Spread the change for clean oceans!

I sometimes shop at the market in Pondy. What do I get? A plastic bag. I get my takeaway dinner at my favorite food stall, what ends up in my hand? A plastic bag. And at home I have loads and loads of cloth shopping bags rotting away in my cupboard. The new rule: simply refuse plastic bags! It takes at least 1000 years for a plastic bag to degrade. If this is not enough, most of the plastic bags are difficult to recycle!

Why refuse plastic? Did you know that plastic pollution doesn't just hurt marine species?! When animals eat these plasticpieces, the toxins are absorbed into their body and passed up the food chain. As plastics break apart in the ocean, they also release potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA), which can then enter the food web.

 Right now the amount of plastic in the ocean weights 7 million tons and spreads out of the size of twice times Texas.

 I started my change to reduce plastic bags by stuffing one cloth tote in every possible bag I own and place I regularly spend time at, like work, my motorbike and so on.

To spread the change I decided to take an old cloth bag of mine and color it. I give it to my mom, bags with a handmade touch are much more likely to be used then some random bags from your grocery store. I used an Auroville.com bag and colored it in (a friend of mine designed it so it has a personal personal touch…).

All you need is some cloth paint, brushes, newspaper (for stuffing in the bag so that it does not leak or stain), some water and of course a cloth bag. 

We would love to see your favorite tote or the latest color creation of yours!