The Resilient Bamboo Bridging Human Consumption and Ocean Protection
June 8, 2020
According to a study published in The Science Journal, around eight million metric tons of plastic waste enters the ocean each year. Sadly, the Philippines is third in the world after China and Indonesia in most mismanaged plastic waste and most plastic marine debris annually. The impact of plastic as a revolutionary material cannot be discounted. Unfortunately, the environment is paying the price for the extensive use of this versatile and extremely durable material. This World Ocean Day, it is important to take the health of this vast body into account, as it inevitably flows in the passages of human lives.
The Bamboo Company is a trademarked social enterprise that produces bamboo-made products for personal use. Through inhibiting the continuous use of plastic by means of replacing the material of commonly used items, The Bamboo Company effectively contributes to its objectives of resolving global issues such as plastic pollution, deforestation, global warming, climate change, and poverty. Additionally, The Bamboo Company acknowledges how microplastics amass in massive quantities; which is why simple yet usually disposable items like shaves and tooth brushes were made available.
Bamboo was handpicked as the material of choice as it is a local material with immeasurable potential; usable in various forms due to its strength and durability. For the enterprise, it also represents a symbolic value by embodying the Filipino feat of bayanihan – ‘working together towards a specific cause, whether it be moving one’s house to another place or moving one’s cause forward for the benefit of another person’ – or in this case, the planet.
Apart from the bamboo, another important marker for The Bamboo Company is the ocean. A quick look at their website would show a vital narrative in the creation of their enterprise. White Island in Jasaan, Misamis Oriental was once a sanctuary for various marine wildlife like dolphins and clams. It was a picturesque vision of what bare paradise in the middle of the turquoise sea could look like. Today, there is still some tourist presence in the island, but its glory days are long gone. The water is beset by algae and plastic packaging can be seen littering the waters. The story of White Island in Jasaan is one of the many stories that The Bamboo Company wants to protect.
“The ocean for The Bamboo Company is our source of inspiration,” managing director Mr. Jamico Jamlang bared. As an integral part of the planet, the ocean is important in all facets of living. The Bamboo Company acknowledges this fact and has maintained the incorporation of measures that take care of the ocean. Apart from offering alternative and more sustainable products used as everyday items, The Bamboo Company also supports various initiatives that preserve marine resources. More than that, one of their institutional goals composes of reforesting bare lands in the Philippines with bamboo in order to mitigate the current and future effects of global warming which have been devastating the oceans across the globe.
The Bamboo Company was created, first and foremost, with social and environmental impact in mind and opportunities for financial growth in second. There were lots of measures that they applied, like online marketing and application of a certain modern aestheticism into their products. A significant step in realizing the enterprise goals was applying for intellectual property protection by trademarking their brand.
“Trademarking for The Bamboo Company helps us protect our brand and further develop it to be unique and something that our customers can recall every time. It helped us be confident on the things that we are doing, especially our marketing which creates our identity to everyone,” Mr. Jamlang explained.
With almost 48 thousand followers on Instagram, 34 thousand on Facebook, and an active selling website, The Bamboo Company has certainly been tapping its potential for social impact. Meanwhile, its part in freeing the ocean from its plastic chains is a continuous process and relationship with consumerism.
Though it might not wholly replace plastic any time soon, there is great potential in the proliferation of eco-friendly products in the Philippines. For Mr. Jamlang, the situation was entirely different two years ago when they began the company; they were met with jeers and misplaced humor. Today, Filipinos are more aware of environmentalism and the kind of lifestyle that it entails. It is a growing market which is, hopefully, not a mere trend.
Sometimes, the smallest things can have the biggest impacts; case in point, microplastics and how it causes garbage patches in the ocean. However, small actions like integrating sustainability in everyday use will also have prolonged success. The Bamboo Company gives this opportunity for its consumers to integrate minuscule yet important aspects of their lives and turning it into something more environmentally wholesome. Conversely, trademarking gave The Bamboo Company a chance to fully commit to their mission and vision as more than a business brand, but a global impact brand. ### (Nastasha Erika Floro, Communications and Marketing Writer)
References
Andrews, G. (2014, July 8). Plastics in the Ocean Affecting Human Health. Retrieved from Teach The Earth: https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/plastics.html
Jambeck, J. R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T. R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., et al. (2015). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocena. Science, 768-771.