Students hand over a cloth bag to a shopper at Behala market Telegraph picture

Students of a school on the southern fringes of the city are selling cloth bags for Rs 2 at local markets to encourage shopkeepers and buyers to shun plastic bags.

Middle school students of Birla Bharati started with Behala market last week and the school has decided to carry on the campaign till May, targeting one market every month.

Twenty students, accompanied by six teachers, spent close to two hours at a fish and vegetable market last Friday, trying to convince customers and shopkeepers to use cloth bags instead of plastic ones.

It was not an easy task as buyers found plastic bags more convenient and shopkeepers complained that they would lose out on customers if they did not provide plastic bags.

“Those selling vegetables on the pavements said if they refuse to give plastic bags, customers often go to a vendor who does. A few of them did buy cloth bags from us hoping that customers would accept them,” said Class VI student Mayank Pradhan.

When a group of students approached a buyer carrying carrots in a plastic bag, he blamed shopkeepers.

“We told him he should carry a cloth bag and do his bit for the environment,” said Kushagra Kartik Verma of Class VIII.

The school had asked all students of classes III to XII to make two cloth bags each using old clothes, curtains or pillow covers during the Puja vacation.

“Despite making the school a no-plastic zone, there have been instances of a few students carrying plastic bags to school,” said Apala Datta, the principal of the school.

“When the children came back with the bags, a group of them pointed out there was a need to talk to more people. The idea of visiting markets came up from there but it has to be sustained and hence we thought of continuing it till May,” Datta said.

The teachers felt it was important to target local markets.

“It’s not that people are not conscious or not aware about the need to stop using plastic. But a lot of plastic is still in use in the market. We wanted to target the people there and some did buy cloth bags from us,” said Madhumita Choudhury, a teacher

who accompanied the students.

The school also collaborated with police, who escorted the students to the market last week and will also extend the required support when they visit other markets.

“Pollution is a burning issue now and everybody is affected by it. This is a good social awareness initiative. We thought we should facilitate the students in carrying out this campaign,” said Nilanjan Biswas, deputy commissioner of police, southwest division.