The truth about coastal clean-ups
The Philippines ranked first among the countries that joined in international coastal clean-up drives, according to the Ocean Conservancy Report in 2018.
Over 200,000 volunteers from the country collected more than 230,000 kilograms of wastes from beaches and waterways or equivalent to over 1,200 kilometers of trash.
In 2017, nearly one million food wrappers were found in our shorelines, making it the most common coastal trash in the country today, while other common items found include plastic grocery bags, straws, stirrers, and takeaway containers.
Waste management remains a huge challenge in the country, especially in urban areas like Metro Manila. Mounds of trash wash up on our shores after every typhoon, while plastics and other nonbiodegradable wastes block our drainage systems that cause deadly flashfloods.
TINY TRASH, BIG IMPACT
Convenient, low cost and durable, plastics are a wonder material introduced in the 20th century. Despite its benefits, however, plastics take centuries to rot and they remain in our environment for much longer than their intended use.
An endangered pawikan or a sea turtle was recently found dead in Quezon province with plastic garbage lodged inside its throat. The same report by the Ocean Conservancy showed that plastic pollution in our marine ecosystem not only choke and entangle sea life, but also causes various diseases among coral reefs.
Larger items break apart into tiny bits and pieces called microplastics until they become small enough for many wildlife to mistake them for food. Often colorful and tempting, many marine and bird species mistake plastic for food and end up starving to death with a fake full stomach.
It is with increasing concern that many of the fish that we now eat may also contain plastics and its toxins.
HOW DO COASTAL CLEAN-UPS HELP?
Various programs are carried out by the government and other civil society groups to help curb the impact of our waste problem.
But with tons of garbage polluting our oceans, do coastal clean-ups by individuals really make a difference?
At the root of the waste problem is the lack of public awareness. A coastal clean-up drive exposes the participant to how the trash we dispose of everyday impact the ocean we share together, igniting consciousness and inspiring changes in behavior (i.e. consumption, segregation, etc.).
For instance, the sight of hundreds of plastic straws along the shores would hopefully encourage the use of other alternatives, or the practice of “refuse.” Collecting different generations of shampoo sachets would hopefully push individuals to buy bigger bottles to reduce waste, while recording unusual and big items like luggage or foam mattresses brings the importance of reusing and recycling.
Coastal clean-up drives intend to bring people closer to the waste problem in order to stem it at the source. More than collecting trash that litter our coastlines, it aspires to change personal habits.
By influencing the use of less disposables by consumers, demand for them will also drop and prompt industries to find alternatives. Change starts with the individual and small continued acts can create a ripple effect.