This writer remember sometime in 2001, there was a local government official, an engineer by profession who took pride in informing his constituents during the campaign that he invented the “sachet” that was being used by a large multinational company in packaging. His spiel consisted of telling the people, his discovery made products more affordable to the masses and that is why he is qualified to be the mayor. He told them that he invented it because he cared for the poor.
Fast forward to September 29, 2009, at the height of the floods brought about by Tropical Storm Ondoy, news footages of the pumping stations being clogged by garbage filled the airwaves. The garbage ranged from sofas to plastic bags. But notable were tons of plastic sachets representing all the products of multinationals being sold at sari-sari stores and consumed by millions of people everyday.
Rivers, streams and other tributaries also carry these trash all the way to the sea. During July 16, 2016, Zero Waste Europe’s beach cleanup at Freedom Island collected tons of used sachet containers.
These non-biodegradable packagings literally covered the beach of Freedom Island and even if these were thrown from the sewers of Metro Manila, these were able to reach as far as Batangas Bay hundreds of kilometres from Manila Bay, carried by the currents.
These severely affect the environment along these coastlines. They degrade marine life and eventually pollute the oceans of the world. This is not only happening in the Philippines but also throughout Asia. This has now reached alarming proportions since the populations of Asia are still growing and notably, the poorer segments of the population tend to buy such packets of these products every day.
Zero Waste groups have already presented alternatives to these multinationals that are also affordable and recyclable. The response was a big “NO”.
Given that cleaning up the environment will lead to a healthier population and even the practical result of clearing drainages and waterways, the production of such packaging continues.
There must be an advocacy intensification with these multinational companies as the targets. Since these same products and sachets are also sold in the 1st World countries where these multinationals originate, it only means that it can also be done here in the Philippines.
Source: Readings from : https://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/2016/07/the-curse-of-sachets-in-asia-why-western-companies-should-be-held-accountable/
Fast forward to September 29, 2009, at the height of the floods brought about by Tropical Storm Ondoy, news footages of the pumping stations being clogged by garbage filled the airwaves. The garbage ranged from sofas to plastic bags. But notable were tons of plastic sachets representing all the products of multinationals being sold at sari-sari stores and consumed by millions of people everyday.
Rivers, streams and other tributaries also carry these trash all the way to the sea. During July 16, 2016, Zero Waste Europe’s beach cleanup at Freedom Island collected tons of used sachet containers.
These non-biodegradable packagings literally covered the beach of Freedom Island and even if these were thrown from the sewers of Metro Manila, these were able to reach as far as Batangas Bay hundreds of kilometres from Manila Bay, carried by the currents.
These severely affect the environment along these coastlines. They degrade marine life and eventually pollute the oceans of the world. This is not only happening in the Philippines but also throughout Asia. This has now reached alarming proportions since the populations of Asia are still growing and notably, the poorer segments of the population tend to buy such packets of these products every day.
Zero Waste groups have already presented alternatives to these multinationals that are also affordable and recyclable. The response was a big “NO”.
Given that cleaning up the environment will lead to a healthier population and even the practical result of clearing drainages and waterways, the production of such packaging continues.
There must be an advocacy intensification with these multinational companies as the targets. Since these same products and sachets are also sold in the 1st World countries where these multinationals originate, it only means that it can also be done here in the Philippines.
Source: Readings from : https://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/2016/07/the-curse-of-sachets-in-asia-why-western-companies-should-be-held-accountable/
