IPOH, April 29 (Bernama) -- The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) urges Chithirai Pournami devotees and visitors to refrain from using plastics and not to waste food offered to them at stalls during the festival, which falls on May 1.
CAP Consumer and Environmental Education Officer N.V. Subbarow said Chithirai Pournami, the full moon day of the Tamil month of Chithirai, is a very special day in the lives of Tamils, as it is not only spiritually, but also culturally significant.
According to him, the festival is celebrated with large crowds at Sri Thandayuthabani temple in Teluk Intan, which is expecting around 100,000 devotees and the public from all over Malaysia, as well as neighbouring countries, to attend.
“Organisations setting up thaneer panthals (refreshment stalls) offering free food and drinks, and devotees are urged to desist using single-use plastics, polystyrene containers and cups during Chithirai Pournami.
“Instead, they should use reusable plates and cups, or leaves that are biodegradable. Wherever festivals are celebrated in the whole country, plastic plates, cups, spoons, and forks dominate in refreshment stalls,” he said in a statement today.
Subbarow said those stalls and vendors cite convenience as a reason for using those containers, cutlery and cups as they are serving large crowds.
However, he mentioned that there are better ways to serve food, which would not generate a lot of waste that negatively impacts the environment, as plastics do not decompose, while so-called “biodegradable” and “compostable” plastics do not easily biodegrade and break down only in specific conditions.
He said plastic pollution has rapidly become one of the most pressing environmental threats to the people and the planet, and the threat from the production and use of single-use plastics is of serious concern to public health and the environment.
“The more plastics that are used and discarded in major events, such as during festivals, the more plastic waste will leak into the environment and end up as pollution.
“The alternatives to single-use plastics are reusables, washing the utensils, leaves used as dining plates and food wraps, while bringing your own containers to pack food, bottles to refill your drinks and cloth bags to pack your things,” he said.
Subbarow said people also need to reduce food wastage, as CAP urges those serving food to reduce their serving size and hopes that the refreshment stalls would reduce the portions and only give one pack of food per person.
“Let’s use this festival as a platform to take care of the environment by liberating ourselves from single-use plastics and products. We must leave behind a cleaner and safer earth for our children,” he said.
-- BERNAMA
