On my way home after work, I saw a driver tossed an empty disposable cup outside his car. Not very clever but very insulting and at the same time, VERY IRRESPONSIBLE.

The act was not a normal scene to me though I once witnessed the same IRRESPONSIBLE act done by a young girl inside the jeepney. Trash anywhere are very common thing you will observe in urban megalopolis such as Manila. Not an amusing thing considering this leads to spreading of diseases and degrades morale of the masses to see garbage everywhere.

It reflects the culture of the society. The society that has no clear guidelines and reliable system to manage such trash.

The ACT was stuck in my head and for a moment or so, I was dissapointed. Why does society permit this kind of norm? – no one jailed by throwing trash irresponsibly.

In this post, I will try to explain the direct and indirect relationships about USAGE and DEPENDENCY of the many uses of plastic materials by a person or society as a whole.

The system with or without PLASTICS

WHY DO WE NEED TO REDUCE OUR PLASTIC?

onegreenplanet.org expressed that 5 marine animals are dying because of our plastic trash thrown and goes into the oceans.

a) Sea turtles that mistakenly thought plastics are food,

b) Seals and sea lions entangled in fishing nets and lures,

c) Seabirds such as Albatross ingested plastic debris while diving for fish, squids or other food using their beak,

d) Fish like any marine mammal pose greater risk on microscopic plastic debris when water brings in through their gills,

e) Whales and Dolphins that also mistakenly think debris as food source.

WHAT WE CAN DO:

a) Be mindful of not leaving your trash whenever you are. Pick up after your neighbor’s trash if you don’t mind doing that or remind them of their trashes leaving anywhere that might goes in to sewage systems or nearby creeks.

b) Recycle whenever we can. Start doing this in our own home and introduce the idea to our family and close friends.

c) Just Say No, when we can. Let’s start with no to use of straws and start using reusable grocery bags. We started doing this whenever we eat out and do our weekly grocery supplies.

DRINKS

We need to consider using reusable cups rather than throwaway cups. Not because this is resource efficient but has bigger environmental impact than throwing paper cups that requires trees to be cut down or styrofoam that cannot biodegrade in 500 years time.

My family started a little contribution of using reusable cups. Please see picture below. These are my kid’s cups that we intend to use every time we go in drive thru service. Their drinks are poured in these instead of fast-food chain’s throwaway plastic cups. We also bring water in reusable containers instead of buying bottled water.

FOOD

In our house, we shop for groceries weekly. We use recycled grocery bags coming from different suppliers we accumulated and reuse overtime. We also plant and harvested our own calamansi, lettuce, malunggay and siling labuyo supply so we don’t buy them from groceries or market where they are probably packed in styrofoam and plastic.

SHOPPING

a. Cut down your product consumption – avoid non-essential and unhealthy foods such as junk foods. Not only these are bad for our health but these are packed in plastic materials.

b. Buy in bulk – purchase bigger packages. Bulk buying saves gas and time that cuts your trips.

c. Shop for local produce – purchase from local farmers. Local produce have higher nutritional values and taste better. This is very true. Whenever we go visit my mother’s house in Trece Martires, Cavite, we always buy vegetables sold by local farmers that they sell by the roadside. It tastes better and is organic.

d. Choose reusable products. Bring stainless steel utensils to avoid using plastic cutlery.

e. Consider online shopping. This will not save your time and energy but also your resources – money and petrol (when using car).

f. Bring containers when buying meat or fish instead of having it packed in Styrofoam or plastic.

PERSONAL CARE AND CLEANING PRODUCTS

Introduce homemade cleaning products[2] in your own home. This could be baking soda that has mild abrasive action and natural deodorizing properties instead of commercial products. A spray cleaner made of vinegar mixed in water for glass and wall. In this way – you save time and avoid commercial products that is usually produced with harsh chemicals and stored in non-environment friendly or non-recyclable plastic containers.

CLOTHING

Use non-polyester or acrylic fabrics in household linens, curtains, clothing or house décor.
Use hand – me -downs or donate outgrown clothes. We fix torn fabric through our small sewing machine and sew on missing buttons to reuse slightly damaged linens or clothing.

SKILLS NEEDED

a. make your meal from scratch, not using ready mix sauces or ready to eat food.

b. Train your kids to bring their trash home and dispose it appropriately in trash bins.

c. Train your kids to pick up trash and throw it in trash bins when at the beach or out in malls.

d. Walk to nearby destinations instead of taking motorcycle, tricycle or the car.

Let’s not wait until our EARTH cannot sustain oceans of PLASTICS anymore. You and I have our own fair share of responsibility in our society.

Do not wait for the time that you will be in jail for throwing trash irresponsibly because it’s not gonna happen, at least, in the Philippines!

References:
[1] http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/marine-animals-are-dying-because-of-our-plastic-trash/
[2] http://www.hgtv.com/design/decorating/clean-and-organize/9-homemade-cleaning-products