DENR eyes more volunteers, less trash on int’l cleanup day

WANTED: Volunteers for Manila Bay cleanup this Saturday. Inquirer photo

With thousands of Filipinos expected to roll up their sleeves and wade into the waters of Manila Bay as part of International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day on Saturday, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is optimistic that there will be more volunteers but fewer trash to collect.

The DENR, along with the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, will lead the local observance of the global cleanup day off Manila Bay on Roxas Boulevard and the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area.

In a news release, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said he hoped a smaller volume of waste would be generated this year if only to show that efforts to rehabilitate polluted waters were gaining ground.

“I think it is about time we focus on less trash that the volunteers would have to retrieve from the shores, waterways and underwater,” Paje added.

While the DENR is happy that the Philippines has consistently gathered some of the biggest numbers of ICC volunteers every year, it is also saddened that the volume of recovered trash has doubled annually, Paje said.

Based on the yearly reports of the Washington-based Ocean Conservancy, the volume of ocean trash collected by volunteers from the Philippines has gone up every year in the last three years.

In 2010, more than 145,000 Filipino volunteers picked up 240,360 kilograms of trash. In 2011, 114,418 volunteers collected 485,091 kg, while in 2012, almost 144,000 people retrieved more than 1.3 million kg, the reports showed.

“As you can see, the number of registered volunteers has more or less remained the same but the amount of trash they picked up in just one day has doubled alarmingly. It means more trash is making its way into our waters,” Paje said.

According to him, the objective of celebrating ICC Day was not only to have the highest number of volunteers but to reduce trash thrown into waterways.

“We would rather be known as a country where the trash they pick up has lessened significantly as this would be a good success indicator for our solid waste management programs,” Paje said.

Held every third Saturday of September, ICC Day was first celebrated in the United States in 1986. An active participant in the worldwide event since 1994, the Philippines has consistently ranked second, next only to the United States, in drawing the biggest number of volunteers.