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Eating plastic

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That’s what we’re likely already doing, or will inevitably be doing in the not-too-distant future.

This may seem just scare-talk to the many folks who think nothing of collecting and throwing away plastic shopping bags every day of their lives. With our archipelagic context (and with practically no solid waste management), this means that most of that plastic gets washed out to sea.

For those who cared to know, images and articles have been out there a while (Google: plastic in food chain) about animals with plastic in their guts.

Just recently, the BBC showed a one-minute video that captured the very moment that a tiny plastic fiber was being ingested by zooplankton, microscopic sea creatures that larger species feed on.

Plankton plays an important role in the marine food web as they are a source of food for fish, squid, crabs, and other sea creatures.

What the cumulative effects of plastic and the chemicals in them will mean for marine animal survival or for human health is an international cause for concern.

So just when many think of seafood as a healthier choice over a meat-heavy diet, seafood safety is a worry, too.

Research showed, for example, that in Indonesia, 55 percent of the fish sampled had plastic in their tissues, or that a portion of mussels can have up to 90 particles of microplastics.

Since 2012, Dumaguete City has had a perfectly good instrument for radically- reducing plastic bags and Styrofoam containers, namely Ordinance 231.

On the front page of this Metropost (March 2012), there was then Mayor Sagarbarria signing the Implementing Rules and Regulations; looking on were the City Legal Officer, other public officials, and three of us members of the environment group that helped draft the ordinance.

What a great moment! What a model for other local government units to follow! that turned into a colossal dud as it became clear with the passing months and years that those same public officials had no intention of enforcing the Ordinance.

So today, plastic bags and styroare simply everywhere.

Note that no international research has even bothered with the claims about “oxo-” and “bio-degradable” plastic: all plastic causes harm on land and sea, and it is entering the food chain.

Of course, the soon not-so-new administration has its hands full with many concerns calling for action. For example, the rerouting of the City traffic has successfully addressed the really-annoying and wasteful effects of traffic congestion.

But I maintain that the issues of food safety, of the survival of the marine world, of environmental protection are of an entirely different order of importance and urgency today.

Past administrations failed to understand this, and were trapped in a narrow and misplaced accommodation of the business sector, resulting in harm to us all.

It is to be hoped that the present one will give these issues the serious and immediate attention and action that are called for.

______________________________

Author’s email:
h.cecilia7@gmail.com

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