Jaya Prakash first stopped using plastic bags over a year ago. And a few weeks back, she convinced other members of the samiti to switch over to cloth and paper bags. ``It's a long process, but we hope it will clean up our locality and make it more eco-friendly,'' says another housewife Raman Shrivastav.

As part of their `kick the plastic bag drive' which was launched a fortnight ago, the housewives have also agreed to fine each other Rs 10 if caught with a plastic bag. They've kept their vows. No one's been fined yet.The samiti has now set its sights on loftier goals, a plastic bag free zone, no less. ``We want to make the entire Lokhandwala complex likeNavy Nagar, a no plastic carry bag zone,'' says Jaya Prakash. Cloth and jute bags of various sizes used by the housewives lie piled up on a table before her.

Pradeep Kumar, a retired principal and member of Dignity Foundation now advises the group on how to go about the ban. ``Besides telling residents to separate their garbage, we aim at creating awareness among them about harmful effects of carry bags,'' he says. But the job isn't easy. Shashi Praveen mentions how shops and pheriwalas in Lokhandwala hand out huge amounts of plastic carry bags every day. When residents quizzed hawkers, they were told the handmade newspaper bag had been driven out of market by the cheaper machine-made plastic carry bag.

Another resident Indu Bhatia mentions how she was inspired to kick the bag after she saw a gutter in the locality clogged with carry bags. ``The water couldn't be seen, there were only bags.'' Raman Srivastav adds about the danger from plastic carry bags choking drains. ``The bags block gutters, the waterdoesn't flow and disease-carrying mosquitoes start breeding.''And, as the women say, in the end, it is individuals who must realise the harmful potential of the bags and stop using them.

Lisa Ray:

Plastic is non-biodegradable, so it is naughty to use plastic bags because it is like harbouring a fugitive. My dad was an environmental consultant in Canada, so we have always been an eco-friendly household and have tried not use to plastic bags. When my maid goes to the market to buy vegetables, we give her a cloth bag which she washes and re-uses. I think the Express Newsline Kick Plastic campaign is a great idea. Everyone should learn to use bags made of cloth or jute.