You're Plastic!

Pinta kalipa! When one is poor, things inside sachets seem to be the answer to have necessities at hand. Products inside small packages are more affordable than the ones inside bottles and canisters.

Sachet packaging, normally made of a thin film of plastic and aluminum in a sandwich laminate form, has captured many of the poor market segments and has allowed multinationals to gain market share and profit. It has also allowed the poor to enjoy quality products such as shampoos, toothpastes, lotions, condiments, even ready-to-eat food and drinking water from these global giants, products which were previously not viable with normal bottle and container packaging (Posadas, 2014).

Imagine the number of people who take a bath daily using shampoo in sachets! Do a simple Math and think about the mound of trash these things could give.

Posadas continues: In the Philippines for example, the Asian Development Bank and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources jointly project that if current trends continue, the country will need 200 new landfills the size of a current Manila landfill by the year 2020. Estimates vary, but the factor of 0.7kg per person in the metropolitan Manila area is being used, with a daily output of roughly 22,000 tons per day of municipal garbage expected to grow to 28,000 tons per day in 10 years' time.

Whenever there is a large gathering of people, one could see mound of plastic containers and wrappers thrown irresponsibly. The ordinances linked to RA 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act) seem to be policies made futile. Legislation with no teeth and less education will often turn them to flops.

Is there a correlation between the use of sachets and the economic status of a population?

The nextbillion.net says, small package sizes translate in lower costs per purchase and less “capital” bound in the storage rooms of poor households. With households struggling to manage their cash flow on a daily basis, these factors could make sachets attractive for poor customers, allowing them to purchase quality products normally out of reach.

Legislators might also consider the regulations on the use of these non-biodegradable since the majority of Filipinos are not rich enough to afford stuff in big containers. Here is a study conducted to a multinational:

In the Philippines, they (sachet packaging) turned out to be the answer to increasing rural sales of the company’s Rexona deodorant.  Unilever faced a tough challenge: Only half of Filipinos buy deodorant regularly, and standard package sizes were too pricey for rural consumers. To lower the price, the company first tried a small size of Rexona in stick form. The ministicks cost 35 cents, but that was not cheap enough for rural consumers. Then Unilever developed a cream version in a single-use-sized packet that cost about 10 cents (Manajan, 2016).

It could be remembered the scenario of “sari-sari” stores in the eighties where food and other stuff are placed inside preserving jars and will be wrapped with old newspapers when bought. There were no shampoo in sachets; no condiments in small plastic containers. We bring “lapad” or “lipig” when we buy cooking oil or soy sauce. Soda was sold in bottles not in “mismo” and “sakto” style.

But now, everything is placed in plastic containers. Even if we buy three pieces of onions in the market, they will be contained in those small plastic pouches.

According to Sarmiento (2018), Freedom Island is drowning in garbage. The last coastal frontier in the Philippine capital provides refuge to migratory birds and a thick mangrove forest there serves as a natural typhoon barrier for millions of city dwellers. Yet empty plastic water and soda bottles protrude from the sand, tattered clothes and plastic sheets hang over mangrove branches, and heaps of shampoo, toothpaste and soy sauce sachets litter the coastline.

But what are these telling us? There is a need to be aware of what we are consuming. If we shy away from patronizing the sachet industry and go back to the basics, we could be freed from the looming threat to our environment. The law of supply and demand tells us to think deeper.

If we enjoy the convenience these plastic sachets are giving, we must be responsible enough on how to dispose them. Or, we could start educating the people around us.

When you go inside a grocery store, think about the trash these colorful products could give!