While Christmas is a season of gift giving and good cheer, it also comes with trash – gift wrapping and plastic bags from shopping being only some among the problems. The Philippines is, in fact, the world’s third largest source of plastic pollution in the oceans. 

A bazaar in Intramuros aims to reduce the waste that comes not only with Christmas shopping, but with shopping in general.

The Old Manila Eco Market, which runs every Friday to Sunday up to December 31 at Plaza de Roma in front of the Manila Cathedral, sells eco-friendly and mostly Filipino-made products. It also bans plastic for packaging, and encourages customers to bring their own eco bags, as well as utensils and lunch boxes for food. It also emphasizes health and homemade products, prohibiting soft drinks and heavily processed food with preservatives.

Items sold range from products encouraging zero or reduced waste like reusable steel and bamboo straws, shampoo bars, and bags and clothes from repurposed fabrics to homemade or handcrafted products like dream catchers, jewelry, cakes and cookies, some made by and for the support of communities like Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors. 

Old Manila Eco Market co-founders Shine de Castro and Sheila Leyva were motivated to launch the eco-friendly market because of their experiences with trash in Metro Manila. 

“I’m a commuter and the daily commute has been a constant struggle. It is made even more challenging when there are heavy rains and floods because of the trash,” De Castro says. 

Leyva, a dragon boat athlete, also shares her dismay at the trash she sees whenever she rows at Manila Bay. 

De Castro and Leyva, both mothers, are hopeful that their “small efforts” would be felt by their children’s generation, as they agree that actions like this take time to have an impact.  

Many of the market’s merchants are also passionate about doing what they can for the environment.

“At first, we just wanted to switch to organic shampoo because my boyfriend and I have sensitive scalp,” Hoy Plastik co-owner Cheyenne Reyes relates.

“Then when I was browsing the Internet, I saw articles on plastic bottles, etc. I realized that we should have at least a single contribution to save the planet.” Her business, which she runs with her boyfriend Raymond Orbita, started with reusable straws and expanded to other zero-waste items like shampoo bars she herself makes. 

Old Manila Eco Market also holds workshops at Plaza de Roma, usually facilitated by its merchants, like a dream catcher making workshop and a home linen spray making workshop.

Every weekend, events and performances like concerts and poetry readings are also held at the market.

Below are more photos of products at the market. 

Old Manila Eco Market is open 7 am to 6 pm from Friday to Sunday at Plaza de Roma, Intramuros (in front of Manila Cathedral). For upcoming workshops and events, check out their Facebook page. Interested merchants can also contact them there.

For those who want to get started on or learn more about a zero-waste lifestyle, check out this beginner’s guide. – Rappler.com

Claire Madarang is a writer, researcher, and documenter whose work and wanderlust takes her to adventures like backpacking for seven weeks and exploring remote islands and bustling cities alike. Follow her adventures, travel tips, and epiphanies on her blog Traveling Light and on her Instagram.