PLASTIC waste has become a crisis. This is what the recent World Environment Day wanted people to understand and do something about. We are not helpless, that’s for sure.
Plastic waste prevention and the genuine enforcement of best practices in ecological solid waste management sans incineration and open burning is the way to go to tackle the plastic scourge that has now become a global malady. We can reduce the amount of plastic garbage dumped into the oceans by taking decisive measures at various levels from voluntary lifestyle option as responsible consumers to mandatory legislation banning single-use plastic bags.
For example, consumers should bring reusable bags for their purchases to reduce the volume of plastics burned in dumpsites or thrown in waterways eventually ending up and polluting our rivers and seas, the group suggested. Commercial establishments like shopping centers should initiate mall-wide programs to encourage retail shops, restaurants and other tenants to offer incentives for customers who will bring their own reusable containers and halt the practice of handing out free plastic or paper bags.
Public and private schools could restrict the use of plastic bags, as well as other non-essential plastic products such as drinking straws, inside the school premises. Local government units (LGUs) with existing plastic bag bans could strengthen the implementation of existing regulations, while those lagging behind should quickly adopt effective ordinances, the group pointed out.
It’s high time, too, for Congress to enact a comprehensive legislation that will ban single-use plastic bags to expand and support the initiatives of the local authorities to deal with the plastic mess. All LGUs also need to fully enforce the waste prevention and reduction provisions of Republic Act 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
UNEA, or the United Nations Environmental Assembly, in 2016 adopted a resolution on marine plastic litter and microplastics “stressing that prevention and environmentally sound management of waste is key to long-term success in combating marine pollution” and “calling on member states to establish and implement necessary policies, regulatory frameworks and measures consistent with the waste hierarchy.”
Yes, we can kick the plastic bag habit for a trash-free land and marine environment. It’s not too late.
