The government decision announced several months ago to ban the use of plastic materials in commercial transactions and other usages goes into force across the national territory from Thursday.

In the build-up to D-day today, there have been many reactions, many negative, as to the timeliness of the initiative with many predicting untold harm to the economy and even social cohesion, given the widespread manner in the use of these plastics. All this acrimony surrounding the measure has, primarily, to do with habits that have been practiced for a very long time and going by the proverbial habits that die had, one can understand these feelings of resentment. But all is not about managing sentiments for now.

Rather, one must carefully look back at the multiple forms of danger the widespread and, mostly irresponsible, use of these materials have inflicted on the economy as well as on health and sanitation, to the extent that when put on the scales the dangers of continual use are far more devastating than the advantages to be obtained from the new measure.

Could these misunderstandings about the measure stem from some form of deficit in properly communication on its nefarious nature? We are tempted to believe so, because of the very evident nature of dangers of plastics to virtually every aspect of our daily life. Take agriculture. Our nation lives and thrives essentially on agriculture and any form of attack on it must be taken seriously. In the years of yore, there was flourishing cottage agriculture around homes in rural Cameroon. Families could obtain enough to feed their household from crops planted the immediate surroundings.

But with the semblance of industrialization and its attendant consumption of manufactured goods came the generalized usage of plastic material for handling and packaging. Used plastics were disposed of within reach of the house and mostly buried in the ground. Soil quality began to deteriorate and cottage agriculture came to naught because plant roots came into direct contact with these plastics which would not degrade. Healthy plantain stems and fresh vegetables, essential for a balanced diet, were soon off the dining table. People had to go longer distances for food and with an increasingly ageing population, things could only get worse.

Another significant toll has been in the urban milieu where the irresponsible use of plastics has created enormous environmental challenges. The excessive use and the poor disposal system of plastic packaging systems has adversely affected sewage systems as manifested by the overly presence of these materials which block the flow of water and encourage the settling of standing water in which mosquitoes thrive with the attendant health risks.

When we take a quick look at our agricultural performance many years ago, we notice that things went a lot better without these materials and, yet, we conveniently packaged our food and other items without the dangers that are observed today. Must we sacrifice our health on the sheer altar of daily existence? It is not as if the new measure is only coming to create inconveniences. There are several new opportunities going to be opened, least of which is not the fresh outlets created by way of growing such plants that in the past provided useful packaging systems.

It could be a new form of agriculture providing leaves that can quickly replace these non-degradable plastic bags and other packaging systems. The problem now should therefore be about collectively looking for new and profitable alternatives rather than nagging on the immediate inconveniences caused by the salutary government measure. For, by all accounts, the measure is for the good of all.