A fashionable and reusable tote is the new IT bag

One million bags per minute, or up to one trillion plastic bags each year. That’s the global consumption of plastic bags, according to the environmental group WWF.

If you're wondering how much of that you're responsible for, try a simple experiment. For one month, don't say no to plastic. Every time someone hands you a plastic bag, keep it and then count how many bags you got at the end of the month.

Bebet Gozun, president of Earth Day Network Philippines, Inc. (EDNPI), shared a friend's experience: her household of eight accumulated 6,000 bags in just one month. “Talagang walang pakundangan yung paggamit natin," said Gozon.

Most of these plastic bags end up clogging Metro Manila's drainage system, one of the culprits in last year's infamous Ondoy floods, which took hundreds of lives. One year later, EDNPI together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has launched the reusable bag campaign “PagbaBAG KO, Pagbabago!" to dramatize the need to change the growing throwaway habit of Pinoys.

The campaign is an alternative greening method for consumers to help reduce waste and pollution, which has reached impossibly high levels. An EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace survey of Manila Bay in 2006 showed that 76% of the garbage collected from the bay was plastic, with single-use disposable bags accounting for 51% of the trash.

DENR Secretary Ramon Paje says the effect of plastic, no matter how small, is huge. "Imagine a sansrival. For every two feet of garbage in a landfill in Cabuyao, there is a layer of plastic. When trucks pass over, the mountain doesn't move! The landfill there is almost 30 percent plastic," he said during the launching.

"PagbaBAG KO, Pagbabago!" aims to create a sustainable change in consumer beliefs and attitudes through a gradual shift in behavior. Major malls and supermarkets have pledged to work together, implementing Reusable Bag Day once a week. Consumers who bring their own reusable bags will enjoy incentives like discounts and rebates. Conversely, the use of plastic bags will come at an extra cost.

While a few supermarkets have made this a practice this for years, some consumers are very difficult to sway. Some make it a point to avoid the supermarket on reusable bag day, while others even get upset when they find out they have to pay for a plastic bag.

Miss Earth Foundation executive director Catherine Untalan said that when she worked as a bagger, she encountered many irate customers. Still, she tried her best to be patient and explain the campaign to them.


It really takes time, explained Gozon. "Hindi ganun kadaling baguhin ang attitude at values which are actually what drive consumers. To move for sustainable development, we really have to change our behavior. Just as we ask the producers to produce products and offer services in a sustainable manner, we should also strive for sustainable consumption."

The good news is that there are now over a million shoppers who consistently bring their reusable bags. And they need not be boring, either.

The 2009 Miss Earth winners modeled four stylish designs in a mini-fashion show. As more and more people realize the difference reusable bags makes, the market is catching on and creating more interesting designs for the earth-friendly carrier.

If do-it-yourself is more your style, decorating your own reusable tote bag is simple, and could be a good rainy day project. You can tie-dye your bag, sew old buttons, practice some cross-stitch – there are loads of ideas you can cook up for a unique design.

But whatever your reusable bag looks like, carry it with pride. You're helping save roughly 293.7 trillion bags in a lifetime. – YA, GMANews.TV