Ayoko sa Plastic!

Makati has banned the use of plastic!  I remember this was announced last year but they had to give ample time for businesses to find alternatives so it was implemented only on June 20.  We were at Cash and Carry on Saturday and they are now recycling boxes for groceries.  We have been bringing our own reusable bags so this is not an adjustment for us but I appreciate that more people will now do it, albeit forced.  We were in Alabang during the weekend and this has been implemented as well.  I am all for it.

Plastic, once touted as the best invention of the century because of its versatility and durability has become so ubiquitous and the waste products are now unmanageable.  We now know about the great Pacific garbage patch and the some of the consequences as chronicled in the Midway Project by Chris Jordan.

This broke my heart...

This issue that has resonated with me long ago is even more important now that I'm a parent.  We have a responsibility to examine our choices and make sure we are not making them in favor of mere convenience or aesthetics.  We are not living in isolation.  Everything we do impacts others.

I know the situation seems dire and it's easy to be overwhelmed by its gravity but we can focus on where we are.  We can always start or change something that contributes to the greater good, like the plastic ban.  Everything counts.  We can still be good stewards of this Earth that God has entrusted to us.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Filipino Friday 3: Reading Habits and Book Formats

Image
Reading Habits and Book Formats . Where and how do you read? Can you read anywhere and everywhere, or do you need a certain place/mood/state of mind to get reading? Do you read more in the morning or at night or any minute that you can? Where and how do you usually read? Are you exclusively for print, or do you go for ebooks more than print? Have you ever tried audiobooks? I am old school.  Even as most books now have digital versions, I still prefer the physical, ink-on-paper variety.  I like holding a real book, flipping the pages and being able to see my progress based on the thickness of read/unread pages.  Somehow, I feel more engaged and focused reading a physical book vs. from a gadget. I very rarely reread books so most of my collection just sit on the shelf after I'm done with them.  I feel it's a waste of precious trees if they are not shared with others.  So I started a Google doc at work where the team can list down their collections and anybody interested in
Read more

Trivia and Reading

Image
I am currently reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and I am inspired.  It’s about the author’s year-long quest to be happier.  It’s purposeful and practical and has lot of tips that I can apply or have started doing. Rubin focused on different areas every month and for May, it was Be Serious About Play.  The author was trying to go back to activities she enjoyed as a child. This led me to also think about a favorite childhood pastime, which was collecting trivia.  The Philippine Daily Inquirer used to run a trivia section by Bong Barrameda and I would religiously cut and paste them onto scratch papers, which I would then collate and read again and again.  Nerd zone! Not only that, I also kept a trivia notebook where I researched and wrote down interesting information like areas of study, capital cities, historical figures, scientists and discoveries, everything!  That was fun for me.  I was about to say they were useless info, but not really.  Because of this intere
Read more

Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

Image
There is something to be said for collective recommendations like bestsellers list.  I found this title on such list at Fully Booked, read a few pages and decided to buy it.  I was intrigued by the theme of the book which is memory, specifically, how the author started as a journalist covering the US Memory Championships and ended up as a contender in the finals of the same competition one year later. It claims that with proper training, one's memory can be improved to be at par with the top mental athletes of the world.  Memory training has become an esoteric discipline because we practically do not need to remember a lot these days.  Information is very easy to retrieve from electronic devices and what not.  You just need basic search terms and the Google provides the information you need and more. Photo from Rainy Day Books I have to admit I rely on external memory a lot.  I can recall birthdays of my very close family members but outside of that small circle, I have to
Read more