By Ma. Joreina Therese A. Blanco/PIA-1, Ilocos Norte
CURRIMAO, Ilocos Norte (PIA) – The oceans display a plethora of blue vibrancy, fine sands, and perfect background for sunsets.
The waves bring forth relaxation as they splash against the rocks until the waters drive ashore voluminous plastic wastes and other unwanted floaters.
This is the worst scenario we wish not to happen to our nature but unknowingly, we are becoming the culprit.
This drove a blogger from Ilocos Norte to take part in saving the environment against plastic pollution.
Patrizia Dacanay resides in a town where there is abundance of beach attractions.
“I live in Currimao which has an increasing number of tourist influx because of the beaches we have here,” she said.
“The more tourists who visit here, the more plastics that are littered in the ocean and also scattered along the shoreline. Some tourists would just dump their garbage. Although there is a regular conduct of coastal clean-up drive by our municipality, much more effort is needed to be done for our environment,” she sadly added.
Single-used plastics include food wrappers, bottle caps, straws, grocery bags, and plastic bottles.
Today, she is now an active advocate against single use of plastic and for responsible tourist etiquette.
“I started by stuffing the plastics that I see lying around the coastlines in a plastic bottle, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, and many more that we always see around. I am fearing that there would be more plastics that pollute our ocean,” she said.
“To help in the campaign against plastic pollution, I always post in my social media accounts to be aware of Leave No Trace (LNT) and Bring Your Own (BYO) to help at least the environment and our marine zone a clean habitat,” the blogger-environmentalist said on how travellers can contribute in the movement.
As such, Pat, as she is fondly called by her friends, holds a monthly coastal clean-up drive in Pangil and other beaches in Currimao.
She also narrated how her recruits of three grew into 16 and more as supporters of her clean-up drive.
“I thank God that I can see help from the community. There are people who are even inviting their neighbors to help in the cleaning. I was surprised that kids from distant barangays also joined us,” Pat said.
Her “Movement Against Plastic Pollution” in the social media posts clean-up schedules and social media cards on the awareness on the alarming concern on plastic use and disposal.
“I urge you to be part of making a change in this world. Let’s not just do this for ourselves but also for our marine animals which are greatly affected of this phenomenon,” she added.(Ma. Joreina Therese A. Blanco/PIA-1, Ilocos Norte)
