JMJ Marist Brothers

Notre Dame of Marbel University

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

PLANET OR PLASTIC

A RESEARCH PAPER
SUBMITTED TO MS. CORAZON FUENTES

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

IN RE 103 CLASS
8:30 am - 9:30 am (MWF)

Vince Manuel L. Millona

August 5, 2019
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

INTRODUCTION

Plastic is a polymeric material—that is, a material whose molecules are very large,

often resembling long chains made up of a seemingly endless series of interconnected

links. Natural polymers such as rubber and silk exist in abundance, but nature’s “plastics”

have not been implicated in environmental pollution, because they do not persist in the

environment. Today, however, the average consumer comes into daily contact with all

kinds of plastic materials that have been developed specifically to defeat natural decay

processes—materials derived mainly from petroleum that can be molded, cast, spun, or

applied as a coating. Since synthetic plastics are largely nonbiodegradable, they tend to

persist in natural environments. Moreover, many lightweight single-use plastic products

and packaging materials, which account for approximately 50 percent of all plastics

produced, are not deposited in containers for subsequent removal to landfills, recycling

centres, or incinerators. Instead, they are improperly disposed of at or near the location

where they end their usefulness to the consumer. Dropped on the ground, thrown out of

a car window, heaped onto an already full rubbish bin, or inadvertently carried off by a

gust of wind, they immediately begin to pollute the environment (Moore, 2019).

The planet is currently challenged with one of the most problematic environmental

issues today. This issue is the Plastic Pollution. Plastic pollution is the accumulation in

the environment of synthetic plastic products to the point where they create problems for

wildlife and their habitats as well as for human populations. Plastic pollution affects the
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

world, particularly the bodies of water (e.g. oceans, lakes, rivers) as most plastic rubbish

are disposed and/or thrown in such places.

In an international context, from the year 1950 (when there was a rapid growth of

plastic usage) until 2015, the cumulative production of polymers, synthetic fibers and

additives was 8300 million tonnes; 2500 million tonnes (30 percent) of primary plastics

was still in use in 2015; 4600 million tonnes (55 percent) went straight to landfill or was

discarded; 700 million tonnes (8 percent) was incinerated; 500 million tonnes (6 percent)

was recycled (100 million tonnes of recycled plastic was still in use; 100 million tonnes

was later incinerated; and 300 million tonnes was later discarded or sent to landfill). Of

the 5800 million tonnes of primary plastic no longer in use, only 9 percent has been

recycled since 1950 (Ritchie & Rosie, 2018)\

On the national context, according to an audit conducted in the Philippines by

Phys.org, the country uses a "shocking" amount of single-use plastic, including nearly 60

billion sachets a year. every day, almost 48 million shopping bags are used throughout

the Philippines, adding up to more than 17 billion a year. And that figure does not include

the smaller, thinner and often transparent plastic bags known as "labo" bags—around

16.5 billion of those are used per year across the country.
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

RELATED READINGS

I.Plastic Pollution Affects Sea Life Throughout the Ocean

Our ocean and the array of species that call it home are succumbing to the poison

of plastic. Examples abound, from the gray whale that died after stranding near Seattle in

2010 with more than 20 plastic bags, a golf ball, and other rubbish in its stomach to the

harbor seal pup found dead on the Scottish island of Skye, its intestines fouled by a small

piece of plastic wrapper. According to the United Nations, at least 800 species worldwide

are affected by marine debris, and as much as 80 percent of that litter is plastic. It is

estimated that up to 13 million metric tons of plastic ends up in the ocean each year—the

equivalent of rubbish or garbage truck load’s worth every minute. Fish, seabirds, sea

turtles, and marine mammals can become entangled in or ingest plastic debris, causing

suffocation, starvation, and drowning. A recent study found that sea turtles that ingest just

14 pieces of plastic have an increased risk of death. The young are especially at risk

because they are not as selective as their elders about what they eat and tend to drift with

currents, just as plastic does. Plastic waste can encourage the growth of pathogens in

the ocean.

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/09/24/plastic-pollution-affects-sea-life-

throughout-the-ocean

II. How plastic is damaging planet Earth

There are 500 times more pieces of microplastic in the sea than there are stars in

our galaxy and by 2050 it is estimated there will be more plastic than fish. Cheap, capable
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

of being made into any conceivable shape, strong and durable, plastic is something of a

wonder material. It has proved so useful to humans that since the 1950s we have

produced an estimated 8.3 billion metric tonnes of the stuff. However, the victim of this

success appears to be much of life on Earth. And humans, one day, could find themselves

among them. For some 79 per cent of the plastic produced over the last 70 years has

been thrown away, either into landfill sites or into the general environment. Just nine per

cent is recycled with the rest incinerated. With more than eight million tonnes going into

the oceans every year, it is estimated there will be more plastic than fish by 2050 and 99

per cent of all the seabirds on the planet will have consumed some. It is thought the sea

now contains some 51 trillion microplastic particles – 500 times more than stars in our

galaxy.

It is found all over the planet, with 300 billion pieces in the once-pristine Arctic and

a remote island in the Pacific, the uninhabited Henderson Island, one of the Pitcairns,

believed to have the highest concentration of plastic pollution in the world. Perhaps not

Earth-shattering, but definitely Earth-trashing. Plastic may end up being one of the

defining characteristics of a new epoch in the planet’s history. Eventually, the layer of

plastic spread around the world from the 1950s onwards will form a noticeable line in the

sedimentary rocks of the future. And that is one reason – along with radioactive fallout

from nuclear bomb tests, pollution, climate change effects such as higher sea levels, and

the extinction of many animal species – that geologists are considering declaring the end

of the Holocene and the beginning of the Anthropocene or the ‘Epoch of the Humans’. In
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

a few decades, a blink of an eye in Earth's 4.5-billion-year history, plastic has not only

changed the fabric of life but the very rocks.

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-how-planet-earth-environment-oceans-wildlife-

recycling-landfill-artificial-a7972226.html

III. Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future

trends

Plastics have transformed everyday life; usage is increasing and annual production

is likely to exceed 300 million tonnes by 2010. In this concluding paper to the Theme

Issue on Plastics, the Environment and Human Health, we synthesize current

understanding of the benefits and concerns surrounding the use of plastics and look to

future priorities, challenges and opportunities. It is evident that plastics bring many

societal benefits and offer future technological and medical advances. However, concerns

about usage and disposal are diverse and include accumulation of waste in landfills and

in natural habitats, physical problems for wildlife resulting from ingestion or entanglement

in plastic, the leaching of chemicals from plastic products and the potential for plastics to

transfer chemicals to wildlife and humans. However, perhaps the most important

overriding concern, which is implicit throughout this volume, is that our current usage is

not sustainable. Around 4 per cent of world oil production is used as a feedstock to make

plastics and a similar amount is used as energy in the process. Yet over a third of current

production is used to make items of packaging, which are then rapidly discarded. Given

our declining reserves of fossil fuels, and finite capacity for disposal of waste to landfill,
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

this linear use of hydrocarbons, via packaging and other short-lived applications of plastic,

is simply not sustainable. There are solutions, including material reduction, design for

end-of-life recyclability, increased recycling capacity, development of bio-based

feedstocks, strategies to reduce littering, the application of green chemistry life-cycle

analyses and revised risk assessment approaches. Such measures will be most effective

through the combined actions of the public, industry, scientists and policymakers. There

is some urgency, as the quantity of plastics produced in the first 10 years of the current

century is likely to approach the quantity produced in the entire century that preceded.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2873021/

IV. Plastic pollution harms oxygen-producing bacteria

Did you know that a species of bacteria that resides in the ocean is responsible for

producing 10% of the oxygen that we breathe in? Now, a new study has found that the

plastic polluting the world's oceans is negatively affecting the oxygen levels that these

bacteria produce. In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from Macquarie University in

Australia have examined the effects that plastics have on a type of photosynthetic marine

bacteria called Prochlorococcus. They have published their findings in the journal

Communications Biology. "These tiny microorganisms are critical to the marine food web,

contribute to carbon cycling, and are thought to be responsible for up to 10% of the total

global oxygen production," says co-author Lisa Moore.

Up to 12.7 million tons of plastic enter the ocean every year, posing a risk to the

nearly 200 marine species — from mammals and birds to fish and invertebrates — that
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

may ingest it. In 2018, Medical News Today reported on research showing that humans

also unwittingly consume microplastics and debated what the effect of this might be on

our health. Recently, a report by the conservation organization Fauna & Flora

International (FFI), who collaborated with two charities and the Institute of Development

Studies in the United Kingdom, examined the effects of plastic pollution on human

mortality. The report found that every 30 seconds, a person in the developing world dies

as a consequence of pollution from mishandled waste.

The problem of plastic pollution is getting worse, with projections suggesting that

by 2050, the amount of plastic in the ocean will outweigh the number of fish by weight.

The Macquarie University team exposed two different strains of Prochlorococcus to

chemicals that they had extracted from plastic grocery bags and PVC matting. They found

that this exposure significantly reduced the growth and function of bacteria compared with

the control bacteria. The researchers observed alterations in the expression of the

bacteria's genes, meaning that the genes were not activating in the usual way to produce

the required proteins. Most importantly, the researchers found that the bacteria that they

exposed to the plastic chemicals produced lower levels of oxygen than the control

bacteria. Lead author Sasha Tetu explains the wider implications of her team's findings,

saying, "Our data shows that plastic pollution may have widespread ecosystem impacts

beyond the known effects on macroorganisms, such as seabirds and turtles." "If we truly

want to understand the full impact of plastic pollution in the marine environment and find

ways to mitigate it, we need to consider its impact on key microbial groups, including

photosynthetic microbes."
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325264.php

V. Plastics in the ocean affecting Human Health

Different plastics spread throughout the ocean. As Styrofoam breaks into smaller

parts, polystyrene components in it sink lower in the ocean, so that the pollutant spreads

throughout the sea column. In fact, not only do the toxins in plastic affect the ocean, but

acting like sponges; they soak up other toxins from outside sources before entering the

ocean. As these chemicals are ingested by animals in the ocean, this is not good for

humans. We as humans ingest contaminated fish and mammals.

There are different types of ways that plastic is dangerous for humans. Direct

toxicity from plastics comes from lead, cadmium, and mercury. These toxins have also

been found in many fish in the ocean, which is very dangerous for humans. Diethylhexyl

phthalate (DEHP) contained in some plastics, is a toxic carcinogen. Other toxins in

plastics are directly linked to cancers, birth defects, immune system problems, and

childhood developmental issues. Other types of toxic plastics are BPA or health-

bisphenol-A, along with phthalates (mentioned above). Both of these are of great concern

to human health. BPA is used in many things including plastic bottles and food packaging

materials. Over time the polymer chains of BPA break down, and can enter the human

body in many ways from drinking contaminated water to eating a fish that is exposed to

the broken down toxins. Specifically, BPA is a known chemical that interferes with human

hormonal function. Rolf Halden, associate professor in the School of Sustainable

Engineering and Arizona State University has studied plastics adverse effects on humans

and has thus far concluded that and exact outline of health effects of plastics on humans
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

is almost impossible to determine. This is due to the fact that the problem of plastic

contamination in humans is globally spread; there are almost no unexposed subjects.

That being said, it is evident that the chemicals are not healthy for humans.

https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/plastics.html

VI. 88 Pounds of Plastic Were Found Inside a Dead Whale in the Philippines

A whale that washed ashore in a coastal Philippines province was revealed to have

88 pounds of plastic trash inside its body, New York Times reports. The 1,100-pound

whale, found Saturday in the town of Mabini, had more than 40 pounds of plastic bags

inside its stomach. D’Bone Collector Museum, a nonprofit organization that aims to

retrieve and preserve wildlife, identified the mammal as a male cuvier beaked whale in a

Facebook post. “This whale had the most plastic we have ever seen in a whale. It’s

disgusting,” the post read. The museum added that they also found 16 rice sacks, four

banana plantation-style bags and multiple shopping bags during the necropsy. “The

plastic in some areas was so compact it was almost becoming calcified, almost like a

solid brick,” Darrell Blatchley, president of the museum, told the Times.

In April 2018, a 33-foot sperm whale was found dead on a Spanish beach with

more than 60 pounds of garbage in its digestive system, and a few months later, in June,

a pilot whale died in southern Thailand after eating more than 80 plastic bags. When

whales ingest plastic, it gives them a sense of fullness without providing any essential

nutrients. This leads to reduced weight, energy and swimming speed, increasing their

vulnerability when pursued by predators. The Philippines is the third-largest source of

 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

discarded plastic that ends up in the ocean, just behind two other Asian nations, China

and Indonesia, according to a 2015 report released by Ocean Conservancy and the

McKinsey Center for Business and Environment.

https://time.com/5554027/dead-whale-plastic-philippines/

VII. Philippines survey shows 'shocking' plastic waste

An audit in the Philippines has shown the country uses a "shocking" amount of

single-use plastic, including nearly 60 billion sachets a year. The report, produced by the

NGO GAIA, is part of an effort to collect data on plastic consumption as environmentalists

push for government action to reduce plastic waste. It contains eye-popping figures: every

day, almost 48 million shopping bags are used throughout the Philippines, adding up to

more than 17 billion a year.

The figures are based on 21 waste assessments conducted in six cities and seven

municipalities across the Philippines, with the national figures produced by extrapolating

from local results. More than half of non-recyclable plastic analysed in the survey came

from sachets—small plastic packets often lined with aluminium or containing other

materials that make them non-recyclable. "On a per capita basis, it's about one sachet

per person per day," said Froilan Grate, executive director of GAIA's Asia-Pacific office.

"But on a per year, per city basis, it's quite shocking. It runs into the millions and billions

depending on the place," he told AFP.

Small portions of products ranging from coffee to shampoo are often sold in sachets in

the Philippines, and are seen as an affordable solution for consumers. But Grate said the
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

popularity appeared to be more a result of what is available, with wealthier consumers

simply buying multiple sachets.

"If you go to the supermarkets, it's rare for you to be able to buy coffee in bigger

containers, it's all in sachets," he said. The survey is the first time an organisation has

tried to quantify sachet use, and the NGO hopes to pressure both the government and

industry to take action on curbing single-use plastic. The report found that where local-

level plastic bag bans have been put in place and rigorously enforced, usage has dropped

dramatically. It urged the government to "institute a comprehensive national plastic bag

ban that promotes reusable bags". And it wants regulations on other single-use plastic

products and rules requiring companies to redesign products and packaging to minimise

plastic waste. Grate said it was hard to compare plastic usage in the Philippines with other

countries in the region. "There is a lack of available, evidence-backed data," he said.

"That's a problem and is our main reason for doing this (survey)." Plastic pollution is a

major problem in the Philippines, which—along with China, Vietnam and Indonesia—is

frequently listed among the world's worst offenders, particularly on marine plastic

pollution.

https://phys.org/news/2019-03-philippines-survey-plastic.html

VIII. Plastic Pollution: Still a big thing?

In the midst of the 21st century, plastic pollution became a noticeable issue. This

was when a single speck of translucent non-heavy material was seen, floating around the

waters, by the fishermen. Plastic are used to create useful materials for human
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

consumption. The most common are the plastic bags. Plastic is also used to make toys,

sports equipment, food packaging, candy wrappers, plastic straws, bottles for any

drinkable liquid substances, etc. There are many types of plastic such as the PET

(Polyethylene Terephthalate), LDPE (Low-density Polyethylene), PP (Polypropylene), PS

(Polystyrene), and EPS (Expanded Polystyrene). Due to the plastic’s light weight, smooth

surface, and flexibility, it can be turned into any shape. This makes it possible for most

product factories to create something useful out of it.

Despite its usefulness, people’s way of disposing plastics became a problem.

Littering is one of the most common illegal acts that can be done by a human being. It is

an act of throwing rubbish or waste products and letting it lie around places, making its

physical outlook untidy. There are many countries that strongly prohibits or bans littering,

such as Kenya, Bangladesh, Morocco, Tasmania, South Australia, England, Germany,

Hawaii, New York, Argentina, Brazil, Wales, Seattle, South Africa, Uganda, and many

more. These countries have already dealt with plastic bag issues. There are some

countries, however, that are yet to deal with the plastic pollution issue, such as Thailand,

Vietnam, Egypt, and China. According to the Earth Day Network’s statistics in 2018,

Philippines is ranked as the third largest contributor of plastic waste to global waters, after

Indonesia and China. Another report from the UN Environment stated that there were five

countries that have contributed much to pollution such as China, Indonesia, Philippines,

Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Philippines is now dealing with an ocean pollution crisis. According to Andrew

Wynne’s report from the Ocean Conservancy, the Philippines became a major vector for
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

waste products, including plastics that are flowing into the global ocean. The Philippine

government has legislated a number of environmental laws that would minimize solid

wastes like the Republic Act 6969 or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear

Waste Control Act of 1990. The United Nations Environment Programme or UNEP

decided to rally their support on the #BeatPlasticPollution movement during World

Environment Day 2018 on the 5th of June. It was done in order to spread awareness and

to prevent spread of this pollution which continues to worsen. The bright side of this

movement is that it managed to get attention from the people, but the UN knew they

needed to do more than that. They are reminding everyone to act and be aware of this

environmental issue. Any individual can help save the environment.

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1014780

IX. What a load of rubbish: The impact of the Philippines’ sachet economy

The last coastal frontier in the Philippine capital provides refuge to migratory birds

and a thick mangrove forest there serves as a natural typhoon barrier for millions of city

dwellers. Yet empty plastic water and soda bottles protrude from the sand, tattered

clothes and plastic sheets hang over mangrove branches, and heaps of shampoo,

toothpaste and soy sauce sachets litter the coastline. The trash offers a filthy contrast to

the tantalizing sunsets Manila Bay is famous for. It also illustrates strikingly the enormity

of the garbage problem facing this developing nation of more than 100 million people. An
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

archipelago of over 7,100 islands, the Philippines is the third worst ocean plastic polluter

in the world, after China and Indonesia, according to a 2015 study in the journal Science.

Globally, plastic pollution, especially of the ocean, is drawing increased attention

as mounting research reveals the danger it poses to lifeforms across the food web. The

Philippines generates an estimated 43,684 tons of garbage daily, including 4,609 tons of

plastic waste, according to government data, and proper disposal facilities are lacking for

much of it. The trash is piling up on land, clogging coastlines, spilling into the sea, and

travelling to remote corners of the globe as the country fails to meet targets for improved

waste management that it signed into law 18 years ago. The central government claims

it’s done all it can, and that the onus is on local governments to get their trash in order

and on the Philippine people to dispose of their garbage more responsibly. But

environmental advocates disagree, saying the government could do more, including

pressuring multinational corporations to change their products.

Two hours north of Manila, San Fernando City, the capital of Pampanga province,

bucks the trend in Philippine waste management. Environmentalists laud the local

government’s effort to address its garbage problem. San Fernando City is home to around

307,000 people living in 35 villages or barangays, the smallest administrative unit in

Philippine society. In 2007, it created the City Environment and Natural Resources Office,

primarily to address its trash problem. The city extended PHP150,000 (about US$3,000)

to each village for the construction of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) and the

purchase of pushcarts and rickshaw bicycles to collect waste. Since 2012, the Manila-
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

based advocacy group Mother Earth Foundation (MEF) has provided technical assistance

in setting up the MRFs.

Today, over 100 MRFs exist across the city, including in schools, subdivisions and

public markets, according to Sherma Benosa, a communications officer with the Global

Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, an international consortium of NGOs to which MEF

belongs. As a result, the city’s spending on tipping fees for waste disposal came in nearly

three-quarters under projections for 2017: just PHP18 million (US$334,000) instead of

PHP70 million (US$1.3 million). “These achievements were made possible because the

city implemented a multi-pronged and ambitious solid waste management program, with

strategies designed to encourage and incentivize participation from local officials and

citizens,” Benosa said. San Fernando is also one of the few LGUs in the country that has

an active solid waste management board with representation from relevant sectors,

including waste workers and youth. The board meets regularly and acts promptly to create

or adjust the city’s waste management program. The city’s mayor, Edwin Santiago,

attributed San Fernando’s effective garbage collection to the active participation of his

constituents. “We are involving all sectors because waste is everybody’s problem,” he

said. “It cannot be done by the government alone. People’s participation is important.”

https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/10/rubbish-impact-philippines-plastic-sachet-economy-environment/

X. The scourge of single-use plastic in the Philippines

The low cost and convenience of plastic sachets, as well as inefficient waste

disposal, has made the Philippines one of the world’s leading plastic polluters, with
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

tremendous negative impacts on the environment. WWF-Philippines is using hands-on

involvement in coastal clean-ups, as well as social media engagement, to spread

awareness of the problem. For its 2017 International Coastal Clean-Up, Ocean

Conservancy mobilized over half a million people to collect 8,346,055 kg of trash over

more than 24,000 km of coastline worldwide. This included over 1.8 million cigarette butts

and 1.5 million plastic bottles, according to the organization’s report. Unfortunately, some

countries in the Coral Triangle are contributing significantly to this volume. Recent reports,

including information from the environmental organisation Greenpeace, have identified

the Philippines as one of the world’s top plastic polluters. “Because of plastic debris, we

are altering the most important ecosystem of our country, which are our coastal regions,”

says WWF-Philippines President and CEO Joel Palma. “Already, scientists are saying

that in a few decades, there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish."

WWF-Philippines has taken action by working with partners in conducting coastal

clean-ups to address marine debris, or waste and other foreign materials ending up in the

oceans. “WWF is raising awareness both online, through social media posts, and offline,

through environmental education sessions in schools, communities, and institutions,”

says Dan Ramirez, Communications and Media Manager of WWF-Philippines.

“Transformative corporate partnerships are also being pursued to lessen the usage of

single-use plastics." Last March, WWF-Philippines held a coastal clean-up activity in

Donsol, Sorsogon, home of the Donsol whale sharks, where 76 kg of trash—mostly

cigarette butts and plastic food wrappers—were collected.

 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

Two main factors can be blamed for such tremendous amounts of garbage in this

archipelago, particularly plastics. First, mainly because of poverty levels, people still buy

many products in small amounts—cheaper, but resulting in much more waste. “As the

Philippines is one of the so-called ‘sachet economies,’ most of the debris gathered during

clean-ups are plastics, including single-use sachets for shampoo, toothpaste, creams,

laundry soap, and even food,” Ramirez notes. Because these are easy to sell—ribbons

of single-use products hang from neighborhood stores even in the most remote

communities—large multinational manufacturing companies continue to market them.

https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/coraltriangle/?329831/The-scourge-of-single-use-

plastic-in-the-Philippines

CONCLUSION AND REFLECTION

From the gathered data (related readings), It is clear that the planet is more

important than the plastic. Plastics may be very useful in man’s everyday life. But,

throughout the years, man became very irresponsible with regards to the proper disposal

of the so-called plastic. The issue here is not on the plastic per se but on its improper

disposal. The environment, specifically the marine life, is most affected by plastic

pollution. It is because most countries (especially in Asia), do not practice waste

segregation and they dispose of their garbage in bodies of water. This, in turn, affects the

sea animals, as either they are trapped in mounds of plastic or they eat the plastic.
 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

With this, I personally feel disgusted by this irresponsible human activity. In the

book of Genesis from the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, we are tasked by God to be

stewards of his creation. It is as if most people have forgotten this task that God gave to

us (and they must have only remembered the “Go forth and multiply” command with the

overpopulation we are experiencing). I hope and I pray that through this simple Research

Paper and with the help of Religious Education, everyone will be reminded to be the

stewards and co-creators of God, and not the destroyers of His creations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Moore, C. (2019, March 12). Plastic pollution. Retrieved August 5, 2019, from

https://www.britannica.com/science/plastic-pollution

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2018, September 01). Plastic Pollution. Retrieved

August 5, 2019, from https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution

Philippines survey shows 'shocking' plastic waste. (2019, March 08). Retrieved

from https://phys.org/news/2019-03-philippines-survey-plastic.html

Reddy, S. (2018, September 24). Plastic Pollution Affects Sea Life Throughout

the Ocean. Retrieved August 5, 2019, from https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-

analysis/articles/2018/09/24/plastic-pollution-affects-sea-life-throughout-the-ocean

Johnston Environment Correspondent @montaukian, I. (2017, September 28).

How plastic is destroying the Earth. Retrieved August 5, 2019, from

 JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-how-planet-earth-environment-

oceans-wildlife-recycling-landfill-artificial-a7972226.html

Thompson, R., Moore, C., Vom Saal, F., & Swan, S. (2009). Plastics, the

environment and human health: Current consensus and future trends. Plastics, the

Environment and Human Health: Current Consensus and Future Trends.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0053

McNamee, D. (2019, May 26). Plastic pollution harms oxygen-producing

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