In my post on banning
the use of plastics in entire Bulacan, I was happy because this will make a
great impact in our environment. Let us see what happened more than a year
after I posted about this or should I say implementation of the said provincial
ordinance.
The soon I read and saw the
notices around our area, I asked our suking
vegetable stall in Sta. Maria if they are aware with the new ordinance and
the vendor just answered: “Oo, pero
madami pa kaming plastic.” Given that they are just consuming their stocks
since the rules were just came out for implementation. However, until now, they
are still using plastics as packaging and this is in every stall in the market.
Are
their stocks really that much to use plastic until now?
Supermarkets and malls are
still using plastics. Though there are claims that theirs are biodegradable,
still these are plastics and will take too much time to decompose.
Some supermarkets implement
a “no-plastic use” for a particular day of the week. But come to think about
this: The “no-plastic use” policy is implemented mid-week, Wednesday in
particular, wherein only few goes to the mall and do shopping. Why
not implement this over the weekends or better the entire week just like other
provinces do?
There are establishments
that really follow the rules like fast food chains. Jollibee, for example, uses
paper bags for the take-out orders as well as cups for the drinks. They are
also implementing a “no-straw” Fridays. Why not implement this everyday?
I am a 100% law abiding
citizen as much as possible, I tried to use reusable bags when going to market
where I put my purchases directly instead of placing it in plastics bags before
handed to me. And in supermarkets, I asked the bagger to place it in a carton,
when possible, or bring my own eco-bag instead of using plastic bags.
I can say that the
ordinance has a very good objective but totally lacks awareness and
implementation. Where is the policy that they will suspend the business permits of
those who violates the rules?
Is Bulacan just following
the band-wagon of other provinces that implements the same rules just to say
the province really care for the environment?
By the way, after more the
a year, this signage is still in this same place. You can read clearly what it
is all about. But look at the pile of garbage in PLASTICS beneath it, what
can you say about it?