Eco Friendly products

Eco Friendly products for India tourism properties.

Change to eco friendly products now, before you are forced to change.
In this article, we will focus on the items you use every day when serving food in your restaurant. It is necessary to replace the old plastic products with eco friendly products now. We need to embrace ecology and waste reduction in our businesses. For the benefit of the environment and us all.

I will not deal with recycling here but this is obviously a massive issue. In this article, I want to deal with what we can do to avoid waste, rather than what to do with what we have.

Reducing Use

Reducing, rather than recycling is also essential and makes sense as it also saves money.

Single-use plastic ban in Goa.

The Government of Goa is taking a bold step and bringing in a ban on single-use plastics from September this year. Goa will be one of the first states in India to do so and will also be a world leader in doing so. It is a certainty that the rest of the country will follow shortly.

This will have a strong impact on tourism properties in Goa. It will no longer be possible to use those styrofoam boxes and plastic ‘Sporks’ for their guests. It is time to look for options.

Sadly, many years after this ban was implemented, very little has changed.

Fortunately, there are many different companies offering a range of Eco Friendly products available now. I will take a look at what is currently available & see what is the best.

Eco Friendly product suppliers in India

Here are some companies offering eco friendly products for the Tourism Industry

Pappco Greenware

Eco-friendly Food Packaging, Certified Compostable & Microwaveable Products

CHUK

Compostable Tableware | Sustainable Dinnerware | Eco-friendly & Disposable Tableware |

Earthytude

Earthytude Goa and its environment-friendly product.

Ecoworld

Plastic in the press

All the national press have picked up on the story of eco friendly products The Times of India

Here are the countries leading the way with plastic bans.

There is huge growth in demand for eco friendly products in these countries.

India

State bans are coming into force across the country with Delhi leading the way. Huge amounts of plastics are used at wedding celebrations, Religious events & other very large gatherings in India. This is a very welcome move. As we have seen Goa is moving forward with a ban in September this year.
Other States of India have also imposed bans on plastic bags, most notably Himachal Pradesh. It was the first State in India to ban polythene carry bags in 2009. Before this, due to the peculiarities of the valley, ie everything blows around it, rather than up or down it, there was the peculiar site of plastic bag trees. Whole trees carry, instead of the fruit that the valley is so famous for, blue plastic bags. It is fortunate that there were such obvious signs of the dangers here & that it led to action.
They had gone from being throwaway items to being cherished ones. Valued for their usefulness. They became valuable as they kept things dry, money for instance. I would closely guard my thick duty-free plastic bags. Sometimes I would give them as a present. Imagine that.
Since this time, the site of polythene comes as a bit of a shock. It really catches your eye, when you see one now. They so quickly passed out of being normal, too being something to fear. It is amazing how our consciousness & perception change so fast. One day a sight is normal, the next not.

USA

In the world, as of June this year, the USA still does not have a nationwide ban on Single Use Plastics. Maybe they could change the habit of a lifetime & not be late to the Save the Environment party, but I cannot see that happening. However New York, California and Hawaii & leading by example by banning them at the state level.

United Kingdom

Others are the United Kingdom, which is not there yet. Products containing microbes were banned last year. Next is a ban on plastic straws, drink stirrers & cotton buds in April next year. The full single-use plastic ban cannot be far away. This year for the first time Glastonbury banned all of it. It was a big move as 200,000 people were using a lot of plastic over five days. It worked with no complaints. Well done.

Taiwan

They have started with a straw ban in restaurants and a country-wide ban next year. They will then phase it all out within the next ten years. Not a very strong commitment from them, (ten years might be too late) but they are moving in the right direction.

New Zealand

In August 2018 the new Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a complete ban on single-use plastic for her nation and country. Large fines have been imposed. This is nothing less than we would expect from New Zealand.

15 African Nations

Honourable mentions to, Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Senegal
These both imposed a ban in 2017 with both imposing heavy penalties including four years in jail for manufacturing plastics. That's probably more than Heizenburg would get. Using a plastic bag is a crime in Kenya so check your luggage before visiting. Rwanda started work on it in 2006. I look forward to the rest of the continent coming to the party.

Morocco

Another African nation that has taken a big leap forward. The country had the dubious distinction of being the second-largest consumer of plastic bags. Seems unbelievable but they saw the error of their ways and banned the bags in 2016. They are moving forward with the other source of plastic pollution. Well done to Morocco.

Rwanda

An honourable mention goes to Rwanda. They were one of the first to ban the plastic bag, way back in 2008. This is like the Jurassic Age in terms of awareness of plastic use. I should imagine it is a beautiful plastic bag-free country & it is moving forward with its plans to stop all plastics by 2020. Truly a forward-thinking nation. I hope your tourism industry booms.

Colombia

The great South American nation actually bothered to study the situation. They are the only country to specify the size of plastic bags. You can have a bag but it must be bigger than 12 x 12 inches. That seems like a sensible first move. They are moving forward with plastic reduction and these first measures have already contributed to a 27 per cent drop in plastic bag use. It is not that hard to take immediate action.

Canada

The forest, lakes, ice hockey, Moose and Molsen nation have just now banned microbes. The government has set a target of 2021 for a complete ban. Again I don’t think it is necessary to wait three years to get plastic out of the supply chain as the alternatives are already available. If you are going to do it, just do it.

France

The First Nation to ban plastic cups, plates, utensils & bags was France, in 2016. They have a policy in place to transition away from plastic by 2020. As a nation that loves its fresh food, it makes sense that it should lead the way with food packaging. Vive La France.

Antigua and Barbuda

Being an island nation they have borne the brunt of plastic pollution. It is also very visible on coastlines and the government did not miss this. The dreaded bag was banned in 2016. Stricter rules banning Styrofoam with heavy penalties were introduced in 2019. I wanna go.

Samoa

Another island nation has been badly affected, not only by their own use but also by plastic arriving on their shores from elsewhere. There is strong support from the people and the government and I am sure we will be seeing Samoa lead the way in the future.

Bangladesh

There are many first as there are many different types of plastic. Bangladesh banned thin plastic bags way back in 2002. They still have the thicker ones but I guess it is a start.

South Korea

Last year, half of the Korean Peninsula banned plastic bags from supermarkets. The government have said that this is the start of the country's move away from plastics. They have a challenge ahead of them.

China

China has not yet moved on consumer plastic bans but it has moved in another direction. China has banned the import of single-use for recycling. Nearly half of the world's plastic was sent to China. Now there are a lot of nations looking for somewhere else to send their crap. This might be the biggest driver for countries making the move and banning plastic. Let’s hope so and say a big thank you to China, which is not something we do very often.

The Former Soviet Union

The bloc of nations that were formally Russia banned the bag in 2018. Individual countries have then pursued their own policies. Notably Georgia, Albania and Romania are pushing forward with wider bans and hopefully their former country mates will follow shortly.