ILOILO City – Up to five trillion plastic bags are used every year all over the world, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
That equates to using nearly 10 million plastic bags every minute. And worse, each of these plastic bags would take 1,000 years to decompose.
This matter has been alarming pro-environment groups since the world became dependent on plastic.
This year, UNEP wants to heighten the awareness on the ill effects of irresponsible plastic use.
On June 5, people all over the globe celebrated the annual World Environment Day with the theme, “Beat Plastic Pollution: If you can’t reuse, refuse it!”
Plastics do not biodegrade. They only break down into smaller toxic parts in a process called photodegredation. The smaller plastic pieces – microplastics (less than five millimeters long) – usually end up in the oceans.
Greenpeace reported that of the 260 million tons of plastics that world produces annually, about 10 percent goes to the ocean, putting the marine biodiversity in danger.
Marine animals, like fishes, eat these small bits of plastics for they mistake it as food.
In Iloilo City, a total of 1.5 tons (1,360 kilograms) of low-density polyethylene (LDP), or more commonly known as plastic bags, were collected from October 2017 to March 2018, data from city hall’s General Services Office revealed.
“Our use of plastic has become one of the biggest challenges of our time. Plastics have been found in stomachs of animals. Microplastics end up in the water we drink,” said Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 6 director Jim O Sampulna. “We are now encouraging everyone to use plastics safely and be mindful of how we discard it. Let us be vigilant in the ways we manage our solid wastes.”
DENR Region 6 has slated this month various activities that would promote environmental concern among people in Western Visayas, where the famed Boracay Island is located.
Boracay is still under a half-year rehabilitation due to its environmental degradation.
“We are the culprit and we are also the solution. If we work together and do our part in reducing our plastic usage, yes, we can beat plastic pollution!” stressed Sampulna./PN
