As you know, here in Solapur we have been trying to reduce the number of colic (gut pain) cases caused by donkeys eating plastic bags. The problem is that people throw out their waste food in plastic bags, and the donkeys end up eating the plastic bag together with the food. In the worst cases, the plastic bags block the gut and the donkey dies a painful death.
The new education and awareness project I did this April has shown me very good results. What I did was place a food drum for donkeys in a donkey owning colony (neighbourhood) and asked the local people to put their food stuff in this drum in the evening and in the morning I asked a donkey owner who lives near to the colony to collect the food.
This has worked in a very good way as the people put every day food stuff in the drum and the next morning the donkey owner gave the food to his donkeys. For this trial I have targeted colonies with more than 50 to 100 houses.
So by this we can solve many problems like good food for donkeys, avoid colic cases, avoid road accidents as donkeys will get food and they will not move on the roads for food. Also the donkey owner with whom I did this is now tying his donkeys after the work and not leaving them on the street.
All the newspapers have also brought this news in their papers and due to this I am getting many calls saying we are ready to help you by giving food in your bin. One club has also given me a call saying that they want to donate 10 food bins for this good work.
Hey Suchitra,
Good Cause you are working for. Glad to know that at least someone tried to solve the problem in this unique way! salute for your cause.
regards
manish hans
student IDC , iit bombay
Hi Manish Bhai,
Thanks for your comments. I am trying my best to solve the problem of plastic bags as after eating this the donkey has to face many problems and in some cases i have also seen that the donkey dies when she is pregnant. So let's pray Ganpati bappa that give the human beings good feelings for the donkeys. As women feel shameful to use cloth bags and ask always the shopkeepers for plastic bags, i am targeting the women in my education sessions to use cloth bags or paper bags. In my session i also teach them to make paper bags. You can also start this kind of work and tell all your friends and family members to use cloth bags or paper bags.
Thanking you,
suchitra.
Hello Suchitra,
I was interested that you say the women are ashamed to use cloth bags - in England it is quite the reverse! Most of the Supermarkets are trying to cut down the use of plastic bags and many women (and men!) are proud to use their cloth bags. It might be a useful comment to make in your educational sessions. Some of the cloth bags are quite expensive and have very nice designs. Many are sold in aid of charities.
Your scheme is very clever and I wish you every success.
Sylvie.
Hi Suchitra,
In the UK and USA printing "I am NOT a plastic bag" on the cloth bags made people proud to use them. It is a way for people to show that they are aware of the problem and chose to do something different.
It changes it from being something to be ashamed of to being something to be proud of.
Hope this helps,
Dave
Hi Suchitra,
You are not alone, this is a global problem that we all have to face.
Plastic is a very useful material, but it also causes many problems, particularly for animals.
Solving the problem will require all of us to be more aware of the things we use and throw away.
Your project is an example to us all.
Keep up the good work.
Dave