Filipino artist fights waste by using recycled trash in paintings

When Filipino artist Gilbert Angeles found out that his country was one of the world's biggest contributors of plastic trash in the ocean he felt compelled to take action.

Angeles decided the best way to show how discarded waste could be given a new life in a different medium was to incorporate materials ranging from shredded plastic to old paint and leftover construction wood in his paintings.

Since 2019, he has made over two dozen paintings of this kind.

"I make these artworks to raise awareness so we can fight against the trash in our area, to make us more responsible in how we dispose of our trash, and to make us aware of where our trash goes," said the 49-year-old.

The artist sources the materials from around his Manila neighborhood or through donations from contacts he has made since launching his environmental campaign.

Angeles remembers being spurred on to take up the project after seeing a news report about the Philippines being one of the top contributors of plastic waste.

The Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China account for around 60 percent of the world's marine plastic, or 8 million tons annually, according to a 2017 report from the Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment.

Angeles' artwork has since been shown in galleries, with paintings selling for around $600 to $3,000, depending on the size. Part of the proceeds goes to his environmental group, Green Artz, which encourages artists to use recycled waste in their work.

"I love the fact that it gives us hope," said Linda Pecoraro, general manager of Conrad Hotel, where Angeles' work is being exhibited.

"It's got beautiful colors and recycled plastic, repurposing things that damage our environment and making them beautiful."

-reuters-

Meatless burgers, hemp cocktails and pasta straws: 2019 eco-friendly food trends

ROME - From cockroach milk to beer made from waste water, a raft of eco-friendly food trends hit menus and supermarket shelves in 2019 vowing not to add to the world's carbon emissions.

Here are 7 ways to keep the seasonal revelry going while shrinking carbon footprint:

1. RISE OF THE FLEXITARIANS

Plant-based burgers went mainstream with fast food giants Burger King and McDonald's joining the fray. Burger King's Impossible Whopper was so successful there are multiple vegetarian options now being planned.

Fish substitutes are entering the market too, including tuna made from a blend of 6 legumes and algae oil. Such alternative proteins cut down greenhouse gas emissions associated with livestock farming and industrial-scale fishing.

2. BUGS TAKE CENTER STAGE

Grub granola, cockroach milk and silk worm vanilla ice-cream are just a few offerings to make insects less icky and more appealing to diners. Bugs are high in protein and vitamins, but low in emissions and require less land and water.

Some are even hoping farming insects could help clean up palm oil's tarnished image.

3. HEMP HITS A HIGH

With the 2018 Farm Bill legalizing farmers to grow industrial hemp in the United States, cannabidiol (CBD)-infused food and drinks are here to stay.

Proponents say hemp - from which CBD is derived - has many sustainable aspects as it can provide food, shelter, clothes and energy.

There is confusion over their safety and legality in both the United States and Britain, but that has not stopped companies like Ben & Jerry's from announcing plans for their own CBD-based products.

4. PASTA WITHOUT SAUCE

To use as straws, of course, as the world steps up efforts to combat plastic pollution.

A Thai supermarket turned to tradition, using banana leaves to wrap fresh produce while consumers are flocking to products such as re-usable beeswax wrappers.

5. ORPHANED PLANTS FIND HOME

Neglected plants rich in vitamins and can adapt to the changing climate, including babassu oil from Amazon, millet from India and Mayan spinach from Guatemala, made their way onto plates, championed by pioneering chefs and scientists.

With 75 percent of the world's foods coming from just 12 plants and five animal species, expanding the diet is also a good strategy for coping with climate-induced crop failures.

6. WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

Restaurants that use almost every part of the raw materials to cut down on food waste popped up in Helsinki, New York and Berlin - the last one also happened to be vegan.

There's also Trash Tiki, an "anti-waste" cocktail company that uses food scraps - leftover milk, discarded nut shells, coffee grounds, etc - to re-make beloved classics, bringing their ethos to Toronto, Amsterdam and Rome this year.

7. CHEERS!

Eco-friendly beers - brewed using recycled or waste water, doing away with the plastic 6-pack rings, or pledging part of the profits to conserve sea turtles - hit the shelves.

Natural wines, which proponents say are made with organic grapes and no chemical additives, thus purer and more environmentally-friendly, also gained major followings in Europe and the United States.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

SE Asia should ban imports of foreign trash, environmentalists say

BANGKOK - Environmental groups called on Tuesday for Southeast Asian countries to ban waste imports from developed countries to help tackle a plastic pollution crisis, as regional leaders prepare to meet this week in Bangkok.

Southeast Asia has seen a staggering spike in imports of plastic and electronic waste from developed countries after the world's top recycler, China, banned imports, causing millions of tonnes of trash to be diverted to less-regulated countries.

Thailand will from Thursday host four days of meetings for leaders of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to discuss the region's most pressing issues, including plastic debris in the ocean.

"Greenpeace Southeast Asia demands that ASEAN leaders put this issue on the agenda during their summits this year and make a united declaration to address the region's plastic waste crisis," the group said in a statement.

"Declare an immediate ban on all imports of plastic waste," Greenpeace urged.

It was in the interests of ASEAN, whose meetings are being held under the theme of sustainability this year, to ban waste trading, said a Thai environmental group.

"Welcoming plastics and electronic waste from abroad in the name of development must urgently end," said Penchom Saetang, director of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand (EARTH) Foundation.

Some Southeast Asian countries have in recent months been taking action to stem the flow of trash.

Indonesia was the latest to reject trash imports from Canada, following similar moves by Malaysia and the Philippines.

Thailand does not ban plastic waste imports, but it aims to end them by 2020. It imposes partial bans on electronic scrap.

Greenpeace also urged ASEAN countries to ratify amendments to the 30-year-old Basel Convention, a U.N. treaty on the movement and disposal of hazardous waste, to limit the flow of plastic scrap to developing countries.

"We have to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment ... to prevent ASEAN member states from becoming the world's dumping sites in the future, or actually as it is happening now," said Tara Buakamsri, Greenpeace Thailand's country director.

The group also urged Southeast Asian leaders to reduce the production of single-use plastic.

ASEAN will adopt a Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris during the summit, Junever Mahilum-West, a senior Philippine foreign ministry official, told a news conference in Manila earlier on Tuesday.

The leaders of Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, four of the world's top marine plastic polluters, after China, are attending the ASEAN meeting.

Those five countries account for up to 60 percent of plastic waste leaking into oceans, the environmental group Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment said in a 2015 report.

Whales have been found dead in the region in recent years with large amounts of plastic rubbish in their stomachs. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com