Plastic is durable. It doesn't rust or corrode in any form or melt at room temperature. It doesn't allow termite invasions or any other animal or insect to destroy it.
This property means this material does not go away. Ever. Choking animals. blocking drains. Killing land masses.

Plastic is light and flexible. It can be easily moulded into different shapes. It can be coloured.
The chemicals used in plastic to make it flexible and colourful leach out. Harm the environment or animals and humans.

Plastic is a very good packaging material as it keeps the foodstuff fresh. It doesn't allow air or water to pass through it and doesn't spoil dry food in case of wet weather or dry weather.
Blocks soil and water bodies.

Plastics are cheap
Plastics have replaced many traditional materials like bamboo, jute, coir, wood, paper, mud. Killing livelihoods of thousands. Drilling and transport of petroleum, production of plastics, disposal of plastics. Oops! Have we added this cost?

Plastics can be recycled and reused.
Each time a plastic is recycled, its quality decreases and after about five rounds of recycling, when the lowest quality plastic is obtained, disposal is a big problem.

Incineration decreases the quantity of plastics. Plastic is incinerated at 900^oC. And thus can be disposed.
Incineration produces harmful carcinogenic gases and the residue is also not good to be disposed on land. Leaching disturbs the water table.

Plastics help save forests.
It is another matter that plastic replaces many other materials other than paper. The important thing to note here is: Plastics come from petroleum, which is infinite, and wars have taken (and are taking) place over it. While forests are at least renewable.

The Boutique Shop
GT: How much plastic does your store consume per day.
Prachi (Salesperson): Not much. We are very environment friendly.

GT: How can you say that? All your bottles are plastic.
Prachi: So? All our customers prefer plastic.

GT: Do you mind paying extra for alternatives?
Prachi: Yes, we do. We like plastic. It’s light and doesn’t break.

GT: Can you give us a sample of your paper bags?
Pachi: Only if you pay me Rs 15 for it.

McDonalds
GT: How much plastic do you use here?
Neha (Salesperson): Quite a lot as you can see.

GT: In what way do you think you can minimize the usage of plastic?
Neha: We already re-use our plastic trays. We serve fries and soft drinks in cardboard or thick paper. Even our carry bags are made of paper. We can't minimize more. We know that it is harmful but you have to admit that no alternative is as good.

Archies Gallery
GT: Are you aware of the amount of plastic used by your store?
Nupur (Salesperson): Not really.

GT: Have you thought about using paper bags?
Nupur: We do have paper bags but the customers don’t want to buy them. They like the plastic bags better, as plastic doesn’t tear.

Bandhni store
GT: What is your opinion about the use of plastic bags?
Owner: We have to use them to transport heavy articles like bed covers, cushions etc.
Dilip, customer

GT: Do you think plastics are good or bad? Why?
Dilip: I think plastics are good because they are cheap, durable and light.

GT: Do you know that they are harmful for the environment?
Dilip: Yes, but it is debatable from product to product, as some plastics can be recycled.

GT: When plastics are 'recycled' their quality decreases and it is not actually recycling but downcycling. Dilip: I did not know this.

GT: Do you know that the bags of wafers like lays etc.cannot be recycled?
Dilip: Yes, I know this but we cannot help it as the manufactures give the chips to us in these packs.

Subway (PVR)
GT: How much plastic do you use in your store?
Rahul (Salesperson): Just the amount of plastic required.

GT: How have you minimized the use of plastic?
Rahul: We use and re-use plastic trays. We wrap all our food in paper. We use cardboard for soft drinks.

Us: Do you segregate your waste?
Rahul: Yes.

Us: Do you mind paying extra for an alternative material, which is marginally more expensive than plastic?
Rahul: No, I wouldn't mind.

MSS Book Store
Owner: We have switched over to paper bags even though they are expensive. We do not charge the customers any extra amount to account for the expense of the paper bags as they will stop coming to us.

RAGPICKERS: BETTER SHOPKEEPERS
Our survey in the market was definitely an eye-opener. we got to know ragpickers are much more aware about the harmful effects of plastics than shopkeepers. As ragpickers deal with plastics day and night, they know plastics choke drains, kill animals, and when burnt produce toxins. Though there are some plastics that can be recycled (about five to ten times), into various items, at the last stage of recycling they turn into useless coloured polythenes that are burnt and posion us. If dumped into a landfill site, they remain there forever and harm the groundwater and land.