Scouts empower green leadership in Philippines to tackle plastic pollution

In classrooms throughout the Philippines, Scouts can be seen proudly dressed in their group’s attire, taking great care to ensure that their uniforms are well pressed with badges displayed.

One of the more coveted badges belongs to the Earth Tribe’s Tide Turners Plastic Challenge, a series of educational activities designed in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme that give Scouts the opportunity to fight plastic pollution by learning, understanding, and taking action against plastic consumption in their everyday lives and through outdoor activities in their communities.

When COVID-19 ushered in a wave of tough movement restrictions, many young people suddenly found themselves confined to their homes and unable to take part in the Challenge’s activities. Scouts were quick to realise that in order to keep momentum going, the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge also needed to be brought online.

A passionate team from the Boy Scouts of Philippines worked tirelessly for six months to convert the Challenge’s implementation manual into a fully online, structured training module and curriculum on plastic pollution and waste management efforts. It aimed to educate, upskill, and empower over 6,000 Scout Leaders in ten regions across the country.

Among them was Ronila Balanquit, a Scout Leader and Tide Turners Plastic Challenge Ambassador who is trained to share and implement the Challenge to Scout troops. Like many Scout Leaders in the Philippines, Ronila is an educator and teacher.

“No plastic”

In 2020, Ronila and other Scout Leaders attended three days of online training to deepen their understanding of the Challenge and implement recycling and waste reduction efforts at the grassroots level with their Scout troops - either virtually or in-person. After completing the training, Ronila became a Tide Turners Plastic Challenge Ambassador tasked with designing and implementing her own project to complete the Challenge.

The training made a huge impact on Ronila.

“In my daily life, I have tried to identify every item of plastic that I can refuse, starting with my toothbrush - replacing a plastic one with a bamboo one. I won’t buy bottled water and always carry my own water from home in glass or metal bottles,” she said.

“I have also replaced regular sanitary napkins with napkins made from natural fibres and that are 100% biodegradable. I also refuse to use plastic cutlery and plastic bags, and I always keep a cloth bag handy,” she added.

After making these small but significant changes in her own life, she introduced a new plastic management system in her school and community in the Angeles City Council area, north of the capital of Manila, to help eradicate single-use plastics.

This much-needed push led to plastic bottles being recycled into planter boxes and materials for arts and crafts. On a larger scale, her city launched a project called Walang Plastikan (meaning ‘no plastic’ in Filipino) in collaboration with the local council, which has brought greater awareness to people on their daily plastic consumption and encouraged them to make more responsible choices.

From trash to treasure

Other initiatives saw Scout troops collect single-use plastics and sell them to buyers of refuse in Manila. These funds were then channelled into local school projects and educational needs.

Low-income neighbourhoods often benefited from the extra income, as many of the Scouts involved were also part of the Ticket to Life Programme, a flagship project from the Philippines that provides opportunities for young people from underprivileged backgrounds to be a part of Scouting and its way of life.

The Boy Scouts of the Philippines has an impressive history of advocating environmental causes, including in its support of the World Scout Environment Programme and Scouts Go Green Programme – both of which were launched several years before the Earth Tribe initiative and Tide Turners Plastic Challenge.

For the nearly 1.8 million Scouts in the Philippines, practising green leadership is not a passing trend. It is a deep-rooted discipline that encourages Scouts to become more conscious and conscientious consumers who are working towards living and encouraging a sustainable lifestyle. Scouts know well that the actions we take today will have a profound impact on our shared future.

For them, Tide Turners Plastic Challenge is more than a badge. It is a pathway to a better tomorrow for all.

This project was implemented under the Earth Tribe, a world initiative that sees Scouts support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). World initiatives, developed with the support of Alwaleed Philanthropies, enable young people to gain lifelong skills and take the lead in community development efforts.