Negros, Maria Venus B.

2011-24988

January 30, 2014

Mandaluyong to Implement Total Ban on Plastic Bags in 2014

The use and sale of all plastic bagsincluding biodegradable onesand styrofoam packaging will be prohibited in Mandaluyong City in 2014. Ordinance 523, Series of 2013, mandates that the use of plastic bags and styrofoam containers in Mandaluyong will be completely phased out by April 20, 2014. The ban will cover all kinds of styrofoam and plastic bags as the ordinances definition of plastic bags refers to carry-all bags such as but not limited to plastic labo (thin, translucent bag without handles), sando bags (white bags with handles), basura (garbage) bags and handled plastic bags used by merchants in all business and commercial establishments. Also banned are biodegradable plastic bags or those using materials of high density biomate BM 205 as additive. Penalties for businesses found using these types of packaging include a fine ranging from P500 to P5,000 and the revocation of licenses and permits or imprisonment of one to three months. In imposing the ban, the city council noted that globally, plastic bags are part of an environmental crisis, citing figures from the United Nations Environment Programme that states that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean. Locally, plastic bags and styrofoam are one of the major causes of the clogging of our canals and creeks that contribute largely to floods and flashfloods during heavy rains, the ordinance read.1

Nathaniel R. Melican. The Daily Inquirer. 2013. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/546977/mandaluyongto-implement-total-ban-on-plastic-bags-in-2014#ixzz2rqyzHSbY

Today, industries around the world produce far more plastic waste than can be recovered or recycled. Thus, pollutes even the farthest oceans and places of the world. Disposable plastic items are so common that its easy to not notice them, but theyre everywhere from plastic bottles to plastic straws, lids, bags, cups, utensils, plates and packaging it surrounds us. Im sure we are fully aware of what these wastes do to us and our environment, but we still do not do anything about it. Human beings are stupid; they only act when it is already too late. How many more Yolandas are we going to wait before people will learn and realize that they need to be more sensitive and caring to the environment? I believe that Mother Earth can heal herself. But at the rate on how much pollution were causing, it will come to a point that Mother Earth will not be able to sustain life. We may not be aware of it now, but this plastic pollution is entering our food chain, getting into our food, potentially exposing us to toxic chemicals. Lets all hope that this plastic ban in Mandaluyong will be the stepping stone to a cleaner and healthier Philippines and the whole world. Lastly, I just want to state how ironic it is that we all need to consume to live but by that, we are gradually killing ourselves. Consuming is something we could never avoid. It is and will always be in the system of the living. Now what should we do? Should we continue consuming or should we stop living at all?