Collecting 1 kg of ocean plastic in the Philippines

Clean oceans - door by door

Protecting Negros’ biodiverse ecosystems from ocean plastic

Very early in the morning, before the sun rises, Marvin, 28, gets up and walks to the beach. He loves this moment of silence and freshness. The air is still pleasantly cool and yet already announces the approaching tropical day. Marvin doesn't have far to go to the ocean. He glides quietly into the smooth, blue water with his boat. This is his morning ritual. Marvin goes fishing before his strenuous work. He drives out into the bay in his small boat and often dives several meters deep. The species-rich waters in the south of the island of Negros in the Philippines have always fed the coastal residents. Countless fish and other creatures frolic on the coral reefs and in the mangroves. The handful of fish that Marvin catches every day are an important addition to his family's daily menu. His admiration for the oceans and their inhabitants is evident every day. He is grateful for this beautiful paradise right on his doorstep, which provides his family with a livelihood. To actively contribute to protecting the oceans, Marvin has been working as an environmentalist since the beginning of 2022, cleaning beaches and mangroves from plastic waste. It is an opportunity for him to give something back and he is proud of every piece of waste he collects.

André Wiersig presents his favourite project

need

Plastic-free ecosystems on Negros - for healthy oceans

activity

Collecting and recycling ocean plastic on beaches and mangroves with fair jobs and awareness raising

Measurable performance

Number of ocean plastic collected in kg

Result

Protected habitats/ecosystems on Negros through clean beaches and mangroves and promoting sustainable action

Systemically relevant impact

Less garbage in aquatic and coastal habitats leads to more species protection and a better quality of life for local residents; a more conscious approach to local ecosystems is established

background

The Philippines is one of the 17 megadiverse countries with an extremely high biodiversity of animals and plants (Biodiversity az & UN environment programme, 2020). Pro Ocean is working to protect this wonderful ecosystem, because every minute more than a truckload of plastic waste ends up in the oceans (Plastic Atlas, 2019). This causes various problems. Many marine animals get caught in old fishing nets or eat plastic (NABU, 2022). The temporal aspect of ocean plastic is also important. The longer the plastic is in the environment, the greater the chance that it will become a habitat for animals and plants. Due to the archipelago's more than 7,000 islands, the majority of the Philippines' population lives near the approximately 36,000 km long coastline. In addition, there are over 4,800 rivers through which waste enters the sea. At the same time, many people cannot afford everyday products in large quantities, which is why they resort to small packages. According to the study “Plastic Pollution” (Ritchie H. & Rose M., 2022), this circumstance means that plastic waste has a 7.17 percent probability of ending up in the oceans. This means that in 2019 the Philippines took the sad first place in this category with an entry of around 356,370 tons of plastic waste (approx. 35% of the total entry) into the oceans. With a value of 0.26%, Germany is far behind in this statistic, but has one of the highest per capita consumption of plastic. Every German produces an average of 0.46 kg of plastic waste per day (Philippines: 0.07 kg pc). These enormous quantities make Germany the world's largest exporter of plastic waste (Fernandez, F., 2023). In order to make the best possible use of waste and strengthen local value creation, innovative recycling solutions are being worked on with local partners. The collection work concludes the holistic approach with an environmental education project for elementary school students.

Lutoban Village Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental

The good deed

Every door that is opened allows 1 kg of ocean plastic to be collected and recycled as best as possible. Ocean plastic is a man-made problem and can therefore only be solved with and by people. This is why a participatory approach is used. The employees on Negros are employed on a permanent basis, enabling them to earn a secure and fair income. The permanent employment means there is no risk that the collectors will only collect in places with a lot of waste. They get their salary even if they only collect a handful of cigarette butts on a stretch of beach, because these are particularly harmful to the environment. Your good deed today will clean more than 35 different beaches and mangrove forests of plastic waste and other waste.

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