The Department of Trade and Industry, through its Consumer Policy and Advocacy Bureau (CPAB), spearheads this year’s World Consumer Rights (WCRD) celebration focusing on the need for consumers to help curb plastic pollution.
The annual commemoration of WCRD aims to raise global awareness on consumer rights and protection.
Building on last year’s celebration on being the sustainable consumer, this year’s theme, “Tackling plastic pollution,” highlights the need for collective action and the important role of consumers in curbing plastic pollution.
The CPAB under the Consumer Protection Group, in coordination with Consumers International (CI), targets to educate consumers on how they can support and participate in tackling plastic pollution and urge them to use plastic alternatives.
This year’s WCRD focuses on “7R: Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair, and Replace” that encourages consumers to adopt habits that will have a positive impact on the environment including re-evaluating their consumption habits, demanding more sustainable alternatives, extending the lifetime of plastic products and maximizing their value and usage by reusing them and disposing plastic waste appropriately by following local recycling guidelines.
The CPAB has set up venues for discussion and interaction on the WCRD theme.
In the consumer e-forum on March 15, the CI talks about “Breaking the plastic wave,” where different measures on how to reduce the flow of plastics will be discussed.
DTI Consumer Protection Group Usec. Ruth B. Castelo said, “The DTI encourages consumers to do their part in addressing this environmental issue by adopting habits that will have a positive environmental impact. One can help by bringing your water container to minimize the use of plastic water bottles. You can also help by using the other side of the paper for your draft documents.” – Press release
April 24, 2024
