Plastic pollution in the philippines

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest problems faced by the philippines. In a country such as the
Philippines where most of the population is below the poverty line, they prefer to buy cheap
products in small quantities. Since most household necessities like detergent, vegetables etc are
packed in plastic containers and bags it only adds to the problem. Many people refuse to buy and
use cloth bags because of how much more expensive they are compared to plastic bags. The
country’s citizens are not well informed about how serious this issue is and how badly it is
impacting their lives.

In a youtube video by Reuters they interview a shop owner who states that even though she sells
regular sized shampoo bottles which cost $2 most of her customers buy the palm sized packet
because it costs only 1/4th of the price of the
regular sized bottle. All these packets are
made using plastic that cannot be reused again
and this ends up in the landfill or the “Plastic
River”. The “plastic river” as it is known
today almost acts like a highway for the
plastic waste in the Philippines as it directly
delivers it to the ocean. Organizations trying
to work to solve this problem are told this
exact statement when talking about the plastic
river, this really gives us an insight into the
issue.

Most of the plastic waste ends up near the

oceans, bays and other freshwater biomes.
Mindla beach was one of the most beautiful
beaches in the philippines, it is now covered in
plastic.manila bay in which people would
often swim is now covered with plastic, in fact
the water is floating on top of the plastic.
Dumping plastic in beaches and other water
bodies has almost become a norm for the kids
there, they are not aware of how it is
impacting the environment because the adults
themselves don’t know about these effects.
With the increase in the amount of plastics near water bodies the amount of microplastics
polluting the water increased too.

The Philippines is already a huge consumer of plastic items and struggles to deal with its own
plastic waste but imagine if other, more developed countries like the United States, China, India,
Malaysia and many other countries also start dumping plastic in their oceans? Not only is it
adding to the problem but these countries
which are dumping plastic in the Philippines
don’t realize that the same plastic that they
dumped is eventually going to make its way
back to us.

These plastics are dumped near seas and other

aquatic biomes break down into microplastics.
Small fishes eat these microplastics and big
fishes eat them, these big fishes are caught by
humans for consumption and eventually make
it into our stomach. It isn’t just fishes, all
animals consume water which means that any
and all of them can have microplastics in
them. If we consume too much of these
microplastics we can develop multiple
diseases as well as affect the endocrine and
reproductive system.

Recently though, people in the Philippines have been trying to change their ways and educate
people about plastic pollution. On Minda island a group of women have been going door to door
to educate people about sorting out their waste, they tell people about how to separate their
waste, why it is important and tell them what to do with their plastic waste. An organization
called ‘Save Philippines Sea’ has been working to save the Philippines' oceans. They have
organized many programs like the ‘Shark Shelter Project’, ‘ Earthducation’ and the ‘Sea Camp’.
They work to educate people and clean the Philippines waters. In the largest city in the
Philippines, Quezon City they have implemented ways to reduce plastic use. Instead of selling
sashes of shampoo they encourage shoppers to bring reusable containers and buy 1 pump of
shampoo for around the same amount as the price of the sashes.

Such small steps to reduce plastic pollution are the ones that can make a huge change in the long
run. It seems that more and more people are taking action against plastic pollution. This could be
the start of how the Philippines clears its waters and restore the beauty that people say is worth
dying for.
Citations

---. “Overcoming Plastic Pollution in the Philippines’ Largest City.” YouTube, 31 Oct. 2023,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOi2RgdhpsE.

FRANCE 24 English. “The Philippines’ Plastic Problem: Waterways Polluted by Single-use

Packaging • FRANCE 24 English.” YouTube, 17 Nov. 2023,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI0g89izOfU.

“The Plastic Problem in the Philippines We Need to Solve.” YouTube, 7 Sept. 2021,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdHY9s5Pi7g.

Reuters. “How a Philippines Plastic Waste Crisis Spiraled.” YouTube, 22 June 2022,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O2e17baGe4.

Balota, Mona Sur Junu Shrestha, Agnes, et al. “Addressing the Plastic Pollution Crisis in the
Philippines: New Momentum.” World Bank Blogs, 2 Oct. 2023,
blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/addressing-plastic-pollution-crisis-philippines-new-moment
um.