Plastic, a classic case of us turning everything into problem: Sadhguru

Prominent spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev on Tuesday opined that the use of plastic is symbolic of the human tendency of turning everything into a problem.

"Plastic is a classic case of, whatever is given to us, we know how to make a problem out of it. A material that you can recycle a thousand times over is a boon, but it has turned into a curse. Plastic has infiltrated into just about everything," Sadhguru told ANI on the occasion of World Environment Day.

"People in the United States are saying that 94 percent of tap water has plastic residual in it and 67 percent of bottled water has plastic in it. We are poisoning ourselves. It (plastic ban) cannot be done just by law. We need huge awareness among people. We have to handle our comforts and conveniences with responsibility," the spiritual leader added.

Sadhguru noted that although there has been "concrete" action on banning plastic, there needs to be a greater level of awareness among citizens.

"In the last few years, this awareness (on use of plastic) has been growing. So, we want every citizen to be aware of this. We have started with Mahatma Gandhi's memorial. This is significant because this is essentially violence against life. We may call it plastic. We may call it water pollution, air pollution. This is essentially violence against all life around us and in general planet itself," he added.

In the wake of tensions along the Indo-Pakistan border, Sadhguru said it is about time the situation is settled.

"Seventy years (of partition) is not too much of time but we should settle it down by now, unfortunately it's still continuing. I hope in this generation we find a solution. We must understand that we, without any, geographical definition or without any cultural differentiation, we just called out our nation in a hurry for which we are still bleeding," he added.

On a related note, World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year, and is the United Nation's principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment.