{"id":10253,"date":"2025-05-11T00:40:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T16:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=10253"},"modified":"2025-05-11T00:40:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T16:40:58","slug":"pure-oceans-protecting-our-seas-from-plastic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/pure-oceans-protecting-our-seas-from-plastic\/","title":{"rendered":"Pure Oceans: Protecting our seas from plastic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Gregg Yan<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tingloy, Batangas\u00a0\u2013 This beach is pretty remote, but somehow, it\u2019s still covered in trash.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mixed in with the usual influx of driftwood and seaweed are countless sachets, plastic bottles and toys \u2013 ranging from lightsabers to creepy doll heads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll conduct a closed loop cleanup today,\u201d\u00a0Tak Vergara\u00a0of Pure Oceans explains to gathered volunteers. \u201cYou\u2019ll each be given a mesh sack, to be filled with just one type of trash. Once done, we\u2019ll send our sacks to proper endpoints like junkshops and recyclers. Let\u2019s please move before the morning sun gets too hot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 30 people from the local barangays of Tingloy, plus a contingent from the Philippine Coast Guard, have gathered along the shores of Barangay Marikaban to retrieve sachets, plastic bottles, bottle caps, ropes and anything that doesn\u2019t naturally belong here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like everyone, I\u2019ve been given a red mesh sack and assigned to pick up every plastic or foil sachet I see. I don\u2019t have to look hard \u2013 the little suckers are literally coating every meter of this beach.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Plastic in Our Seas. <\/strong>A plastic cola bottle silently sways along with sea anemones, sponges and seaweeds in the Verde Island Passage. Though home to more shorefish species than any other place on Earth, Tingloy and the Verde Passage have become a garbage trap for plastics flowing out of the nearby province of Batangas. (Mark Carunungan)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Problem of Plastic <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Plastics revolutionized the world: they\u2019re inexpensive, durable, nonporous, lightweight and have a million uses. They\u2019re so tough that most will never be fully broken down by nature. Instead, they\u2019ll photodegrade <\/em>into tiny particles called microplastics. It takes some 400 years \u2013 around 13 human generations \u2013 for this to happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is that too many plastics are designed to be used only once<\/em>. Many of the world\u2019s third-world economies are built on a tingi-tingi<\/em> culture where daily needs are bought on daily wages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Single-use plastics like sachets, sando bags, straws, diapers and bottles account for half the plastics made today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) released in 2019 revealed that Pinoys used 163 million plastic sachets, 48 million sando bags and 45 million labo bags daily. The World Bank in turn estimated that the country generated 2.7 million tons of plastic waste yearly, 20% of which ends up in our oceans. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Never Ending Task. <\/strong>A volunteer fills a mesh sack with plastic and foil sachets. \u201cCoastal cleanups aren\u2019t long-term solutions, but are emergency measures to directly protect the coral reefs that surround our islands. Coral reefs aren\u2019t just great dive sites \u2013 they sustain the livelihoods of people,\u201d explains Pure Oceans Founder Pia Roxas Ocampo. (Gregg Yan \/ Pure Oceans)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Global\u00a0studies about plastics<\/a>\u00a0gauged that humanity has produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic, 75% or 6.3 billion metric tons of which have become plastic waste. There\u2019s so much of it that scientists have proposed this era to officially be termed the\u00a0Anthropocene<\/a>, a slice of time marked on the fossil record not by fossilized bones, but nonbiodegradable plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our oceans can only absorb so much. Sea turtles and whales now mistake translucent plastic bags for jellyfish, while pelagic fish swallow gleaming microplastics mistaken for plankton. Distant islands \u2013 from icebergs in the Arctic to uninhabited sandbars in the Pacific \u2013 are plastic-ridden. Even the most remote part of our planet, the Mariana Trench at over 10 kilometers deep, is littered with yesteryear\u2019s grocery bags. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot keep ignoring the plastic problem, especially here in Tingloy,\u201d says\u00a0Pia Roxas Ocampo, founder of Pure Oceans, a marine conservation social enterprise. The Philippines is part of the Coral Triangle, where marine diversity levels are unparalleled. The Verde Island Passage, which includes Tingloy, has long been hailed as the epicenter for marine shorefish diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Real Handful. <\/strong>Colorful sachets from various corporations line the shores of Marikaban Island in Batangas. Among the best solutions to reduce marine plastics is for companies to deepen extended producer responsibility, properly addressing the disposal of their products even after being bought and used. (Gregg Yan \/ Pure Oceans)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Threat to Marine Biodiversity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since 2018, Pure Oceans has been working with local communities in Tingloy to recover plastic profitably. \u201cIn truth, coastal cleanups like this aren\u2019t long-term solutions,\u201d adds Pia, picking up trash along with everyone. \u201cThese are simply emergency measures to protect the coral reefs that surround this island. These reefs aren\u2019t just great dive sites \u2013 they sustain the livelihoods of people here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plastics, whether whole or broken down into microplastics, threaten marine diversity. It\u2019s not uncommon to see old fishing nets snagged onto coral heads, or undigested plastic in the guts of the seafood we eat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMicroplastics concentrate and encapsulate pollutants.\u00a0They\u2019re dangerous when ingested by fish or other animals,\u201d explains\u00a0Dr. Wilfredo Licuanan, a coral expert and University Fellow at De La Salle University. \u201cPlastics don’t just smother corals either. They can cause injuries, which increases the likelihood of corals getting sick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past seven years, Pure Oceans has been working with public and private sector partners \u2013 from the municipal government to corporations and local communities \u2013 to develop practical ways to collect and divert plastic away from coral reefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re known as the\u00a0MRF Angels<\/em>\u00a0because we buy hand-washed plastic and foil strips from selected participants at PHP20 per kilogram,\u201d shares\u00a0Princess Aldovino, busily filling up her sack with little plastic bottle-caps. \u201cTons of plastic and foil have been brought to our MRF or Materials Recovery Facility and they are used as \u2018pluffing\u2019 or \u2018plastic-stuffing\u2019 for various products locally made in Tingloy. We support several senior citizens who help convert trash into useful raw materials.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an hour\u2019s work and with my mesh bag finally bursting with sachets (my wife Ngoc collected even more sachets than me), I trudge back to our collection point. Tak and Lai Manalo from Pure Oceans measure the morning\u2019s haul: nearly 175 kilos of plastic waste, among them a cellphone, a syringe, a rubber duckie, gambling dice and some truly scary plastic dolls.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Morning Briefing. <\/strong>Pure Oceans Communicator Tak Vergara briefs coastal cleanup participants on the importance of proper waste segregation. (Gregg Yan \/ Pure Oceans)<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Soon we visit Caban Cove, a popular dive site. Diving here decades ago, I vividly recall having lunch in a spotless white sand beach. Now, it is covered end-to-end with broken branches, coconut husks and you guessed it, plastic. Pia and I carefully examine the debris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoastal cleanups help, but each day will deposit a brand-new layer of trash. With the local community of Tingloy, we\u2019ve developed and tested solutions to help other islands address the plastic problem,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working on all aspects of the garbage lifecycle \u2013 from implementing corporations\u2019 extender producer responsibility, CSR projects, developing waste management systems with local governments, environmental education for schools, plus physical cleanups along our coasts. After seven years of learning, we\u2019re ready to replicate our solutions nationwide \u2013 but we need more partners.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pick through more layers of refuse. I dig out a twisted piece of seaglass, keeping it as a reminder that some things just don\u2019t belong in the big blue. \u201cFor many Pinoys, conserving the oceans starts at home. Thinking before buying and properly segregating our waste might just prevent trash from ending up here,\u201d gestures Pia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We leave the area after a day\u2019s work. Though spiritually satisfied, we barely made a dent in the tidal wave of plastics assailing the quiet island paradise. Despite this, it\u2019s still rung with corals, still teeming with fish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two hundred million metric tons of single-use plastics will be produced this year, equivalent to 10 million fully-loaded dump trucks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many tons will end up at sea? How many new layers of trash will be added to the beaches of Tingloy and the world\u2019s other islands?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around 30 people from the local barangays of Tingloy, plus a contingent from the Philippine Coast Guard, have gathered along the shores of Barangay Marikaban to retrieve sachets, plastic bottles, bottle caps, ropes and anything that doesn\u2019t naturally belong here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[217,218,276,820,110,1742],"class_list":["post-10253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-sustainability","tag-sustainable-efforts","tag-sustainable-living","tag-sustainable-practices","tag-travel-2","tag-travel-adventure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10259,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10253\/revisions\/10259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}