We all know deep inside that we should’ve addressed this issue long ago, but its already 2023 and most Negrenses are still highly dependent on single use plastics.
Ninety-nine percent of Negrenses neither use nor own reusable bags when they go grocery shopping or to the marketplace because the stores continue to provide the plastic packaging since the local government units do not enforce any law or ordinance that either discourages or prohibits plastic usage.
When we go to a carinderia to order food to go, the rice and each viand is packed in separate plastic bags, which then goes into a bigger plastic sando bag, for the convenience of the customer. For those who do this every day, that’s 3 pieces of single use plastic packaging per person per meal, assuming that the customer uses their own metal utensils. If they require a plastic spoon and fork, that’s another two pieces of single use plastic to add to the trash bin after eating.
I know how much plastic a meal at a carinderia consumes because I used to do that every day, and from the sando bags alone, I was able to fill a vacant office desk drawer. I don’t know if we ended up recycling those plastic bags, but since they were by definition, single use plastics, they weren’t ultimately very reuseful. At least we tried to keep them from the garbage bin for a couple of weeks, until the drawer was filled with plastic trash that we were forced to either throw out or pass on to somebody else who thinks they can reuse it. The plastic bags used for the viands and rice, that were oily and/or sticky with food waste, went into the trash of course.
Just looking at how a simple carinderia and its customers consumes single use plastics, it is easy to believe that the Philippines has been ranked top 3 in the world when it comes to plastic waste.
The main reason for this high ranking in terms of plastic waste is because our government hasn’t done anything about it, which means that the people who would be terribly inconvenienced by having a plastic-free lifestyle forced upon them, have no reason to change their ways, even if it is good for the planet.
I know I’m guilty of this because I wouldn’t have the carinderia story to tell if I weren’t. Additionally, we all know that there are many of us who already have eco or foldable bags at the ready at home, but we don’t bring them with us when we go shopping or to the market because we don’t need to (yet). I know I have some at home, but we have probably forgotten where they are kept because of the lack of use since there is no requirement anyway.
I remember a few years ago, when the Bacolod City government then launched a crackdown on plastic bags, particularly in hotels and restaurants, which made it very difficult to ask for doggie bags. The intention and execution was there, but it wasn’t somehow sustained and after a couple of months, was forgotten, and everyone went back to stocking up and expecting plastic bags again. I don’t know why that particular attempt failed, aside from our signature ningas cogon mentality, but I reckon that the city officials who were supposed to enforce that ordinance were probably fans of doggie bags themselves, and they couldn’t stomach seeing so much food going to waste because plastic bags weren’t allowed.
If you come to think of it, the problem is either spotty enforcement, lack of political will, or no alternatives to the ubiquitous plastic bags were provided. If the LGU had been stricter and more consistent, we would’ve been forced to adapt and find the alternative. But, before that could happen, the attempt fizzled out and we went back to our merrily polluting ways.
There was also a time when grocery stores resorted to brown paper bags for a while, probably because of an LGU initiative, but as usual, that fizzled out after a couple of weeks too.
Our problem is that we are not preparing or bracing ourselves for a plastic-free lifestyle because we are expecting our government officials to lose heart after a few weeks of meaning well and facing the backlash from those who were inconvenienced by the disappearance of this convenient but highly polluting invention from their lives.
But if you come to think of it, action is long overdue and we have to brace ourselves to adapt. Bringing foldable ecobags must be normalized, if we don’t want to pay for brand new ecobags every time we go shopping. For carinderia takeout, they will have to either shift to paper/cardboard containers, or develop a lunchbox system where take out customers can bring their own plates/containers. That shouldn’t be so hard to do. If Filipino ingenuity can successfully jerry-rig the iconic jeepney from surplus parts of a war-torn country, we should be able to deal with not having to use single use plastics.*
