Philippine diving town trades plastic for rice to tackle ocean waste

MANILA: Campaigners in Mabini, one of the Philippines’ most famous diving resorts, have found a new way to make the issue of plastic pollution everybody’s business, as they swap rice for waste in a drive to clean up the town’s shores.

Known for its pristine waters, the town in Batangas province — some 100 km south of Manila — is considered the birthplace of the Philippine scuba-diving industry and every weekend draws crowds of tourists to enjoy its sandy beaches.

While they significantly contribute to Mabini’s economy, many have been arriving and leaving behind trails of plastic waste, compounding the problem of ocean pollution, which was already threatening the region’s marine wildlife.

“Marine plastic washes up on shore. During the habagat (southwest monsoon) season, onshore winds can cause a lot of plastic to pile up on our beaches from faraway places, but we also noticed that tourists from all over the country spend the day at our beaches and sadly some of them leave garbage behind,” said Ronald Necesito, the founder of Plastic Palit Bigas, an initiative to tackle the problem by mobilizing local communities.

Launched in mid-2022, Plastic Palit Bigas translates to “trade plastic for rice.” It offers to exchange a bag of plastic waste collected by Mabini residents for a sack of rice.

Necesito told Arab News: “I just thought rice would encourage citizens to clean the shores and segregate household plastic. Everyone needs rice. This way, we can reduce pollution as well.”

Poor waste management has plagued the Philippines’ waterways for years. According to the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the country is the third-largest source of ocean waste worldwide. Every year it discards an estimated 3.3 kg of plastic waste per person, emitting 350,000 tonnes of non-degradable litter into the ocean.

Necesito’s campaign is trying to address the issue on a local scale and is concentrated along a 3-km-long shoreline, which every Saturday will see a few dozen volunteers who, for 3 kg of the collected waste, can bring home 1 kg of rice.

The program is sustained by donations from individuals, local resorts and small enterprises.

“According to the families participating in this program, it is a big help for them because the cost they need to spend on buying rice is reduced,” Necesito said.

“So far, it has greatly helped our environment and even the sea. We have noticed less plastic on our shores. Mabini relies heavily on tourism, so having clean beaches is very important to our economy as well.”

The campaign has provided over 2,600 kg of rice to families in need to date.

Sheila Casa, a 35-year-old schoolteacher who regularly participates in the program, said that it had also helped raise awareness and incentivize people to care more as it reduces their food expenditure, with one sack of rice being enough to feed a family for a few days.

“There are some people who, even at home, avoid dumping their plastic waste … There are also more volunteers who want to join in the cleaning. This is a huge help for us,” she told Arab News.

“Waste becomes valuable because we can exchange it for rice.”