The changing consumption habits in rural India have led to a rise in the supply of packaged products in villages. Industry estimates show that the demand for fast-moving consumer goods in rural areas has outpaced the demand in urban areas. Increased packaged products have also influenced the shopping habits of rural consumers. As in urban areas, most people in rural areas too have stopped carrying cloth bags for shopping and bringing home purchased packaged products as well as grocery items in plastic carry bags. The adverse impact of such changing consumption and consumer behaviour is that solid and plastic waste management in rural areas has become increasingly unmanageable. For ecologically fragile Assam and other Northeastern states, the growing menace of plastic waste is a bigger problem but has not got due attention from the government and society. Plastic carry bags dumped along with other solid waste often accumulate in beels and ponds, riverbanks, and water bodies near paddy fields. Plastic waste management (PWM) units are developed at the block level for a cluster of blocks for plastic waste management in rural areas. Ironically, no PWM unit is functional in any of the 240 blocks in Assam even though such units have been constructed in 55% of the blocks, according to a report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources. About 37% of villages in the state have yet to have any arrangements for solid waste management. The ecological burden of ignoring the gap in SWM and PWM in rural Assam will be too heavy for the people and the state. Water bodies and water in farm fields remaining free from any pollution is critical for the sustainability of the livelihood of farm households. The natural wetlands, rivers, and household ponds provide livelihood avenues for fisherfolk. Pollution of water quality on account of plastic waste poses a grave survival threat to fish and other populations. Besides, plastic waste also blocks water channels and adversely affects water flow regimes in water bodies, which in the long run gives rise to water availability for farming and livestock rearing. In the hill states of the region, too, a growing heap of plastic waste along the roadside in gorges has sounded the alarm bell of a larger ecological crisis in the long run than perceived. Such scenes, being not uncommon even in remote villages in hill states, speak volumes about the environmental hazards of irresponsible plastic waste dumped by people. The failure of the states and local authorities to create adequate infrastructural facilities for PWM is a pointer to the growing problem of not being on the list of priorities of the governments in the region. The circulation of prohibited single-use plastic carry bags in the region is reflective of both lack of enforcement and awareness among consumers. The problem cannot be addressed merely by improving administrative efficiency or stricter enforcement. Changing consumption habits among rural consumers will not go away, as improvement in connectivity and a rise in disposable income will continue to spur the demand for packaged products. A sustainable solution to the problem lies in raising awareness among consumers about reducing plastic use. Compared to urban consumers who are not involved in food production or livestock rearing, fishing, and building awareness among rural consumers is easier as rural households are directly associated with such activities. Rural consumers need to be told the bamboo baskets they make at home are much more environmentally friendly for bringing goods from shops and marketplaces. Encouraging people to carry such bamboo baskets, jute, or cloth bags to bring home purchased goods can play a crucial role in reducing the use of plastic carry bags. Moreover, rural households also have the skill and expertise to develop environmentally friendly packaging solutions from bamboo, jute, and other locally available natural raw materials. Leveraging this traditional knowledge for the commercial production of alternative packaging solutions for local industrial units as well as units in other states can open new employment avenues in villages. Collaborative initiatives by village panchayats with government departments and industry stakeholders in imparting training to local artisans on the design and quality aspects of such alternative environment-friendly packaging solutions can also be expected to contribute towards an awareness drive in villages on plastic pollution hazards. Roping local sociocultural institutions in an awareness drive is essential to spreading it to every single household. With the spread of the internet, the region has also witnessed an increase in social media use in rural areas, which can be utilised to spread awareness of the growing threat of plastic waste in their villages. Appealing to people to come up with their solution to address the problem will motivate them to become actively involved in the awareness campaign for preventing plastic pollution and making their villages plastic waste-free. The rural communities grappling with the problem cannot wait for waste management units to come up first. Prioritising an awareness drive among them is a more pragmatic approach to dealing with the problem.