Plastic Sub

Senator Pia Cayetano wants us to think about plastic. Not those ubiquitous credit cards, but about those odious plastic bags.Definitely, she agrees they’re deleterious to the environment, but what’s the solution to replacing them? Is it a total ban on plastic, and wholesale replacement with paper?But, she poses the query, what happens to the trees that are cut down to make paper bags?Aren’t we also impacting the environment that way?

A few cities and municipalities in Metro Manila have seen fit to ban the use of plastic bags by retailers and groceries.I yahooed when the news came out, and even wrote here that finally, some cities seemed to be on the road to enlightenment.We were on the verge of an environmental breakthrough, and I hoped that enough momentum would be achieved by this movement.Eventually, hopefully, all shoppers in all our cities would have to bring their own carriers, or the supermarkets would have to provide paper bags, and we would be able to help all those poor critters who end up suffocating within our plastic trash or ingesting them and dying horrible deaths. (Bit of a digression, I still remember that movie ‘Happy Feet’ and how one of its main characters had to bear that six-pack plastic film as a costumey ruffle, and how powerful that implicit environmental message was.)

So, the movement did gain some more followers, and the plastic ban was also implemented by some malls of the Ayala group.Not totally, though, as the ban is only in place on certain days.So mall outlets are prohibited from dispensing plastic on those days, and must look for alternatives.That means ordering expensive paper bags not just by the hundreds, but if they are to be cost-efficient, by the thousands, for the bags that will only need to be deployed one day a week. 

But the problem is, these establishments will naturally seek the cheapest alternative, and what’s the cheapest? Single-use paper bags.These paper bags are handed over to the customer, customer brings his groceries home, customer throws the paper bag.End of story.And of tree.

Have we then saved the environment that way, or have we harmed it some other way?Did we in fact actually worsen the rate of forest denudation?These are the questions posed by the Senator, and they’re good questions to ask.It makes us realize that the solution isn’t a complete solution, that hand in hand with a ban must come a great substitute for what’s been banned. 

She also stresses that information campaigns must be waged with more ferocity and vigor, so that our consciousness is hammered by the message we seem to keep forgetting. Or not prioritizing.And so that our consciences are pricked, before we end up becoming pricks ourselves. (That lame line was mine, not hers.)

Would it be better to force retailers to never have bags at all, and consumers must either remember to always bring their own? Or else they must carry the merchandise home with their bare hands?Or should we allow plastic bags, provided they’re multi-use that can be recycled over many shopping days?Or should we let consumers pay a steep fee to be able to buy and use plastic bags?(That’s what some groceries in Hong Kong implemented.)

The day for Earth Hour draws nearer, and again, we are encouraged to save electricity for at least an hour at the appointed time.It’s an auspicious time to reflect on these issues (and hopefully, to really pay attention).I remember celebrating Earth Hour Plus in Shangri-la Mactan, and the point that year was to save on electricity for one hour, plus!Meaning not just one hour, but whatever time we could spare for this exercise.But Shangri-la had a countdown on the 60th minute, and lo and behold, as soon as the last second was counted, the lights blinked on, and music started blaring. Whoopee! So much for the Plus.

Well, it’s another year.Hopefully, as we reflect on these questions posed by the Senator, there will be plusses to add to our tally.