An Avoidable Evil
I have always wanted to write this column before but events have overtaken it. Now I have the chance.
Cagayan de Oro City is a beautiful city supposedly. It is the lack of concern, of education, of effort that makes our city a bit ugly. Ugly because it is dirty.
Of course, the central parts like Divisoria and the urban barangays are generally clean. There are street sweepers who clean up our wastes. You see them from dawn to early mornings cleaning up the mess and the garbage so that when we wake up in the morning the streets are clean.
But if you wander farther out to barangays Nazareth, Macasandig, Carmen, Camaman-an, Puntod and Lapasan (you don’t have to go far), you will notice that the garbage drums are full and uncollected, the grass on the roadsides are uncut, the buildings are dilapidated and unpainted and are sore to see.
Plastic bags from stores and markets make up most of the mess. These are waste material that are not only common but are also hard to decompose. Plastic in whatever form from store packaging to broken furniture and toys, damaged gadgets and appliances, packaging materials and just every other object known to man, go to the garbage dumpsite and create a big unbreakable heap that pollute the soil and the water base.
Thus, there is now an urgent need for the City Council to ban the use of plastic bags in stores, supermarkets, malls and fish and vegetable markets. A total and complete ban.
If other countries can impose a total ban, why can’t we?
I’m sure my good compare Kag. Nanding Advincula can very easily lead the ban on the use of plastic bags at Cogon Market since he had grown old and affluent in that market. He can begin convincing his friends and business associates that banning plastic bags is one sure great step towards making our city more environment-friendly.
We should learn to use newspapers and other biodegradable maters to package fish and meat and vegetables and fruits. Reusable bags are also economical and environmentally sound. Before the invention of plastic, everyone used paper. We should return to that practice.
Just imagine the reputation that Cagayan de Oro will get if we lead the country in banning the use of plastic bags all over the city. Stores selling plastic bags should be closed down and heavy fines should be imposed. Fish and meat vendors should be prohibited from using plastic bags to wrap their products. Boutiques and dress shops, grocery stores, the malls food chains and every other sari-sari store should stop using plastic bags, and even Styrofoam packaging products, to help fight pollution and environmental damage.
Another good law that Kag. Advincula could sponsor is to grant tax incentives like rebates and discounts if a business establishment installs environment-friendly policies.
I remember last Christmas when I was in Bangkok when I walked into a McDonalds diner to take out a Quarter Pounder and I was surprised to be told that they have no straw for my softdrink because it was a “No Straw Day”. They explained that all over the world, all McDonalds chain of stores will not serve out softdring straws to save on plastics with the world savings on plastic straws. It was an amazing environment-friendly policy. Imagine how much plastic is saved if all food chains will declare a “No Straw Day” every Saturday and Sunday of each week.
Cagayan de Oro also can have a “No Plastic Bag Day” to start with every Monday. With this, we can also have school days in the cafeteria and canteens in schools where no plastic should be used, no straws, no plastic at all. That way we could generate awareness in the minds of the children that use of plastics is an avoidable evil.
Indeed, plastic and Styrofoam are avoidable evils. Its just a matter of education and practice for us. Is just a matter of sponsoring the politically-correct laws for Kag. Nanding Advincula. Its just a matter of realization that, in this bloody world, there are avoidable evils. Plastics are one.
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