Everyone should know this by now: plastic is non-biodegradable, which means that they remain intact even years after they’re disposed. A now-viral Facebook post by a Filipino netizen shows this fact — and it does hit home.
An environmental planner by the name of Rory Caguimbal posted on his Facebook account late last week to show some of the plastic wrappers that he and his colleague spotted at an undisclosed landfill.
The wrappers Caguimbal found looked really old. He believes some of them even date back to the 1990s. His post created such an impact among netizens that it has been shared more than 15,000 times since it was posted.
In an e-mail message he sent to Coconuts Manila, Caguimbal refused to divulge where the landfill was located but said it was somewhere in Luzon. He was there to do a Waste Amount Characterization Study or WACS, where he has to estimate the amount, density, and composition of waste in the area.
He said his goal in writing the viral post was simply to share the conflicting emotions he felt when he saw the wrappers of snacks he remembers from his childhood.
He wrote: “When I made the post, I simply wanted to share to my friends how happy (and sad at the same time) I was when I saw those packaging. I also want to show them that, ‘Hey, this is the reality. Plastics do not decompose easily.'”
Caguimbal added: “But you know, at the back of my mind (while taking the picture), I kind of wish that this post will reach many people — and it did!”
He wants the post to help people to understand the impact of plastics on the environment.
“I hope that this would be another eye-opener to people because, although we were thought (sic) in schools that plastics do not decompose easily, showing them [like] pieces of evidence will pique their attention,” he said.
And it looks like he did. Many of the netizens reacted with sadness to the post. A few also shared their opinions, such as Jose Herrera who said: “Some municipalities are already regulating the use of plastics, from supermarkets to wet markets. But in some, they still don’t. This is so sad.”
Richard de los Santos wrote: “This is proof that plastics will remain even after we have died. [This is] sad.”
One netizen said however said that banning plastics is not the answer. Bobby Dimayuga wrote that the solution is “proper disposal.” He asked: “If we use alternative material, is it acceptable to throw anywhere because it’s biodegradable and not plastic?”
But Dimayuga may have missed the fact that Caguimbal found the plastics in a closed landfill — which is where trash is supposed to really end up.
In his e-mail message, Caguimbal shared a few ideas on how people can reduce their reliance on plastics. Here are three:
- “Refuse. If you think you really don’t need that stuff, do not buy it.”
- “Reuse plastics to extend its use. Some can really be upcycled.”
- “When buying goods and products, especially if it is only of a small number, do not put them inside a plastic bag.”
Do you have other ideas on how people can minimize their use of plastics? Leave a comment below or tweet to @CoconutsManila.
Reader Interactions