“Wherever I go meeting the public... spreading a message of human values, spreading a message of harmony, is the most important thing.”
— Dalai Lama
Philippines Ocean Plastic Clean Up
The Philippines is the 3rd largest contributor to the world's plastic ocean waste and is a major concern of the Meraki Foundation. The country has a sachet economy that consists of thousands of islands, resulting in a waste management nightmare. Plastic makes for easy and cheap packaging but takes thousands of years to break down, and never fully leaves our earth. The effects of plastic pollution are dangerous to the livelihood of Filipinos, as well as the health of the oceans and animals within it. When plastic enters the ocean it enters our food chain- starting with the shellfish and ending on our plates.
The Philippines is the 3rd largest contributor to the world's plastic ocean waste and is a major concern of the Meraki Foundation. The country has a sachet economy that consists of thousands of islands, resulting in a waste management nightmare. Plastic makes for easy and cheap packaging but takes thousands of years to break down, and never fully leaves our earth. The effects of plastic pollution are dangerous to the livelihood of Filipinos, as well as the health of the oceans and animals within it. When plastic enters the ocean it enters our food chain- starting with the shellfish and ending on our plates.
Coastal Clean Ups
With the growing plastic problem, we volunteered to set up coastal cleanups around the country to help properly dispose the plastic that's been left behind.
Plastic Educational Events and Resources
We love that costal cleanups help keep our beaches safe, however cleanups alone will never be enough to reduce the ocean's plastic. We must reduce the amount of plastic consumed in order to fully protect our oceans and our people.
Every minute an equivalent to a truckload of plastic enters the ocean every minute. With plastic entering the ocean at this rate, we can’t clean it up by hand to fix or solve this issue. Therefore, Meraki Society will host educational events around the country that helps educate Filipinos on the growing plastic pollution problem and will provide resources on how they can reduce their personal plastic consumption and community consumption. These coastal cleanups will run year-round and event details will be posted accordingly.
