The Philippines is one of the world’s worst offenders in marine plastic pollution with 0.28 to 0.75 million tons of plastic entering the oceans from the coastal areas in Manila Bay. The country uses almost 60 billion sachets a year. Economic growth, combined with enhanced production and consumption is leading to higher waste generation in the Philippines.
This is according to data gathered from SEA circular. SEA circular is an initiative of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia which is funded by the government of Sweden to inspire market-based solutions and encourage enabling policies to solve marine plastic pollution at the source.
Atty. Joseph Fabul, Corporate and Government Affairs Country Manager of Mondelēz International in the Philippines pointed out that in recent years, plastic packaging has often been blamed for marine litter.
“As a snacks company, we know the value of plastic in protecting the safety and quality of food. In our work to understand how to lessen our environmental impact, particularly in packaging, we have seen that one of the reasons there is marine litter is not the use of plastic. Rather, it is the improper disposal of waste regardless of whether it is plastic or not,” Fabul said.
Supply chain
To reduce Mondelēz International’s impact on the environment, Fabul said the company is improving the supply chain and supporting recycling systems in the communities where they operate.
“With these actions, we hope to help reduce marine litter and encourage our community to do its part in this endeavor,” he said.
Mondelēz International also took the initiative to increase awareness on the reasons behind marine litter by partnering with Save Philippine Seas (SPS) for infographics and learning materials. SPS began as an online platform in May 2011 as a response to a large-scale illegal wildlife trade case dubbed in media as the “rape of Philippine seas.” What was meant to be a short-lived social media campaign continued to grow. In February 2013, SPS officially became a non-profit organization under the name Philippine Seatizens, Inc.
“This year we sought to strengthen our partnership with SPS by adapting the message of waste collection and marine preservation through a medium that kids and their parents can easily engage with – YouTube,” Fabul related.
“SPS introduced us to Miming and Friends for this purpose and this started our partnership for five episodes related to the environment. We aim to impart the values of marine conservation and waste collection through fun animation and songs to make the learning more enjoyable for children and their parents,” he added.
Home grown channel
Miming and Friends is an all Filipino and homegrown YouTube channel focused on providing valuable lessons to kids through animation and songs. The channel is the creation of Miming and Friends Animation Studios, formed by partners Ramon and Meryll Del Prado from Dumaguete.
The first in a series of five episodes of Miming and Friends supported by Mondelēz International was released on World Oceans Day on June 8. It talks about the importance of segregating waste at home to ensure that they do not end up in the ocean.
“Miming and Friends started when the lockdowns occurred in early May 2020. We were stuck at home, and we had nothing to do. So that was a good time to start the passion project which is something that I wanted to do for the longest time,” Ramon said.
Meryll added that the pandemic gave them “a unique opportunity to have the time to conceptualize and launch a YouTube channel which is something we have always wanted to do.”
“It also aligns very much with our values because it is obviously very educational. It also answers a need. There are over 12 million overseas Filipino workers in the world, and they do want to impart Filipino culture, values and language to their kids and hopefully Miming and Friends can do that,” she added.
Pet inspiration
When asked about the inspiration behind the main characters in Miming and Friends, Ramon said Miming was inspired by their 15-year-old pet cat who is called Myr. Buboy is a flying lizard which is endemic in Southeast Asia and common also in Dumaguete where Ramon grew up.
“The next character is Anacorn who is based on everyone’s favorite animal – the unicorn. But she also has a backstory in that she does not have the same shape as a typical horse,” he related.
“And then, we have Darling the Dugong which we created specifically for this series. We talked with SPS and Mondelēz International on what is the best character that can talk about issues with the environment particularly marine issues and SPS told us that the dugong is endangered and is one of the victims of irresponsible garbage disposal,” Ramon added.
The couple is currently working on the second episode which takes six to eight weeks to produce. Future episodes will be tackling waste segregation, recycling and how that all impacts on the environment.
“What we are also happy about is that we get to write original songs too like the “Sorting Song” from the first episode that we did. We want to impart lessons also in a fun and entertaining way. This is very crucial now with kids having so many options that they have some locally made and be at par with the rest of the world,” Meryll added.
Waste collection
In addition to addressing marine letter, Fabul said Mondelēz International is also addressing waste collection and diversion in 2022. The company has partnered with Geocycle Philippines, the waste management arm of Holcim Philippines, to collect and divert 202,000 kilos of plastic waste to prevent them from becoming landfill or marine litter.
“We also recently concluded a community collection project with Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies (BEST), which involved a 29-location collection activity of waste,” Fabul said.
“For the waste consumers brought in, they received environmental points as well as our delicious snack products Tang, Eden Cheese and Cheez Whiz. For this two-month partnership we were able to collect and divert almost 7,400 kilos of plastic waste – the equivalent to the weight of two elephants,” he added.