Title:Major supermarkets in city switch over to cloth bags

Major supermarkets in the city started using cloth carry bags, instead of plastic carry bags on Tuesday to mark World Environment Day, the theme of which this year is 'Beat Plastic Pollution'.

该市的主要超市开始使用布袋而非塑料袋来庆祝世界环境日，今年的主题是“打败塑料污染”。

The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation had started the effort to put an end to the use of plastic carry bags in the supermarkets in the city in January this year and the move was well received by the district unit of the Supermarket Welfare Association of Kerala (SWAK). The plan was to shift to cloth bags by April 1, but it did not take off mainly due to the nonavailability of cloth bags at such a large scale. Though a bit late, the effort bore fruit with the help of Niravu Vengeri that has offered to supply the required number of cloth bags.

科泽科德市政公司于今年1月开始努力终止在该市超市使用塑料手提袋，此举受到了喀拉拉邦超级市场福利协会（SWAK）地区单位的好评。 这项计划是在4月1日之前转向布袋，但主要是由于布袋规模如此之大，布袋不能运走。虽然稍晚一点，在尼拉武Vengeri的帮助下，这些努力仍然结出果实，尼拉武曾提出供应所需数量的布袋。

The ban on plastic carry bags was imposed as part of the Zero Waste Kozhikode project of the district administration and the Suchitwa Mission, identifying plastic as the major pollutant and the reason for the difficulty faced by most local bodies in managing solid waste. Initially, the supermarkets started levying a price for the plastic or non-woven carry bags from the customers.

禁止携带塑料袋是作为地区行政管理部门和苏奇特瓦使团的零废弃科泽科德项目的一部分，将塑料确定为主要污染物，以及大多数当地机构在处理固体废物方面遇到困难的原因。 最初，超市开始向顾客征收塑料或无纺布手提袋的价格。

The plan was to source cloth carry bags through Kudumbasree units gradually and replace the plastic and non-woven bags with them. However, Kudumbasree was unable to meet the demand.  "None of our Kudumbasree units produced cloth bags at the time. By the time new units were formed for the purpose, the financial year came to an end and we had to reallocate the funds,"  said K.V. Baburaj, Health Standing Committee chairman of the Corporation.

这项计划是逐步从库杜巴塞雷装备中抽取布料袋，用塑料和非纺布袋来替换，然而库杜巴塞雷却无法满足要求。该公司卫生常设委员会主席K.V.Baburaj说：“到成立新单位时，财政年度已经结束，我们必须重新调配资金。”

"We had good response from the public even when we started levying price for the plastic carry bags. Most people were willing to bring their own shopping bags or reuse the ones they purchased. Only very few customers complained,"  said Musthafa V, district president of SWAK.

“即使我们开始为塑料携带袋收取费用，我们也得到了公众的好评。大多数人都愿意自己携带购物袋或者重新使用自己购买的塑料袋。SWAK地区总裁穆萨法表示：“只有极少的客户抱怨过。”

The association plans to sell the cloth bags for ₹15 a piece and also to purchase them back if brought back neatly. They also have a provision to collect the empty plastic packets of food items from the customers, which would then be handed over to Niravu for recycling.

该协会计划以每块15欧元卖布袋，如果重新整齐，还将购买这些布袋。他们还有一项规定，从顾客那里收集空的塑料袋食品，然后交给尼拉武进行回收。

The association has plans to introduce cloth carry bags in all supermarkets across the district, but may take some time as enough number of bags are not available. Niravu too is unable to meet the requirement.  "There are any number of super markets in the city. We may not be able to cater to all permanently. More suppliers should come up in the field,"  said Babu Parambath, Project Coordinator of Niravu.

该协会计划在全区的所有超市推出布袋携带，但由于袋子数量不足，可能需要一些时间。尼拉武项目协调员巴布·帕伦巴特说：“这座城市有许多超市，我们可能无法永久迎合所有市场。

On the other hand, the small-scale dealers still resort to using plastic and non-woven carry bags while some customers are irked by the nonavailability of them.  "We have to slowly introduce the culture of cloth carry bags in the small shops too,"  Mr. Musthafa added.

另一方面，小经销商仍然使用塑料和非纺布袋，而一些顾客因没有塑料袋子而感到不满。穆萨法先生补充道：“我们也要慢慢在小商店里引进布袋的文化。”