In A Barbie World

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13/04/09 3:53 PM

Book Review

In a Barbie world by Lina Krishnan Life in Plastic: The impact of Plastics on India; by Robert Edwards and Rachel Kellet; The Other India Press, Mapusa, Goa; pages 369; price Rs 300. In Ketan Mehta's Maya Memsaab, Shahrukh wants to give the elusive Maya a bouquet of roses. It's winter in Shimla, and he can only find plastic ones. She is understandably disdainful. I mean, imagine saying it with plastic! From kaagaz ke phool to plastic blooms, we have moved a long way, both in our films and in life. Today, plastic is everywhere, all-pervading, ubiquitous. From plastic money to cola and milk in pet bottles and polypacks to perfumed plastic gajras, no one in India is quite untouched by the plastkriez. Life in Plastic ("it's fantastic") explores the dimensions of this Barbie world that we live in, and in different degrees, help to sustain and reinforce. It uncovers layers of information and myth to provide a comprehensive look at the package that arrives with plastic. With well-researched sections on the economic motivations, historical process, the whole cycle of plastic waste from its hazardous birth to the lack of transparency about its disposal, and its devastating impact on the traditional crafts and communities it has wiped out, Life in Plastic brings home the completeness of the plastic revolution and the consumerism it goes hand-in-hand with. There is a whole societal change here of which plastic is the ubiquitous manifestation. For instance, there is the interesting point that the government has prioritised the use of petrochemical products in construction, telecommunications and agriculture. But did you know that about half of all the plastic produced in India actually goes into creating packaging? Into shrink-wrap, PET, LDPE pouches. And, of course, into the polyethylene carry bag. A book which emerged as a follow-up to the Greenpeace report on the impact of chlorine chemistry in India, Life in Plastic questions the assumptions made in reports and in government documents about the impact of plastic on human health and the environment. In fact, it goes further and evaluates the societal, cultural and human costs as well. The authors trace the process by which plastic gradually undermined the traditional products that we see so little of nowadays. Thanks to the triumphant success of convenience over sustainability, earthen kullars and surahis have succumbed to the onslaught of disposable glasses and bottles. Even in remote villages one now sees bright green and blue matkas made from cheap plastic. Jute and cloth bags are disappearing, wooden furniture and toys have become expensive luxuries, coir carpets and jute charpais are now wired. One argument that has been made for this is that it is better to use plastic products than to use up precious wood, bamboo or jute. But at least these materials are renewable and biodegradable, unlike plastic and Styrofoam. And what of the finite oil resources, not even renewable, that are depleting faster and faster to meet the craving for plastic products? Do we even realise the magnitude or implications of the change? The authors explore how bottled mineral water has taken over, especially through tourism. Ironically, the tourist who adopts the bottle for the sake of safe water is probably unaware of the unsafe chemicals used in its manufacture, let alone questions of cost to the community and the planet. But Life in Plastic is also hopeful about the possibility of a reversal process. Bio-plastics are emerging. More states are working on banning plastic. A child has persuaded his mother to wrap his lunch in a cloth napkin. Many people in India are now trying to revive the use of renewable practices and products in their lives. Perhaps one day, a combination of government directives and people's initiative will help us return to Gandhian precepts. The book ends on a note of hope, looking ahead to a time when natural materials will make a comeback, where bio-diversity will provide new survival rhythms, and the Plastic Age give way to what Anton Moser calls "the rebirth of a carbohydrate economy".

Forever plastic "Omnipresent, the plastic carry bag has strewn itself everywhere. In Page 1 of 2

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gardens, parks, drains, garbage dumps, on branches of trees and even in bird nests, it can be found to exist, propagating almost like a life form. Light and flimsy, the ubiquitous carry bag floats around in a light breeze, finding new places to litter and inhabit forever." -- Ravi Agarwal, 1996 "We have divorced ourselves from the material of the earth, the rock, the wood, the iron ore. We looked to new materials, which were cooked in vats, long complex derivatives of urine, which we called plastics. They lacked the odour of the living. The result was a world in which all could live even if none could breathe." -- Norman Mailer, 1970 Lina Krishnan, a former advertising professional, now writes and works on development issues.

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