For over a decade, the Philippines has been host to a lot of clean ups. Thousands of Filipinos across the country gather by river and seaside to pick up plastic and other kinds of waste along the shoreline.
Despite these efforts, the need for clean ups have increased over the years. Beaches have gotten dirtier….and while clean ups have also gotten more educational - it’s not enough.
I’VE CLEANED UP, NOW WHAT?
This is the question that a lot of eager volunteers ask after an educational and inspirational clean up. In 2017, clean ups pushed for segregation (plastic standing out in particular) and simple forms of recycling. However, back then recycling felt out of reach.
Enter the EPR law in the Philippines and around the world. With numerous governments looking at managing waste, more focus has been given to this growing concern that destroys tourism economies, degrades fisheries and lowers quality of life.
MULTI PILLAR SOLUTION:
In September and October 2024, piloted by PARMS (Philippine Association for Recycling and Materials Sustainability), Lighthouse Legacy Foundation, MAD Travel and powered by Coca Cola, the organizations tested an innovative program to clean up but to also change behaviors beyond the event.
First, the event had high level educators, featuring 4x TEDx speaker Rafael Dionisio talking about waste reduction, segregation and recycling. A discussion on the effects of waste on our food prices and industries was helpful in pushing people to act.
Second, the event featured recyclers and waste reduction companies that could help participants and their organizations change behaviors and reduce garbage one item at a time. While plastic waste was a focal point, waste as a whole was discussed because when people segregate but cannot dispose of all the waste properly, they get demotivated. In response to this, the following enterprises were featured and represented -complete with contact information, how they recycle and products and services:
The 3 events featured solutions to waste recycling and waste reduction. The events were also well attended, with indigenous leaders, community leaders, garbage pickers, concerned citizens and environmental entrepreneurs all on the ground cleaning together.
WASTE RECYCLING SOLUTIONS
1. Ecouling - recycling biodegradable solid waste like coconuts into charcoal reducing trees cut
2. Sentinnel Upcycling - using plastic trash from places like Zambales and Manila Bay and turning them into trash cans, pallets, crates and other items
3. WASTO - Waste Solutions turned into furniture and interior design items.
4. ALON and Araw - this org empowers young girls in Zambales to develop sports skills and clean the environment while recycling the plastic sachets and other waste into medals, key chains, pillows, etc.
5. Humble Sustainability - recycling E waste such as computers, washing machines, phones, etc.
6. River Recycle - taking trash from pasig river and turning them into plastic boards for interior design purposes.
7. Precious Plastic - recycling plastic into lumber like logs that can be used for pool decks, fences, and other forms of construction
8. Junk Not - using plastic and wood waste and turning them into award winning furniture and design pieces.
9. Soilmates - turning food waste into healthy soil and compost!
WASTE REDUCTION SOLUTIONS
1. Continuiti - a fashionable dress and clothing rental store that gives Gen Z access to fashionable clothing at 5-10% of the cost, allowing them to rent items that they would probably only use once - and thereby reducing fashion waste. (Imagine the polyester prevented!)
2. Ecoshift - a refilling and plastic conscious personal care store that allows you to skip plastic packaging with your soap, shampoo and other skincare needs. They have prevented millions of pcs of plastic packaging from entering natural spaces.
3. Ripple X - a distributor of dishwashing and shampoo that empowers sari sari stores to be refilling stations. This enterprise gives them the start up kit to do refills are a fraction of the cost of regular sachet products. they have over 1000 stores.
4. AKO packaging - provides real biodegradable sando bags and take out food containers that give you convenience but do not harm nature. Their bags are made of cassava.
5. Bambuhay - providing bamboo toothbrushes that biodegrade so that you can clean your teeth without making the environment dirty.
6. Philippine Alliance for Sustainable Solutions (PASS) - a group of organizations collaborating for to support business transition to sustainability.
Finally, the event was catered but with ZERO PLASTIC in the outdoor picnic set up, showcasing how events can be run sustainably - using metal cans (Coke), glass bottles (Summit) and biodegradable packaging (AKO).
Each of the 3 events in Baseco, Las Pinas Paranaque Wetland Park and Lighthouse Beach Front Subic Bay ended with participants counting their waste and meeting new partners who they could collaborate with to reduce waste and recycle better.
BEYOND THE CLEAN UP:
As the ERP implementation gets us closer to 80% collection, we are starting to see more companies make the decision to utilize reusables - and we hope that as more people realize that unmanaged plastic waste can destroy our seafood supply (plastic waste makes corals 89% more likely to get sick - and corals produce 1000kg of seafood per hectare), they make mindful shifts in taking care of the planet.
With plastic also a contributor of carbon, and carbon counting starting to spread due to intensifying climate events, we need to help educate others and empower them with solutions of both waste recycling and reduction. At the end of the day, human behaviors can change the trajectory of the waste issue around the planet.
In 2025, PARMS will be hosting an environmental congress focused on growing the circular economy, matching suppliers with market and sharing best practices with
If your organization is interested in working with PARMS as a member, or a Level Up Clean Up Program that engages, educates and inspires your team to tackle waste creatively, please reach out to info@madtravel.org.
