According to Sam Sablan, executive director, Mariana Islands Nature Alliance, plastic bag was one of the top five litter items in the Marianas during the 2010 International Coastal Cleanup held from September to October last year.
Right after the cleanup, a total of 6,280 lbs. of litter items were sorted out and counted.
The survey showed that cigarette butts topped the list with 4,562 lbs. of them gathered from beach areas. Next was the aluminum can with 1,826 lbs. food wrappers, 1,390 lbs. and plastic bags 1,323 lbs.
As required by the international cleanup committee that organizes the activity every year, each item has to be separated to determine which type of trash usually misses the dumpsters, Sablan said.
They also took note of the distance of these litter items from their possible points of origin to where they were picked, and their distance to the nearest trash bins.
Sablan said they determined that the farthest that people are willing to walk to get rid of their trash is nine feet. If the dumpster is beyond nine feet, litter items won’t make it there.
No Need Bag Campaign
Sablan said looking at the data, MINA, the Division of Environmental Quality, Coastal Resource Management and other partners in the private sector chose to focus on reducing plastic bags on island, which they believe is more achievable than getting rid of cigarette butts.
They first thought of taking on aluminum cans but since many people are into recycling now, this problem is somehow being addressed already.
So they came up with the No Need Bag Campaign.
Sablan said if you go to a store to buy items avoid putting them in a plastic bag.
Most store attendants, she noted, always grab a plastic bag for even just a can of soda or a pack of cigarette. This should be unnecessary. You can go environmental if you just say “thank you, no need for a bag” to the cashier.
Sablan said there is a retail store on island that brings in every six months a container van of plastic bags.
One already knows where most of these plastic bags will end up soon. It takes over 400 years for a plastic trash to decay.
Sablan said the objective of the No Need Bag Campaign is to encourage customers and vendors to do away with plastic bags if their use is unnecessary — say, for two to three store items.
MINA, Sablan said, plans to reach out to all the stores and conduct No Need Bag presentations.
She said a few of the stores have already pledged support.
Participating in this campaign, Sablan added, will reduce the cost for stores because they will no longer need to buy a lot of plastic bags.
Sablan said they will also help advertise participating stores whose names and logos will be displayed in the campaign materials.
You can also participate by using reusable bags which hold more groceries than plastic bags, are stronger and, most importantly, are good for the environment.
