Really Rubbish Campaign

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WILDLIFE PLAGUED BY PLASTIC BAGS

Monday 29 June

It is estimated that each year, a staggering 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide – or in other words over a million plastic bags are used each minute!

 

Most end up either in landfills or bodies of water where hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine life die yearly from eating discarded plastic bags often mistaken for food.

 

We are grateful to the Philippines arm of The World Wide Fund for Nature for the following information highlighting how this terrible problem impacts in reality.

 

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines) supports establishments and individuals in their efforts to fight the massive over-consumption of deadly plastics and to promote the use of natural and sustainable materials to usher in a greener future.

 

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

 

Known to but a few, a gargantuan island of trash floats on the Pacific Ocean. It has been dubbed the Great Pacific Garden Patch. Far from a garden of greens and flowers, it is an island made up of plastic bags, food wrappers, sachets, bottles and assorted floating debris which have drifted from distant land-based sources.

 

Each year fishermen find millions of bottle caps, plastic bags, cigarette butts and assorted plastics within the stomachs of marine animals. These are often lethal and more deaths are being reported yearly.

 

But sea creatures are not the only ones which derive life from these waters – people’s health, food and protection greatly depend on them. Over 450 million people worldwide live within 60 kilometres of coral reefs and derive food and income from the sea. As an archipelagic country, 40 million Filipinos depend on seafood as a primary source of protein.

 

Typically made from polyethylene, which is derived from natural gas and petroleum, plastic bags don’t biodegrade – they photo-degrade and break down into smaller and more toxic particles on a molecular level to contaminate both water and soil. The danger is real and alarming: in a planet where everything is connected in very fundamental ways, these chemicals enter the food system to eventually poison the human body.

 

One Less Plastic Bag

 

Whether from upscale department stores or street stalls – plastic bottles, shampoo sachets, coffee cups, plastic bags and other items of convenience have short usage spans. It begins from factory to vendor, to consumer, to dumpster and eventually to bodies of water where food and livelihood are derived. Make no mistake: plastics are lethal to the environment.

 

So what can be done? WWF believes that reducing the use of plastics is something everyone should do. Bring a reusable shopping bag at all times and keep it neatly tucked within your bag. Be more aware as a consumer and demand that corporations provide clients with alternatives such as biodegradable paper bags. In the end, it becomes a matter of choice.

 

Two Earths by 2030

 

The world’s global footprint now exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate by 30%. At this rate, we will need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our current lifestyles by mid-2030. Making reusable and sustainable items a way of life is a very positive step towards a planet-friendly existence.

 

 

Notes

WWF is the world’s largest and most respected conservation organization. Its solutions-based programs place strong emphasis on the conservation of marine species and habitats, climate change mitigation, energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. WWF also engages corporations to reduce their environmental impacts and integrate sustainability measures into their core business processes. WWF’s mission is to work towards a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

 

Visit www.wwf.org.ph/howhelp.php 

 

 

 

 

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