No plastics, please

MANILA, Philippines - With all the damages caused by typhoon, our people continue to suffer from the effects of the floods caused by wanton deforestation and pollution of our environment.

Our people continue to suffer from the floods and the mud. To add to this we are now suffering from the piles of plastic trash that will fill our land and water with toxic waste. Plastics are very dangerous and will destroy our environment and our people will suffer more.

We commend our people for their Bayanihan spirit. We urge all those who helped to use eco-friendly packaging for relief goods. We can use baskets, rice bags, abaca baskets and other materials that are biodegradable and can be used again and again.

May we request the government agencies, local government units (LGUs) and all concerned to pick up all the plastic waste to recycle and reuse them. They must have a trash recyclable operation as part of the relief operations. They must not be allowed to pile up and cause toxic pollution in our water and our land.

In this regard for more information on alternatives to plastics kindly search Google Alternatives to plastics falling under reusable, recycled and degradable.

In some countries they have banned the use of plastics for relief due to the damage done to the environment.

ANTONIO M. CLAPAROLS

President, Ecological Society of the Philippines