In my previous post, I appreciated artist Jerson Samson’s detailed slice of Pinoy life, which showed people living cheek by jowl and conducting their business within confined places. But at the same time I was nagged by a persistent thought: When there’s too many people and space is a premium, where do the garbage go? Where do people in crowded areas throw their wastes?

Then the other day I received an interesting link. It was about two guys who made their own sea-going vessel from scrapped airplane parts and lots of plastic bottles and other rubbish.

To be exact: The duo made a 9-meter raft out of a Cessna fuselage, 15,000 plastic bottles, 20 salvaged sailboat masts and 5,000 plastic bags woven into rope to lash the raft parts together.

Their mission: sail from California, USA to the island of Hawaii to drum up global awareness about the serious problem of plastic debris and pollution in the world’s oceans. Along the 4,200 kilometer journey, the pair collected water and marine life samples to show how much of the seawater has actually become a “plastic soup.” Some of the fish they caught during their 87-day voyage, upon examination, showed horrendous amounts of ingested plastic pellets and other particles. Okay, so this is where our garbage go.

During their voyage, the duo of Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal met up with the adventurer and environmental crusader Roz Savage, who is on her own journey to raise global awareness about plastic debris—by sailing solo across the Pacific in a rowboat. Yes. Alone. In a rowboat. Across the Pacific.

The three want “single-use plastics” to be banned, saying they’re wasteful and usually end up in the ocean. “Recycling is one solution, but it’s just a small part of the puzzle,” Paschal was quoted online by the newspaper The Hindu.



On the Junk-onauts blog at http://junkraft.blogspot.com, videos, photos and diary entries from the journey can be viewed. As one can expect from such quixotic projects, the blog entries make for fascinating reading. Below is an excerpt when the pair was just about to enter the open ocean.

Then the Coast Guard showed up.

The U. S. Coast Guard, flying low in a C-130, circled us several times, each time banking in tighter circles.

“Uhh, sailing vessel this is Coast Guard aircraft circling above you, over,” our radio crackled.

“This is JUNK,” I responded. Joel and I wore grins from ear to ear.

“We’ve never quite seen anything like your vessel. What’s it made of?” they asked. We gave them the laundry list of materials: Cessna 310 fuselage, 15,000 plastic bottles, 20 sailboat masts, and 5000 plastic bags woven into rope.

“Do you guys have a website or something?” another voice inquired. After a few moments of polite introductions, the Coast Guard began asking the standard questions for any vessel, about life jackets, radios, sail plans, emergency equipment.

“Before we go do you guys need anything?” they asked.

“How about a weather report?” I replied. Far south from where we are is the breeding ground for tropical storms. They rarely come our way to warmer waters, but sometimes a hurricane will bend toward Hawaii. They came back with no information worth worrying about. We should have asked for a pizza.

They bid us good luck, fair winds and following seas. Before circling one more time, they gave us a phone number to call in case of an emergency. Like 911 for the high seas. Soon our last visitor for the day was gone.

The moon rises, the sails hang like curtains, the sea is gentle. We hope for wind.

The Junk raft’s Hawaiian trip made me think of the Philippines’ own monumental plastic woes. Last year, I was part of a small team that surveyed part of the Manila Bay coastline for wintering waterbirds. Our team went to the part of Manila Bay in Tanza, Navotas which is near Bulacan.

The sight that greeted us was truly astounding. A beach of plastic garbage. I write “astounding” because a few kilometers south of us, multimillion-peso condominiums are up for sale. The sellers of those Manila Bay condos touted the stunning Manila Bay sunset as a reason for the gargantuan prices. The same sunset that poor urban families in the coast of Tanza can enjoy for free!



The difference, of course, is that the posh Manila Bay condos are clean and relatively rubbish-free while the beach in Tanza, Navotas is a virtual garbage heap.

Garbage disposal is a NIMBY issue. Not In My Back Yard. The poor families eking out a living on the unglamorous part of Manila Bay can’t afford to demand NIMBY.

So, if you’re a Metro Manila resident, remember that every time you dispose of an innocuous plastic bag in some forgotten garbage can, that plastic bag will not just melt and disappear into the ether. It’ll end up somewhere. Probably inside a fish caught in Manila Bay that will eventually be served in your dinner table.



Many visitors to Manila are mystified why there is not swimming beach along Metro Manila’s coastline. Why Metro Manilans spend so much time inside malls instead of open-air gardens or public beaches. Well, this is one reason why. We’ve turned a potential swimming beach into a garbage dump. It’s the plastics that are enjoying the stunning Manila Bay sunsets in Navotas.