Reusable Bag Day

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje has highlighted the sad fact that most of our bodies of water are no longer fit for human activity. Of course, he didn’t really need to say it, one need only visit the nearest river to see how bad the situation is. Of course, we all know much of the garbage that ends up in our waterways are made of plastic.

In an effort to reverse the pollution that has overrun our bodies of water, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and various malls and supermarkets have started a campaign that will hopefully encourage consumers to cut down on their use of plastic bags.

(source: www.mb.com)

Wednesday is ‘Reusable Bag Day’

By ELLALYN B. DE VERA

September 28, 2010, 6:55pm

MANILA, Philippines — Don’t forget to bring a reusable bag when you shop because this Wednesday is the start of the observation of “Reusable Bag Day” where no more free plastic bags will be given to customers.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed during a reusable bag campaign titled PagbaBAG Ko, PagbaBAGo! held at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in Quezon City last September 23 to observe “Reusable Bag Day” every Wednesday.

The agreement specified that all stakeholder-supermarkets should observe “Reusable Bag Day” every Wednesday from the time of the campaign launch.

The MoU was signed by the DENR, National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), Earth Day Network Philippines (EDNP), Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association (PAGASA), Philippine Retailers Association (PRA), and supermarkets, namely Ayala Malls, Ever Malls, Hi-Top Supermarket, Isetann Malls, Makro, Robinsons Supermart, Savemore, SM Hypermart, and SM Supermarkets.

They agreed that there will be no more free plastics given every Reusable Bag Day.

It also cited the granting of incentives for use of reusable bags in supermarkets to encourage change in the behavior of consumers, but this shall be left to the discretion of the management of the different participating supermarkets.

There’s no question that this is a good start. However, it would be better if this is done everyday. That would have a bigger impact and would more likely move people to turn to reusable bags or even the bayong.

This initiative should evolve into a bigger campaign against non-biodegradable packaging in general. Sachets are particularly notorious for finding their way into creeks and rivers.