Alternatives to plastic
From time to time we hear nostalgic regrets about the demise of the lowly milk bottle —the clink of the glass in the morning and the washing and placement of bottles outside the door before retiring for the night. It was a daily ritual — the ultimate in environment-friendly consumption. Sadly many companies no longer use glass containers because of the expense. After people have consumed the milk, the bottles would be returned to the dairy where they are sterilised, refilled, recapped and made ready for delivery. This process is more eco-friendly than having to throw away plastic containers. Milk centres could be set up in neighbourhoods. Local suppliers could deliver containers to customers or they could buy it themselves. Another alternative is the milk carton — the package is 100 per cent recyclable. Milk bags are also good. They use less plastic and are placed in reusable plastic pitchers. I hope the authorities will take necessary actions to ban the use of plastic for milk containers. The day plastic becomes expensive, everyone will shift to alternatives.
Naman Arora, Dubai
Heinous crime
The recent suicide blasts in Lahore, Pakistan were another heinous crime against humanity ("Twin suicide blasts hit Pakistan's Lahore", Gulf News, March 12). The innocent and unsuspecting victims became an easy prey to the suicide bombers. The current spate of killing should be stopped through political process. The government of Pakistan should try to solve its problems through dialogue rather than applying force. The result obtained by force is temporary and is bound to escalate once it is withdrawn. Authorities should aim at saving innocent lives and keep the interests of its people at the top of its agenda. Involvement of all sections of the society will help in overcoming violence.
Mohammad S. Khan Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Aiming for the best
Competition has a major role in our society, which is what influences media nowadays ("Focus: Media and children", Gulf News, March 12). They are concentrating only on hot and breaking news. There is no discretion for the viewers or even the content. Unfortunately, their young viewers are the real victims of this competition. Sex, murder, violence and explosions are given wide coverage in our modern day media. They are trying to get the first place by reporting rare and horrifying reports along with pictures and videos. The young viewers develop a wrong perspective about the society only because of such content and it may harm their future or social life.
Mr Adersh Khan J. M. Abu Dhabi
Bad influence
I agree that exposure of children to highly sexualised content is leading to violence against women. Increase in rape and sexual harassment cases is the result of exposure to sexual content. Children have easier access to media these days and parental monitoring is not possible all the time. Most children have television sets in their rooms, so they watch content inappropriate for their age in the absence of parental supervision. Therefore, it's very common to find cases of sexual harassment in schools and colleges because children want to experience everything at an early age without knowing of the consequences. At a young age they cannot critically analyse and evaluate the messages they receive from media. They cannot differentiate between reality and fantasy, so they try to imitate what they watch. As a result they learn violence at a very young age and once learned those attitudes are difficult to modify.
Ms Reema Ahuja, Dubai
