If Alexander Parkes could see the ecological damage caused largely by his invention, would he think twice about how he made plastics and maybe figure out a way to make it break down faster? We now know that biodegradable plastic exists but it's still a fairly new resource, so it's still not that cheap to make. Not yet, at least. How different would our world be if plastic was never invented in the first place? Why was plastic invented anyway?
But here we are now, a world where plastic is part of life and a gigantic swirling vortex of trash with tons of plastic called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is growing at a massive rate (I wonder if it's already visible from space?). Thankfully, we are now living in a time when environmental awareness is finally a real and global concern. Although it took natural disasters to get our attention, we are now learning and making lifestyle changes -- ever so slowly, but surely.
I am elated that early this year, Italy took a brave and bold stand against plastics by banning its use nationwide. It is indeed not only an economic adjustment, but moreso a cultural one, and such a large and dramatic movement for an entire nation can only become effective if backed by its government's political will.
Here in the Philippines, we look to a few cities and small towns for the courage to make this change. The municipality of Los Baños in the Laguna province began banning plastics as packaging, except for wet goods (regulated use of plastic bags), in mid-2008. What's more is that the packaging should be plain -- no logos or designs. Styrofoam products are totally banned. Just this week, Muntinlupa City in Metro Manila followed suit, using the same model as Los Baños does.
Last January 15, Shopwise announced that their Alabang branch will stop using plastic bags for good and that only reusable canvas bags (either theirs or your own) will be allowed. Hope they start implementing this in all of their branches. We've been using Shopwise's huge canvas shopping bag for a couple of years; you get points every time you do, and I think they still give you points even if you use reusable shopping bags from other merchants (correct me if I'm wrong). Shopwise is owned by Rustan's, so the same goes in Rustan's supermarket as well.
SM also does a similar eco-friendly initiative by doing a "Bring Your Own Bag Wednesdays" (why not every day?). I applaud them for switching to biodegradable plastic bags. Maybe they should start rewarding SM Advantage / BDO Rewards cardholders with a free reusable bag or even give them away when a shopper spends a certain amount in one go.
I appreciate how these establishments are enthusiastic about pushing their eco-friendly objective but, I just wish they'd do more creative solutions that can help in a bigger way, especially when it comes to the packaging that products come in. You see, even if we're taking our groceries and what-not home in reusable bags, the items we buy are still packaged separately -- in plastic. I eagerly look forward to the time when my idea of BYOC -- Bring Your Own Container -- will become a reality. After all, what are we buying these foodstuff, cosmetics, etc. for? Definitely not for the packaging. And there are already grocery goods that can be bought by the kilo (then packed into plastic bags again, sigh -- that should stop, too), but there's no identifiable manufacturer, so why not apply the same to all grocery goods and let buyers use their own reusable containers? There are groceries in the US where you can buy cereals and nuts by the pound. Locally, you see the same setup in most of our wet markets.
Another thing, most Filipinos still can't fully understand and comply with waste segregation because our garbage collectors still pile trash of all kind in the same place and we're still required to collect our garbage in plastic bags that are tied securely.
We've got such a long way to go, there's so much that still needs to be done. It might take centuries before plastic bags are finally a thing of the past, an obsolete wonder that wreaked such havoc on our environment. We need to keep taking those small steps, and with each step, we should be careful not to take a bigger step backward.
But here we are now, a world where plastic is part of life and a gigantic swirling vortex of trash with tons of plastic called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is growing at a massive rate (I wonder if it's already visible from space?). Thankfully, we are now living in a time when environmental awareness is finally a real and global concern. Although it took natural disasters to get our attention, we are now learning and making lifestyle changes -- ever so slowly, but surely.
I am elated that early this year, Italy took a brave and bold stand against plastics by banning its use nationwide. It is indeed not only an economic adjustment, but moreso a cultural one, and such a large and dramatic movement for an entire nation can only become effective if backed by its government's political will.
Here in the Philippines, we look to a few cities and small towns for the courage to make this change. The municipality of Los Baños in the Laguna province began banning plastics as packaging, except for wet goods (regulated use of plastic bags), in mid-2008. What's more is that the packaging should be plain -- no logos or designs. Styrofoam products are totally banned. Just this week, Muntinlupa City in Metro Manila followed suit, using the same model as Los Baños does.
SM also does a similar eco-friendly initiative by doing a "Bring Your Own Bag Wednesdays" (why not every day?). I applaud them for switching to biodegradable plastic bags. Maybe they should start rewarding SM Advantage / BDO Rewards cardholders with a free reusable bag or even give them away when a shopper spends a certain amount in one go.
I appreciate how these establishments are enthusiastic about pushing their eco-friendly objective but, I just wish they'd do more creative solutions that can help in a bigger way, especially when it comes to the packaging that products come in. You see, even if we're taking our groceries and what-not home in reusable bags, the items we buy are still packaged separately -- in plastic. I eagerly look forward to the time when my idea of BYOC -- Bring Your Own Container -- will become a reality. After all, what are we buying these foodstuff, cosmetics, etc. for? Definitely not for the packaging. And there are already grocery goods that can be bought by the kilo (then packed into plastic bags again, sigh -- that should stop, too), but there's no identifiable manufacturer, so why not apply the same to all grocery goods and let buyers use their own reusable containers? There are groceries in the US where you can buy cereals and nuts by the pound. Locally, you see the same setup in most of our wet markets.
Another thing, most Filipinos still can't fully understand and comply with waste segregation because our garbage collectors still pile trash of all kind in the same place and we're still required to collect our garbage in plastic bags that are tied securely.
We've got such a long way to go, there's so much that still needs to be done. It might take centuries before plastic bags are finally a thing of the past, an obsolete wonder that wreaked such havoc on our environment. We need to keep taking those small steps, and with each step, we should be careful not to take a bigger step backward.
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