Environment Is No Excuse to Impulsive Legislation

IT MIGHT APPEAR DECISIVE to disapprove plastic use in retail stores. It might even look consistent with the call to protect the environment, especially the waterways, from the litters of plastic.

But passing a local law to outlaw plastic betrays the impulsiveness of local legislators in making such an important ordinance without giving enough time to pinpoint the real and underlying problem of current waste management and flooding problems, and to look for well-informed alternatives that both can meet the peoples' need for cheap bags while avoiding litters in the environment.

And apparently business establishments are ignoring these local legislation for business reasons. Green bags and paper bags can be costly to produce, therefore for consumers to buy, and forcing customers to give up the use the cheaper plastic can prove an error that may cut down a big chunk of their foot traffic.

So, what really is the problem here?

No matter how you think of it, the underlying problem is not the use of plastic bags but the improper disposal of them. Plastic bags that are properly disposed ends up very well in landfills, and not in waterways to clog them up during heavy rains. And landfills can use a new technology that burns the plastic cleanly, that is, minus the toxic chemicals emitted into the air.

Will paper bags reall help in preserving the environment?

As far as I know a ton of paper manufactured requires three tons of logs to be cut down from our forests. If we have problems with life-threatening floods in our mountain areas,  it is logging of trees that brought that. And papermaking is one of the big reasons why loggers log. As a result our forest ranges gradually thin, and will eventually disappear. It can take around 10 years to replace these cut down trees. And the question is always about time. Do we have time to replace these cut down trees? As far as what we can see, there had been no serious moves to plant more trees to recover our disappearing forests.  

Claiming to use paper bag as good for the environment is like preferring AIDS for intestinal cancer. Either way the patient diesin the end. The same story goes with the environment. The choice betrays ignorance of the facts.

How about Green Bags?

The proper question here actually is this: Will the Green Bags decay like paper? If they will, then it is a better option, atlhough a much more expensive one.

And yet everyone knows that Green Bags do not decay. They behave just like plastics. And if the underlying problem of improper disposal remains, they will still be causing problems in our waterways. In fact, they can be more problematic than plastic bags, which are thinner. The thicker Green Bags can really cause serious problems once they plug the waterways.

So, what's the best solution?

The best solution is always that which addresses squarely the underlying problem. Since the problem with flooding streets came from undisciplined disposal of plastic bags, local legislators must instead inact a law penalizing those caught throwing plastic materials just anywhere (e.g. not into the public or private trash bins).

The huge difference between Singapore and the Philippines when you compare streets can be spelled in with these letters: D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E. Theirs are immaculately clean, and ours are exactly the opposite.

It is the job of the local government to discipline their own constituents if they want to solve problems like this. If Singapore can do it, why can't Talisay City, Cebu City, Mandaue City, or any local government in the country?

Apparently, the problem remains to be the lack of political will among local executives in disciplining their constituents. Plastic is a mere political scapegoat. And paper and Green Bags, political quick fixes. 

If local officials give in to mindless and impulsive legislation, who are left to think through at solving the real problem? 

At the end of the day, the headaches will remain with no real solution pursued to correct the problem. The local officers must rise beyond what is obvious and think through a solution with lasting results.