There comes a time when we need a wake-up call to prevent us from making mistakes. Wouldn’t it be exciting if this comes in the form of a superhero? Meet Bagman, a green crusader and superhero, whose only archenemy is the plastic bag. But who is a Bagman? “Anybody who says no to a plastic bag is Bagman,” explains Sashikanth Kaja, a social entrepreneur and the man behind the campaign.
What inspired him to create Bagman? “A few slides in the theatres or a few billboards around the city will not really help in creating awareness. We have hundreds of things happening simultaneously and our attention span is very short. So I was wondering if there is a nice way of spreading the message,” he says. “Everybody is used to some superhero character like Spiderman or Batman doing something nice. I thought what if there is a character that people can relate to when it comes to plastic bag pollution in particular. That’s how the idea of creating ‘Bagman’ came about,” says Sashikanth, who runs Rewheel, a social enterprise which hopes to sensitise society on the usage of plastic bags.
Sashikanth feels convenience is the main culprit in this issue. “If something isn’t convenient to people, they aren’t ok about making a switch. So it’s a big thing to ask people to cultivate a new habit like carrying a cloth bag.”
Talking about why he decided to make cloth bags, Sashikanth, who is also an animal lover, shares an anecdote: “Around seven years ago, I was volunteering for the Tiger Census at the Srisailam Tiger Reserve. I went pretty deep into the jungle when I happened to notice a plastic bag. It was not a routine sight to spot a plastic bag deep in the jungle. I had also heard of a lot of cases where animals ingested plastic along with the food that we dispose and end up dying. All these things affected me. I wanted to be self-employed and thought this is the best thing to start off with.”
Sashikanth also provides training to socially backward women, helping them to be economically independent. “Today we have eight full-time employees in the workshop. I have also started getting in touch with self-help groups to partner with them,” he says.
He addresses the hesitation people have in making the switch. “There are two major reasons why people hesitate to shift towards cotton or jute bags — they are neither affordable nor accessible. So I want to make them cheaper and have them at as many places as possible. We charge Rs 30 per bag and are also coming up with another version, which will cost just Rs 20. It is made of cotton and can be used for years. Gradually, people have started to accept that plastic bags are not good for the environment. I think that’s a step towards the right direction,” says the 27-year-old.
Here’s your chance to ditch plastic and be a superhero!
