Plastic trash - the BIG (small) problem

When I discussed my project with Suren Erkman in Switzerland, industrial ecologist and professor at the University of Lausanne, he sugggested I look at the source of plastic in the Philippines to better under stand the full cycle. One place to start is the plastic packaging that is imported into the country in the form of consumer goods. How to reduce, at the source? Less packaging means buying larger volumes. Well, behold thy enemy: the tiny, single-use or travel size items that are sold in every shop here in the Philippines. The problem is economic: people can't afford a large bottle of shampoo and maybe have enough on an good day to buy a single shot. There's a social and political component as well -- the US influence is seen most blantantly through the amount of junk foods available. You can find a styrofoam "Cup o' Noodles" Americanized Asian soup just about anywhere here.