Group Suggests 12 Substitute Ways of Saying “Thank You” without Plastic
21 May 2025, Quezon City. The EcoWaste Coalition, an advocacy group for a zero waste and toxics-free society, has an important appeal to all candidates who won in the midterm elections last May 12: “Please do away with ‘thank you’ tarpaulins.”
The group made the plea following a site inspection organized yesterday by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in Payatas, Quezon City where tons of discarded plastic campaign tarpaulins from the city are temporarily kept pending final disposal.
COMELEC Chair George Erwin Garcia and Commissioner Ernesto Maceda, Jr. led the inspection of election campaign waste at a site in Quezon City.
COMELEC officials along with other stakeholders assess the environmental impact of the May 12 midterm polls.
As revealed by COMELEC Chairman George Erwin Garcia, some 64.5 tons of election-related trash were collected across Metro Manila, posing environmental challenges for the authorities and the people as campaign materials like plastic tarpaulins are not biodegradable and with very limited reusability and recyclability due to their chemical composition.
Tarpaulins, which are often made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, contain toxic additives, including plasticizers and stabilizers like cadmium.
Not easily reused or recycled, plastic tarpaulin waste often ends up in disposal facilities.
Election campaign waste, mostly plastic tarpaulins, awaiting disposal.
“The post-election campaign clean-up has yet to be completed and we already see newly-installed ones from candidates thanking their constituents for their trust and support,” observed Cris Luague, Zero Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
“We might see more ‘thank you’ tarpaulins on utility poles and on trees in the coming weeks as poll winners prepare to assume their posts on June 30,” he said.
“As we come to terms with the environmental impact of the last electoral exercise, we ask all poll winners to do away with the customary hanging of ‘thank you’ tarpaulins, and express their gratitude to the voters in a way that will not cause further stress and harm to Mother Earth,” he said. “We need not contribute further to the toxic plastic and microplastic pollution facing our society.”
Instead of ‘thank you’ tarpaulins, which sooner or later will end up as hazardous waste, the EcoWaste Coalition encouraged poll winners, individually or as a group, to signify their appreciation to their supporters by, for example:
1. posting e-thank you greetings and videos on their websites and social media platforms
2. planting trees to offset carbon emissions from campaign activities
3. leading a community clean-up drive like unclogging waterways
4. providing free meals to waste and sanitation workers for the hours they put in removing campaign materials
5. participating in the upcoming Brigada Eskwela school cleanup and repair on June 9 to 13
6. giving back-to-school essentials to needy children and youth
7. donating segregated waste bins in high-traffic places
8. sponsoring community art projects like murals using lead-safe paints
9. organizing free medical and dental services
10. supporting community pantries or feeding programs
11. working for improved public services; or by
12. assisting projects addressing economic, environmental, climate, health, and gender justice issues.
“We urge everyone, especially our duly elected local and national leaders, to view campaign waste not as an inevitable byproduct of our democratic practices but as a challenge requiring preventive solutions,” the EcoWaste Coalition said, noting the value of protecting the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment from chemicals and wastes.
The group emphasized the importance of replacing PVC plastic tarpaulins with environmentally-acceptable alternatives. As defined in Republic Act No. 9003 and COMELEC Resolution No. 11111, environmentally acceptable pertains to “the quality of being reusable, biodegradable or compostable, recyclable and non-toxic or hazardous to the environment.
