightened in 2011 but a lot of bars still just kept doing it. Especially in small villages. Until some of them were fined; the fines are so high that they basically have to close and have debts after that. Even for 'rich' people this is a too much. Since a few of those were made public, no-one dares to do it anymore. But in public seems ... very hard to enforce.

So one would think, with plastic, just fine the people giving/selling the plastic bags. If you give/sell a non degradable plastic bag it has to carry a return deposit of $25 per bag or you get fined, as a shop, $200k. Plastic bags will be gone in no time flat. Far easier to enforce and too rich, also for the rich. Good for companies and the world as they can sell paper bags and biodegradable bags.

Re: India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

#132

Post by astrodust »

lucaspiller wrote: post #129
walrus01 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's going to take a while. Unfortunately there is still a huge gap in terms of energy density and $ per kilojoule or Wh stored between a $650 (equivalent value in PKR or INR currency) two stroke motorcycle, and an electric motorcycle with equivalent engine power and range. Just the batteries for a decent electric motorcycle alone cost 8x more than a typical developing nation locally manufactured motorcycle or motor-…

Power distribution would be a problem (well it already is) with the uptake of electric vehicles - although I'd imagine if solar panels get cheap enough everyone could have one at home and just swap a spare battery in over night. Fuel is already quite expensive in India (around the same price as Europe), so it might not be that long a wait.

Power distribution will always be a problem until power distribution is no longer a factor, solar will generate power locally.

Fuel prices go up, solar prices go down, it's inevitable those two will cross and you'll be burning money by using a two stroke bike.

Re: India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

#133

Post by Eric_WVGG »

WalterBright wrote: post #121
tempestn wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roREnVhd_og And a reddit thread about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2aj23u/in_an...

I wonder if Mad Men is more of a caricature. My family would go on picnics in the 60s and we'd clean up after ourselves. Maybe it was because my father was an Air Force officer and the USAF took a dim view of disrespect of other peoples' property. I remember AF bases as always being clean and well taken care of.

I'm not quite as old as you, but I'm old enough to remember when not littering was considered laudable and not simply common decency.

Re: India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

#134

Post by someonenice »

hive_mind wrote: post #126

This is India. Starving, thirsty, injured (hit by cars and trucks) cows and dogs roam the streets, hobbling along, limping along. There are people starving on the street-side. The poorest children are openly prostituted on the streets. How are they going to enforce a rule regarding plastic bags? The rich will continue to do whatever they want. The middle-classes will continue to do whatever they can get away with. Th…

Public Smoking ban has been largely effective in India. You rarely see people smoking in public areas. The effectiveness of these laws are that it allows concerned citizens to raise their voice when they see law is being broken.

Re: India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

#135

Post by cheesy_dionysus »

wallace_f wrote: post #125

The economist inside me says it would be better to tax disposable plastic. The tax could cover the cost to clean up the litter. That would create jobs in three ways: 1) plastic clean-up jobs, 2) businesses and economic activity that desperately need disposable plastic can still possibly survive, and ) jobs making disposable plastic. Anyways, it's a lot better than taxing things we all agree we want more of. Like jobs…

Local governments in India (mostly all of them) tax disposable plastic already.

Re: India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

#136

Post by droopyEyelids »

greglindahl wrote: post #18
Maarten88 wrote: post #13

Rwanda also has this policy, since 2008, and they enforce it. The country is very clean, it looks different than other African countries (and countries like the US), just because there is no plastic rubbish everywhere. I think this is a very good policy, and would welcome it at home. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/15/rwanda...

Parts of the US have this policy (plastic bags), too. I thought I'd dislike it, but then I realized how amazing it was that most plastic rubbish disappeared.

Mylar chip bags and 20oz soda bottles... What a revolution for litter and health it'd be if we got rid of those, too.

Re: India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

#137

Post by wcarron »

theparanoid wrote: post #108

Here in California single use plastic bags are banned. Now it's a pain, at checkout you either have to tell them how many multiuse bags to charge or bring bags from home. No so many years ago paper bags were common and what I used. Paper is great, it's biodegradable, renewable, and convenient.

It's really not a pain. Every store sells paper bags at 10¢ a bag.

Re: India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

#138

Post by lappet »

tn13 wrote: post #75
geodel wrote: post #35

I do not see any coverage in Indian media. Could it be one of those official notifications which public at large hardly follows but it breeds corruption by enforcement officials. Though looking at Indian papers I came across this rather frightening news: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollutio...

That is how India rolls. I am not sure how the poor street food vendors survive if they cant use plastic plates and spoons. If they are forced to use steel plates and spoons that is a health and safety nightmare in India.

They could use the cups or plates made from leaves - it is called dona/donnai in India, I am not sure what it is exactly made of.

Re: India has banned disposable plastic in Delhi

#139

Post by lappet »

tn13 wrote: post #75
geodel wrote: post #35

I do not see any coverage in Indian media. Could it be one of those official notifications which public at large hardly follows but it breeds corruption by enforcement officials. Though looking at Indian papers I came across this rather frightening news: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollutio...

That is how India rolls. I am not sure how the poor street food vendors survive if they cant use plastic plates and spoons. If they are forced to use steel plates and spoons that is a health and safety nightmare in India.

They could use the cups or plates made from leaves - it is called dona/donnai in India, I am not sure what it is exactly made of.
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