Looking to do some good this week? We’ve got just the thing for you.
The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) urged the public yesterday to join them in their solid waste management program by donating used polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.
These bottles will be made into floating trash barriers, which will be used to collect the rubbish floating on the Pasig River.
During a phone interview with Coconuts Manila, the executive director of the PRRC, Jose Antonio E. Goitia, said about 300 to 400 bottles are needed to create a single trash barrier.
In the past, Goitia said they used bamboo trash traps, but these proved ineffective especially during the rainy season. “This one will benefit us [Manila residents] and the environment,” he says about the floating trash barriers.
The barriers will block the litter so it’ll be easier to collect, Goitia added. The PRRC will first test the barriers this July in different tributaries of Pasig River such as Estero de Binondo, Estero de la Reina, Estero de Paco, Estero de San Miguel, and Estero de Pandacan, among others.
If all goes well, they’ll start testing the barriers on Pasig River, but PRRC will need all the help–and bottles–that they can get.
Interested parties can drop their bottles off at the PRRC booth of the Kabisig Government Expo and Trade Center at the Trinoma Activity Center from June 19–21. The PRRC is specifically looking for empty 1.5-liter, 1.75-liter, and 2-liter bottles.
Donors can get different limited edition PRRC advocacy items depending on the number of bottles that they donate. One PET bottle is equivalent to a foldable fan or pen, two bottles are good for a lanyard, and three is equivalent to a cap.
If you don’t want to do it for the merch, you can always do it for Mother Earth.
Pasig River dumps over 63,700 tons of plastic every year into the ocean, according to GMA News. The 25-kilometer long river starts from the Laguna de Bay then flows into the Manila Bay. It used to be an important transport route before it was damaged by pollution.
The PRRC is a government organization mandated to revive the Pasig River System to its pristine condition for transport, recreation, and tourism.
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