Time for Dubai to say no to plastic bags

Next month, when you go shopping to the supermarket and see a member of Dubai Municipality campaign staff approach you with a free jute bag, do not decline it politely.

It is not an optional goodie. In fact, it is a planet-saver. We can no longer afford to view the rustle of plastic bags in just about every area of our life as a functional sound. It is a sound that needs to be silenced.

Dubai Municipality’s campaign to reduce 500 million plastic bags in six months is a great step forward in this regard and each one of us needs to support it. Time after time, it has been established beyond doubt that plastic bags are extreme violators of the environment.

On land and in the sea, these man-made creations have been the cause of the death and destruction of flora and fauna. Landfills all over the world are graveyards for billions of undying plastic molecules — a defiance that is destroying our planet’s health.

Every plastic bag declined at source is one more cleansing breath for the environment and by extension, for all of us. So, make a difference, say no to plastic.