Massive use of single use plastic bags in Pakistan causes devastations including urban flooding which takes dozens of valuable human lives and financial losses of millions every year. Furthermore, it makes our Indus River the second largest contributor to plastic pollution. Government of Pakistan, like many other governments, has banned the usage of single use plastic bags in the country.
By very nature, Pakistani consumers, like many other consumers in the region are unable to understand long-term effects of plastic pollution and are very short sighted. Hence, they are not ready to stop using plastic bags despite the ban from the Government. On top of it, the enforcement mechanism is very weak in Pakistan and hence a comprehensive communication strategy is needed to overcome these challenges as the use of plastic bags is a cultural and behavioral issue and hence a simple ban on its use will not work.
The Zero Plastic Project is a movement to deal with Climate Change in general and It aspires to create a society free of plastic. Its mission is to save the world one bag at a time. We envision executing this project through a phase wise approach. Zero plastic have already initialed a pilot project in the twin cities (Islamabad and Rawalpindi) of Pakistan.
It is estimate that, on average, one household in Pakistan consumes around 1 Kg of plastic bag per month. Zero Plastic offers a very low investment alternative to influence consumers and provide a very cheap alternative to single use of plastic bags which on average, removes 24 Kg of single use plastic from a community over 2 year and the enables cost is less than $4.00.
Our approach is to create awareness about disadvantages of single use plastic bags and then provide a solution to users with a solution. Zero plastic offers a variety of shopping kits comprised of pouch and shopping bags and executive bags, all made of jute which is eco-friendly and has a useful life of 2+ years. The execution team is comprised of volunteers and brand ambassadors, who are doing this for the sake of cause and not reward only.
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