Philippine diving town swaps rubbish for rice to clean up beaches, lower food costs

Green campaigners in a diving resort in the Philippines have come up with a novel way to clean up the town’s shores – offering to swap a bag of rice for every sack of rubbish gathered by local residents.

Mabini in Batangas province is known for its vibrant corals and marine biodiversity, but a rising tide of plastic pollution poses an increasing threat to marine animals such as sea turtles, said volunteer Giulio Endaya.

“They’ve been known to eat straws and plastic bags, and the fish also eat microplastics that have been broken down in the shore,” Endaya said.

But since the rice-for-trash programme began nearly two years ago, more than 4.3 metric tons (9,400 pounds) of plastic waste have been collected, he added.