Plastic does not simply disappear after we throw it away — it clogs drains, chokes rivers, and worsens floods. In my article last week, we followed a trail with Meir and Advay and learned how the plastics we discard travel to the seas and oceans — through small and large gutters, rivers, estuaries, and creeks. Now, let us see what this plastic waste does to those waterways before it finally reaches the sea. Many a time, you may have seen photographs, reels, or documentaries s

What begins as a carelessly discarded plastic bottle can travel thousands of kilometres across the oceans. As described in my article last week, Meir and Advay decided to trace the journey of a plastic bottle and a polythene bag that someone had carelessly thrown away. Curious to see where such discarded items eventually end up, the boys began keeping a close eye on them. Soon, something unexpected happened. While a group of boys nearby were playing football, one of them acci

What seems like a careless human can become a death sentence for wildlife. Dear Reader, in my last article, I had briefly described how cows ingest plastic while foraging for food in garbage and waste dumps — an action driven by hunger and human negligence in waste disposal. However, cows and bulls are not the only animals exposed to and attracted to discarded food packed in plastic bags or wrappers. We have not spared even wild animals. We visit forests, national parks and o

Hazardous chemicals, depleted soil, and dying cattle reveal the true cost of plastic waste. In continuation of last week’s article, let us look more closely at what plastic waste is doing to our land and soil. When plastic waste remains on the soil surface for prolonged periods, it slowly releases hazardous chemicals such as phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA). These substances seep into the soil, disrupting its natural composition, weakening soil health, and gradually reducing

Scientists describe microplastics as “toxic magnets” that carry heavy metals and chemicals into the food chain. Plastic has quietly become an inseparable part of daily life — from the clothes people wear and the packaging they use to the medical equipment found in hospitals and homes. Its convenience has made it unavoidable in modern society. However, scientists now warn that the same material is creating a serious environmental and public health challenge. Every year, millio

India has initiatives to tackle plastic waste. What it lacks is coordination, infrastructure and sustained public participation. In continuation of my last article, let us explore a few more challenges India faces in managing its plastic waste. Informal Waste Sector In India, a significant portion of waste—particularly in urban areas—is managed by informal waste pickers. You may often have noticed small children and women sifting through heaps of roadside rubbish, drains, or

IIT Bombay Director Dr. Shireesh B. Kedare Mumbai: “The extreme of anything becomes pollution.” With this powerful axiom, Prof. Dr. Shireesh B. Kedare, Director of IIT Bombay, opened a roadmap for the future of urban India at the Harit Samvad symposium. Addressing a diverse audience of over 190 delegates at the NSE Auditorium in BKC on Sunday, Dr. Kedare moved beyond traditional environmental rhetoric to deliver a data-driven wake-up call regarding the planet’s disturbed ener

Veteran thinker and social activist K N Govindacharya, through the Forum For Eco-centric Development, kick-started the 'Prakriti Samvad' campaign last year. The campaign aims at raising awareness about the dangers of our lifestyle choices, seeking solutions, and promoting a nature-friendly way of living to ensure prosperity while maintaining ecological balance. In an interaction with Abhijit Mulye, the Political Editor of ‘The Perfect Voice’ , Govindacharya said that develop

In the span of a few decades, India transformed from a clean, green country to a nation struggling under the weight of plastic pollution. About 30–35 years ago, when I used to travel to a small town near Pune to visit my parents, the landscapes of almost all the villages and towns on the way were open, green, and clean. Vast stretches of grassland, dotted with a few trees and bushes, created a sense of calm and natural beauty. Those journeys were marked by freshness and simpl

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has secured the 5th rank in the prestigious e-Governance evaluation conducted under the Hon’ble Chief Minister’s 150-Day Programme. Competing with 97 Boards, Corporations, and Authorities across the state, the Board recorded an outstanding performance in the e-Governance category analysis. This significant achievement reflects the Board’s strong commitment to digital transformation, technology-driven administration, and the deliv

So, dear readers, now that we have learnt how and why waste plastic causes pollution, let us look a little deeper into this problem, which has grown out of proportion both globally and locally. Plastic pollution is no longer a distant issue; it has become a serious and immediate threat to our environment. According to the latest data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and several international resea

Plastic pollution has two faces: careless human behaviour and the stubborn chemistry of the material itself. As I mentioned in my last article, while speaking at the  ‘Beat the Plastic Pollution’  seminar, one participant asked how discarded plastic actually pollutes the environment. The answer, I explained, lies on two levels. The first is simple and immediate: our everyday habits of careless disposal—throwing plastic on streets, into drains, water bodies, or open land. This

Convenient as they are, one-time plastic shopping bags eventually land in garbage dumps and become pollution. Welcome to 2026, dear reader! Before I continue, let me briefly recall where the seminar discussion had paused. I had shared a simple incident from a vegetable market to explain that plastic by itself does not create pollution. It was at this point that one of the attendees remarked how most of us reuse plastic carry bags to collect household garbage, only to discard

Are you guilty of taking plastic bags for your regular grocery shopping, or do you do the right thing and carry your own? Recently, I was addressing a group of young people at a seminar. Most of them were students. The topic of the session was  “Beat the Plastic Pollution”.  I began my speech with a deliberately provocative statement. “Plastic does not create any pollution,” I said. Then I paused and asked, “Do you all agree?” The room instantly filled with confusion. The aud

Not all plastics are created equal—codes 5, 6 and 7 show why some materials recycle easily, while others pose serious challenges. I n the earlier parts of this series, we examined the first set of Resin Identification Codes. Let us now continue our exploration of the remaining codes and their uses.   Code no. 5 This code is assigned to products made from polypropylene (PP). It is a highly versatile polymer, widely known for its durability, chemical resistance, and light weigh

From packaging to household goods, RIC 3 and 4 plastics are everywhere. Learn how to identify them at a glance. In my previous article, we explored the first two Resin Identification Codes— RIC 1 (PET) , commonly used in beverage and food containers, and  RIC 2 (HDPE) , found in sturdy household bottles and a wide range of utility products. Both plastics are among the easiest to recycle, making them central to responsible waste management and to the broader shift towards more

India’s lethal air has become so routine that even mass mortality now struggles to provoke political urgency.   India’s national capital is choking as it always does, under a winter blanket of smog that has long ceased to shock. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has responded by urging half the city’s office workforce to work from home - a palliative that only serves to starkly underscore the enduring helplessness of governments in tackling the poison in the air. Delhi is not

The capital’s annual smog crisis is no longer a seasonal aberration but a policy failure in slow motion. In recent years, winter in north India has become a season of dread instead of relief from the monsoons. Nowhere is this more viscerally felt than in Delhi, which has slipped from a polluted megacity into the ranks of the world’s most toxic capitals. Until the early 1990s, Delhi’s air, though imperfect, remained largely breathable. A smaller population, fewer vehicles and

While nearly all plastics are made from fossil fuels, their differences become clear only when we look at the seven RIC codes. Dear Reader, it feels nice to take a journey down the ‘history lane’, and that is what I did over the past three weeks. In the first part, we began with Abeer’s vivid and haunting dream—a child’s gentle warning about the sorrow of our oceans. In the second part, we traced plastics from their origins to their surprising rise as everyday companions in o

A nation aspiring to scientific leadership cannot afford a capital city where breathing becomes dangerous for weeks at a time. Each winter, Delhi descends into a familiar haze so thick that even routine life slows down. Flights are delayed, highways are shrouded in grey, hospitals record a spike in respiratory cases, and millions of citizens breathe air that would be classified as hazardous anywhere in the world. For more than a decade, this pattern has repeated itself with t