Independence Day 2025: Celebrate Freedom from Plastic
India will celebrate its 78th Independence Day on 15 August 2025. It's time to truly understand what freedom is. Our political independence is something we will celebrate, but we also need to understand another bondage that threatens our environment and our future: plastic pollution. This year, let’s go one step further and pledge to be free of plastics.
India produces about 3.5 million tonnes a year of plastic waste, of which only 60% is recycled, with the rest in drains or directly contaminating rivers, oceans, and killing marine mammals. The state of our nation is dire, as we surpass a population of 1.43 billion, and therefore, our consumption patterns increase the crisis. Independence Day is a perfect opportunity to turn things around and choose sustainability.
Why Freedom From Plastic
Plastic is all over the place. It is found in our grocery bags, packaging, single-use disposables, and even in our food. Microplastics have been discovered in human blood, lungs, and placenta as well. Humans are exposed to roughly 5gm of plastic every week on average, which is roughly the weight of a credit card, according to the University of Newcastle in Australia.
The environmental cost is even serious. Plastic waste takes over 500 years to decompose. It contaminates our soil, rivers, and oceans, and also releases toxic chemicals while decomposing. The sacred rivers of India - the Ganga, the Yamuna, and others are among the world's most plastic-polluted rivers.
We need freedom from plastic because plastic chokes our planet, overburdens health systems, and leaves a toxic inheritance to future generations.
Government Initiatives
The Government of India adopted various rules & regulations to eliminate the use of single-use plastic products. On July 1, 2022, India implemented its national ban on single-use plastic products, which consists of 19 items, including plastic straws, thermocol, earbuds, and plastic cutlery etc. It is an important initiative to eliminate the prevalence of single-use plastic, and it is vital for the sustainability of the environment. Apart from this, the government has implemented several initiatives as well to fight against plastic.
Plastic waste management is a pillar of Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0. More than 2500 urban local bodies have created Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) for separation and recycling.
Moreover, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) structure under the Plastic Waste Management Rules requires that companies handle the responsibility for the collection and recycling of plastic they introduce. By 2025, the intent of the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change is for 100% reuse or recycling of plastic packaging waste.
In January 2025, a new program called the Plastic-Free Panchayat Program was launched in rural areas. The motto of this program is “My Plastic My Responsibility”.Through this program, over 1 lakh gram panchayats were given resources and training to prohibit plastic usage in public functions, schools, and local markets.
What can you do?
Every change starts from home, and all Indians should take the following actionable steps to celebrate freedom from plastic on this Independence Day:
Eliminate single-use plastic:
The easiest thing you can do to cut down on single-use plastics is to refuse to use plastic disposables, plastic packaging, and plastic carry bags. Use compostable plates and bowls made of plant materials, compostable cups, and reusable containers instead.
Conduct Plastic-Free Events: whether it's a flag-hoisting ceremony, or school function, or any other event, say no to plastic decorations. Use eco-friendly decorative items, and use compostable plates and bowls to serve sweets.
Segregate Waste: Try to separate your wet, dry, and plastic waste to make recycling easier and lessen waste in the landfills.
Buy Local, Buy Loose: Decide to select local vendors who sell loose grains, spices, and do not use plastic packaging where possible. Support any business that endeavors to achieve sustainable packaging.
Hold a Community Workshop: Work with your local community and organize a cleanup to remove plastic from your community.
Educate Others: Educate others to show how plastic waste from local communities impacts local ecosystems. You can engage friends, family, and community members to reduce plastic in the local community by sharing the knowledge we've shared on the impacts of plastic on local ecosystems. The more people know, the more people who change their habits.
Conclusion
Independence Day is not just a celebration; it is a call to action in building a better India. The issue of freedom from plastic is more than an environmental issue. It extends to being a social, health, and economic issue. If we do nothing, by 2040, plastic waste in India could be 11 million tonnes per year, which would be a triple increase in plastic waste in our country.
This August 15, can we add one more piece to our duties as citizens and patriots? Let's stand for freedom from colonialism, but let's also stand for freedom from pollution, toxicity, and waste. Let us be the generation that makes Independence Day 2025 a milestone in our journey to a clean and green India.