As in previous years, tons of garbage were collected from shores across the archipelago over the weekend as the country joined global events marking the inaugural World Cleanup Day and International Coastal Cleanup Day. The United Nations Human Settlements Program or UN-Habitat facilitates the observance of World Cleanup Day.
For the Sept. 20 launch of World Cleanup Day 2024, Norway was chosen as the venue to focus on the adoption of sustainable practices to protect the arctic regions. The theme of the inaugural event was “Arctic Cities and Marine Litter.” Global warming is dramatically visible in these regions, with shrinking glaciers, icebergs and snow caps contributing to rising sea levels.
International Coastal Cleanup Day, as the name implies, is focused on coastal communities, but the concerns raised in World Cleanup Day also apply. UN-Habitat points out that poor waste management “is intrinsically linked to the triple planetary crisis: pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change.” UN-Habitat also warns that the world “is greatly accelerating an accumulation of waste and pollution in all ecosystems and threatening ecosystems’ balances and health.”
It’s good to see the focus on poor waste management instead of merely plastics pollution, since in many countries including the Philippines where pollution is a serious problem, all sorts of garbage are discarded indiscriminately. Single-use plastic bags and similar items are in fact bought by companies from garbage sorters for recycling into construction materials such as pipes. Bans imposed willy-nilly on the use of plastic bags led to the use of double-layer bags made of paper, which are sourced from trees. Paper bags are a pain to carry for commuters, and even double layers get torn within five minutes of being used to contain frozen items.
These torn paper bags along with all types of garbage – cartons, Styrofoam containers, tin cans, cigarette butts, aluminum foil, metals, wooden items, medical and chemical waste – all end up in the streets and oceans. The emphasis must be on proper waste management even in informal settlements, the proper enforcement of anti-pollution laws, and the promotion of a sea change in the waste disposal habits of the population.
It’s good to have special days marking global and coastal cleanups. It’s even better to promote a mindset that values a clean environment all year round.