BANGLADESH has many rich heritages which are inseparable parts of our identity as a nation, because the spirit, direction, convention, custom, civilisation and tradition of the nation are found, as they are reflected, in its cultural and historical heritages. The cultural heritages are the most important heritages, and are passed down to us through the years by the collective efforts of our forefathers, from one generation to the next, defining our essence as a nation to the global community. With the passage of time, some of our glorious cultural heritages like muslin sarees along with some others have been lost forever, and are only ornamenting our national museum now. It is also alarming that some glorious cultural heritages are now on the verge of extinction due to the celebration of our modern life style, indifference and negligence to cultural heritages. Of them, pottery is one of the most important heritages which is on the brink of becoming obsolete.
Pottery heritage was famous for its diverse design and for its indispensability in households as utensils. Presently, the number of pottery workers is decreasing gradually as a result of the change in culture and our inclination towards ceramic and metal utensils. Only few pottery products are now made in the rural areas to meet the rural poor's demands, and occasionally for Bangalee festivals such as Pahela Baishakh. Lack of raw materials and inadequate patronisation are also responsible for the slow decay of pottery. Because of the slump in local demand for utensils, many pottery workers are now making only inartistic pots for curd as it has local market value and because it is easy to make. As a result, many pottery workers have forgotten their inherited pottery designs. This inartistic curd pot production, too, will be at risk if anyone invents any alternative. It is also found that some families are not interested in involving their children in this because of the lack of demand. In order to survive, the community is thinking of shifting to other professions.
From the present scenario, it can be easily predicted that the pottery heritage may become extinct before, if necessary steps are not taken. It will not be surprising if we have to put this cultural heritage in the museum for the next generation to know about it. It is time for us now to save our cultural pottery heritage by innovative approaches. Many think tanks are trying to save this heritage by introducing diversified pottery products for beautifying houses (vases, flower pot crafts etc.). In reality, these aesthetic pottery products for house decoration are not popular because of our low purchasing capacity, inadequate space in houses and indifference to decorating houses. Only people of means can afford it. In addition, the imported ceramic products often outsell our pottery products. So, for sustaining this cultural heritage, we must use pottery products.
Many neighbouring countries are using pottery items. For example, the Indians use onetime earthen tea cups. The former rail minister of India, Lalu Prasad Yadav, popularised earthen pots in the railway and thus replaced the plastic cups. Later, everyone followed it, as it reduces health risks apart from preserving the cultural heritage. Moreover, strong patriotism of the Indians boosted this cultural heritage and helped in sustaining it.
Apparently, onetime earthen tea/coffee cups seem little costly, but it is economically feasible in the long run in terms of health and sustenance of the pottery heritage. It will increase employment, develop market chain for pottery, and save water and energy resources. Moreover, used onetime tea cups can be recycled as raw material of ring slabs for the sanitary latrine industry. On the other hand, ceramic tea cups are used again and again at tea stalls, which increases the risk of communicable diseases. It also wastes 30 liters of water per stall per day. In every tea stall, minimum of one dozen ceramic cups are damaged per month and these imperishable broken cups cause soil infertility. It is also found that the country spends huge amounts of money for importing ceramic cups or raw materials for their manufacture.
Considering the beneficial sides of earthen tea cup, we can initiate its use in our tea/coffee stalls. As our literacy rate and GDP has increased, our citizens can afford, and should afford, the additional cost to drink tea by using onetime earthen tea cups. Initially, the urban population should take initiatives to implement the idea as they are more educated and richer compared to the rural people. According to the World Bank (2012), about 28% of the total population (44.8 million) of Bangladesh is living in urban areas, and they drink tea. 22.4 millions cups will be sold per day if one fourth of the total urban population take tea twice a day outside the home, and thus Tk. 5.6 million will be earned daily, which can ensure the livelihood of about 20,000 pottery workers.
Though it is not easy to initiate a new habit for the tea consumers, it is not impossible. For implementing it, pragmatic efforts like awareness building and motivating people, voluntary work, patronisation by both private and public sectors, installation of modern technology, in-depth research and policy advocacy are required.
In conclusion, we can say that the existence of our pottery heritage is threatened. As it is an integral part of our culture, saving this heritage by changing our habit or by any other means or effort is our social as well as national responsibility.  

The writers work in the field of sustainable
development.  E-mail: [email protected]
and [email protected], respectively.