Pasig River Pollution

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Snowy79 said:

Some think they are doing a favour by littering as others will get paid to pick it up. Just look at the tables in a McDonald's once people have finished their meals.  I get looks of surprise when I take my waste to the bins. 

I'd like to think you're right, Snowy, but in many cases there is nobody to pick up the trash and the locals know that.  I agree with the McDonald's thing - it seems to be the same all over Asia and was in fact way worse in Hong Kong where they'd grab the tray from you if you dared to take it to the waste area.

[Viking]

26 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

I agree.   I was going to post about this and you beat me to it. You are probably thinking of this study released in 2018:

Stemming the Plastic Tide: 10 Rivers Contribute Most of the Plastic in the Oceans
The Yangtze alone pours up to an estimated 1.5 million metric tons into the Yellow Sea

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stemming-the-plastic-tide-10-rivers-contribute-most-of-the-plastic-in-the-oceans/

Yangtze River, Yellow Sea, Asia
Indus River, Arabian Sea, Asia
Yellow River (Huang He), Yellow Sea, Asia
Hai River, Yellow Sea, Asia
Nile, Mediterranean Sea, Africa
Meghna/Bramaputra/Ganges, Bay of Bengal, Asia
Pearl River (Zhujiang), South China Sea, Asia
Amur River (Heilong Jiang), Sea of Okhotsk, Asia
Niger River, Gulf of Guinea, Africa
Mekong River, South China Sea, Asia

https://www.treehugger.com/ocean-plastic-rivers-4868604

The two articles are too long to copy / paste.  That study has recently clarified that they meant that those 10 rivers contribute 95% of the total river borne plastic, not total plastic in the oceans.  Plastic comes from other sources too.

I think they still stand by their study and those huge rivers with many tributaries make more sense to me.  The Pasig River is certainly a filthy mess but it does not make sense that it is the #1.

The problem is, both studies do not actually measure any plastic.  They use theories and build formulas around various known data.  Population density, climate, etc., etc.  Many factors.  They are basically educated guesses.

Regardless, I do hope they raise awareness.  I hate littering and have since I was young.  It is a major irritant to living here, watching 75% of locals drop trash anywhere.

It was not that study I was thinking of, but I have seen that too and it actually makes way more sense to me than the one in the starting post.

This is a picture from the study I had in mind that I felt was too bad to be true.

 

[Snowy79]

59 minutes ago, hk blues said:

I'd like to think you're right, Snowy, but in many cases there is nobody to pick up the trash and the locals know that.  I agree with the McDonald's thing - it seems to be the same all over Asia and was in fact way worse in Hong Kong where they'd grab the tray from you if you dared to take it to the waste area.

The security guard usually stops me and takes it off me. Not that I frequent their anymore. 

[hk blues]

2 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

The security guard usually stops me and takes it off me. Not that I frequent their anymore. 

You shouldn't be stealing the tray though, Snowy. 

[Onemore52]

I was quite shocked when in Daet, Camerines Norte, last year they stopped the truck doing the rubbish collection because the rubbish dump was full and they didn’t want to open another one.

So picture the scene, that at night you are following a tricycle on the main road and it veers off to the side of the road and a plastic bag full of rubbish gets hurled onto the side of the road, joining all the other rubbish.

Without any rubbish collection there isn’t any hope at all.

Every time there is a heavy downpour of rain, the river out the back becomes a floating rubbish tip.

[scott h]

18 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

Just look at the tables in a McDonald's once people have finished their meals. 

If it wasn't so bleeding hot an expensive i would move to Singapore. They just past a law that fines those who do not police up their own trays....

On 6/14/2021 at 2:51 PM, Mike J said:

Each time they catch a fish they release a plastic bag.

Dont visit Corregidor when there is a land breeze. Took some relatives there on a day the wind was blowing out to sea. The landing cove faces Manila. The edges of the cove was lined by probably 15 feet of bottles and stuff, all blown there from Manila, which is over 40 kilometers away

[intrepid]

Does anyone remember this PSA I think from the 1970s in the USA?  It had a big impact on me at the time and I have never forgotten it.  I would think something like this would be a good place to start in the Philippines.

 

[GeoffH]

Australia has had various "Don't litter" campaigns since the 60's... this you tube link gives example of the various ads from early black and white ones to more modern ones from the 21st century.
 

 

[Mike J]

3 hours ago, intrepid said:

Does anyone remember this PSA I think from the 1970s in the USA?  It had a big impact on me at the time and I have never forgotten it.  I would think something like this would be a good place to start in the Philippines.

 

My wife and I did a seminar for youth on litter, pollution, and recycling a few years back.  I used this and also showed pictures of the river in the USA that was so polluted it caught on fire.   I introduced them to the concept of "adopt a highway" that became very popular in the USA.  Unfortunately the road past the school is just as bad today as it was then.   Planting seeds, sometimes they sprout and sometimes they don't.  

[Jollygoodfellow]

On 6/14/2021 at 9:17 PM, graham59 said:

The filth and garbage thrown everywhere in this country, is an absolute unforgivable disgrace.

Not everywhere in this country. I watched a youtube video of one Island here and no trash anywhere as the small population learnt not to drop it. Also for example where I live it's rare to see trash probably because their are trash bins, not like in most places. When many gather in the park area the bins get full so they do use them.