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Eco group mounts drive vs use of plastic bags


With the rainy season here, environmental activists on Saturday mounted a campaign against the use of plastic bags, wearing the items over their heads at a busy public market in Quezon City. Members of the EcoWaste Coalition and Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) staged the campaign at the Commonwealth Market in Quezon City. “The onset of the rainy season should compel us into having second thoughts about our unchecked use and disposal of plastic bags. We can help prevent floods by saying no to plastic bags and using reusable bags and containers. Indeed we can save Mother Earth one bag at a time," said Kris Psyche Resus, Miss Philippines Earth 2010, in an entry on the EcoWaste blog site.

EcoWaste activists in their drive against the use of plastic bags. EcoWaste photo.
Gigie Cruz of GAIA, one of the organizers of the 2O1O International Plastic Bags Free Day (IPBFD), added plastic bags symbolize a penchant for convenient and disposable stuff. "Today, we ask consumers to rethink their addiction to plastic bags and put an end to the ecological misery caused by wasteful consumption," she said. Participants at Saturday's campaign wore bags of different colors that carried the message “Plastik: Hindi Walastik!" They also gave out "Ayaw Ko ng Plastik" leaflets. “Walastik" is a slang expression that means “fantastic," with EcoWaste pointing out it literally means “walang plastik (no plastic)." For her part, Sonia Mendoza of the Mother Earth Foundation and the EcoWaste Coalition's Task Force on Plastics pushed for reusable items. The group cited figures from global research group 5 Gyres that in the United States, only five percent of the plastics produced are recovered, 50 percent are buried in landfills, some are re-manufactured into durable goods and the rest are “unaccounted for" or lost in the environment. EcoWaste and GAIA identified practical actions that consumer, business and government sectors can do. At the personal level, “Bring Your Own Bayong" (BYOB) or other reusable bags when you shop. "Make an environmental statement by cutting and sewing your own reusable bags from rice or flour sacks, old jeans, fabric scraps and other used materials. Spread the BYOB culture to your family, neighborhood and workplace," the group said. It said that at the business level, supermarkets and shops should introduce their own reusable bags made of recycled and locally-sourced materials. The group pushed the promotion of attractive incentives to inspire consumers to bring their own bags or containers such as rebate schemes and price cuts. "Consider giving eco-friendly shoppers with non-financial rewards such as gifts of plants and trees," it said. At the government level, the group pushed national and local authorities to ban single-use plastic bags. In the meantime, it said government should forbid their use for non-essential purposes such as fiesta buntings and ornaments. The group said government should make manufacturers responsible for the environmentally-sound recovery of used plastic bags and packaging materials, including bearing the cost of plastic pollution and mitigation. Also, the groups urged the public to remind President Benigno Simeon Aquino III of his position on the issue of plastic bags as indicated in his response to the pre-election survey conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace. “I’m for a ban on single-use plastic bags and other plastic-based disposable containers. Over the longer term we must have greater use of biodegradable materials for packaging and containers, and have a sound plan for recovery and recycling of plastics," it recalled then presidential candidate Aquino as saying. The groups cited the numerous benefits of taking decisive action against plastic bags such as: * Preventing storm drains and waterways from getting clogged and causing street flooding; * Protecting coral reefs and all marine animals from plastic entanglement and digestive blockages; * Reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, persistent organic pollutants and other harmful chemicals linked with the production, transportation, consumption and disposal of plastic bags; and * Reversing the “plasticization" of our lifestyle with the increased promotion and adoption of eco-friendly and non-toxic alternatives. Citing data from the Ocean Conservancy’s 2010 annual report entitled “Trash Travels," the organizers reveal that plastic bags rank first as the most littered items in Philippine seas at 300,715 pieces, followed by food wrappers and containers at 110,930, straws and stirrers 40,280, paper bags 32,026 and clothing and shoes 30,223. A discards survey conducted in 2006 by the EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace found synthetic plastic materials comprising 76 percent of the floating trash in Manila Bay, with plastic bags constituting 51 percent. — LBG, GMANews.TV
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