I received an email from Greenpeace Asia last 26th of February. It was an invitation to an open boat tour within the Rainbow Warrior ship. It was a two-day event on the second and third of March at Pier 15 in the city of Manila. I signed up for the first day.
As we gathered from Guru, one of the crews who had short talk before we went further inside the ship, Rainbow Warrior is Greenpeace's ship being used to campaign against environmental issues. This is the third Rainbow Warrior of Greenpeace. The first one was bombed by French nationals in New Zealand because of Greenpeace protest against French nuclear test in Moruroa. The second one was sold for $1 (basically a donation) in Bangladesh and is now a medical ship.
I was wondering how my email address got into their distribution list until I read further down the email.
Then I went back to body of the email.
That number one on their list. Yes, I joined the online protest to stop Nickelodeon from creating underwater theme park in one of our most beautiful resorts in the Philippines - Palawan! Our online voices made the noise that drove the threat away. Now, Greenpeace is back with another campaign. It is against plastic this time.
The main purpose of the ship tour is to raise awareness among individuals about how large corporations are playing a very big role in destroying our environment because of the plastic packaging of their products, more specifically the single use plastics.
The meeting place was a Shakey's restaurant. It was still closed when I arrived at around 8:40 AM. My slot was at 9:00 AM. There was a van in the parking lot with volunteers waiting outside of it. Right when I approached them, they were getting ready to depart to the port. Right on the last minute! Otherwise, I need to wait and go with the next batch.
We were dropped off in a facility where we first registered before entering. When we got inside, I realized it is a hall where merchants are selling their environment-friendly products. There was Greenpeace volunteer speaking on the stage. That was when I understand the theme "ship it back" means to ship those plastic wastes back to the large corporations who manufactured those wastes for them to realize what they have done and what they are doing in destroying the environment.
There were many guests so they allow entering the ship by batch. We, with my batch mates from the van, were scheduled on the second batch. As we were waiting for our turn, I roamed around the hall and had fun with the products on display. I was amused to see so many varieties of organic soap. There was papaya, cucumber, adlai (which I had to research if it is an English word), charcoal and more... I thought they created soap from every fruit.
On some tables are not merchandises but campaign materials, I thought outcries, against environmental abuses. As I was hovering over the Greenpeace table, a volunteer approached me and did a little talk. On a tablet, he was showing me gross photos of the effect of plastic wastes. The photos were from a disaster when places in Metro Manila were flooded and children were swimming in garbage. It was very alarming to see those photos. On the later photos, he presented the top corporations who "contribute" to the horror!
He mentioned Coca-cola as the top offender, followed by other giant corporations like P&G and Nestle. Those were the ones I remember from his tablet but there were more. I later verified his presentation from this Greenpeace press release. Another reference is the audit report where you can see the list of branded pollution by country and corporation. You can go jump to page 25 if you want to immediatey see the list.
Okay, enough with that roaming and talks. Our batch was finally called to board the ship. When we got up, one of the crews, Guru, greeted us and made another short talk. He introduced the Rainbow Warrior ship which we were in. He relayed a brief history as to how it became the third Rainbow Warrior of Greenpeace.
After Guru's short talk, we were handed over to Sabina who led us inside what they call as the "bridge" of the ship. I thought it is that airplane cockpit. I do not remember which of these switches and buttons are for which. I can only remember that they are able to know how deep the water is beneath the ship. And the best thing that I learned from her talk is that they have water purifier on board. They purifier water from the sea but not less than 12 miles from the shore. Sabina mentioned that water near the shore is not safe even if they have the purifier.
Forward further into the ship, we went down and got to the helipad of the ship. That was were we had few more talks from the volunteers.
Ali, one of the volunteers, talked about few tips to avoid or at least minimize plastic consumption.
- Bring your own eco-bag when going to the market or grocery stores
- Ditch plastic straw
- Avoid usage of plastics at home
- Patronize environmental friendly products
- Be responsible in disposing wastes
- For parents, instill environmental awareness to your children as early as possible
She also talked about where this plastic monster came from and what they plan to do with it: ship it back! She pointed out that everyone plays a part of the waste. Consumers play their share of the pollution because of irresponsible disposal of plastic wastes. On the other hand, corporations that manufacture these plastics play the bigger part. If they did not manufacture the plastics, there will be no wastes like these. The demand from Greenpeace is for these corporations to find an environmental friendly packaging of their products.
Bisyus Psycho
Our addiction to plastics create a personal vice (bisyo) that tends to dictate the way we live and affects our psychology (psycho), the way we look at things. This plastic monster made of plastic items extracted from Manila Bay waters since 2017.
Each of plastic represents one corporation, one person, one act that destroys our seas, our lands, our communities. On the other hand, it may represent hope, like how each volunteer represents the desire for change in the world.
~Amado Guerrero Saňo
artist/ environmental activist
At the end of the tour, I realized one thing that never occurred to me before: "If they did not manufacture the plastics, there will be no wastes like these." That totally makes sense! On the other hand, I hope everyone will be responsible enough, both in garbage disposal and in curbing use of plastics. Still, consumers play a big part in cleaning and maintaining our environment.
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