Biodegradable Plastics?

Have you ever wondered why the plastic bags from ShoeMart have the word “BIODEGRADABLE” on it? I also noticed this with the plastic bags used by National Bookstore, Max’s Restaurant and some shops in Hong Kong and Singapore. I was curious about it, because from what I know, plastics are not biodegradable (others say it is but will take thousands of years in the process).

I looked it up on the net and found out some things. The EPI company who manufacture plastics for Max’s uses Totally Degradable Plastics Additives (TDPA™), which enables plastics to degrade and in most cases biodegrade when discarded, into environmentally benign products within a few months to a few years as compared to decades or longer for the same products made without the benefit of the technology.

So yes it is biodegradable, but will still take time. It will still end our at dumpsites. I am still unconvinced about this because Filipinos have a voracious consumption of plastic bags. This may have been a good start in the part of retailers like SM, Max’s and National Bookstore but it is still up to the people to use them responsibly. We have to do our part in recycling, reusing and reducing plastics.

With garbage dumps overflowing and our oceans getting filled up with plastic products, we need to do our part to save our future. For plastic bags alone, it is estimated that some 430,000 gallons of oil are needed to produce 100 million pieces of these omnipresent packaging items on the planet. We need to reduce the demand for plastics to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide that will be the byproduct of the manufacturing process. Even if we make use of the "biodegradable" plastics, it is still not the best option.

I personally believe that we should NOT use plastics anymore but utilize "green bags". Locally, we have our "bayong", but you need not be old school to help. When I buy some things, I usually ask the cashier not to pack my items. I just put it in my backpack, in that way I am able to help decrease the demand and I know that i will be leaving less carbon footprint for my children.

Consumers can also lobby local and national authorities to pass ordinances and laws that will ban plastic bags like what China and San Francisco did, or impose tax on plastic bags like that in Ireland that resulted to a 90 percent drop in plastic bag use during the past five years.

At the Senate, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago filed Senate Bill No. 1443 or the Plastic Bag Recycling Act, while Sen. Manny Villar filed Senate Bill No. 1802 requiring malls and stores to use environmentally-friendly shopping bags in place of plastic bags.

But we must not wait for these bills and laws to be passed, and we must act by reliving our "bayong" days and saying NO to plastic now if we would want a better world to live in.

Onchie
We Can Change.