IN the Philippines, we are familiar with the term “bring your own baon” (meal), or BYOB for short. The last “B” also commonly stands for bottle or booze. But BYO — bring your own — has nothing to do with baon or booze. It’s about taking reusables with you in order to avoid whatever you might buy or order to be placed in single-use cups, food containers, bottles or bags. Napkins and utensils are also common BYO items, useful at, for instance, festivals. BYO, beyond being a personal choice, is a movement of people from all walks of life. People who are motivated by knowing that human activity is causing harm to the environment and by a desire to take some form of meaningful action.
BYO is often dismissed as inconvenient or treated as merely an individual lifestyle choice or household habit, explains Yayoi Koizumi of Zero Waste Ithaca. This organization is part of BYO-US Reduces, a network that brings together BYO community organizations across the United States.
Indeed, it may look insignificant, naive even, but BYO is often one of the few avenues available to ordinary folks to reduce their ecological footprint in general, plastic footprint in particular, and contribute to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation.
BYO is flexible, simple and doesn’t require any investment. It is “one of the most democratic forms of reuse,” and it “supports neighborhood businesses without requiring expensive proprietary systems,” as explained at the September 8 BYO-US Reduces online meeting. Aside from getting local businesses to support BYO, festivals have also been targeted, considering the large volume of single-use waste usually generated during such events. The model is worth studying by Cebu City: An estimated 700-1,000 tons of trash was generated during the Sinulog Grand Parade alone (CDN Digital, Jan. 20, 2026).
Speaking of the Philippines, BYO is the thing at the Tingi Tindahan in Barangay Potrero, Malabon City, a barangay of 43,000 residents. The barangay-run store sells ordinary household essentials such as cooking oil, condiments, sugar, snacks and more but without the plastic packaging. Instead, customers bring their own bottles and containers to be filled with the purchased items.
The Tingi Tindahan and Potrero’s advanced waste collection and segregation systems are not perfect. But the efforts of the community, particularly the waste workers, have led to a significant reduction in waste volume, including sachets. We can’t “afford to wait for policies to be perfected to address [the] plastic problem,” barangay councilor Khate Nolasco told The Guardian. At the time of the interview — July — the barangay was preparing for “floods and the expected deluge of plastic waste from neighboring districts and cities” (The Guardian, July 31, 2026).
Indeed, a few weeks later, Metro Manila experienced not merely a deluge but a sea of plastic waste.
The motivation and determination are the same among BYO advocates in the US, in the community in Potrero, and elsewhere where people are promoting sustainable consumption and Zero Waste. They believe that we must take action, that we can make a difference — and that we can’t wait for the government to come up with the perfect policies or for corporations to pull the plug on single-use.
It isn’t just about plastics — the “system change” that the people involved in Zero Waste initiatives are calling for is a shift from unsustainable production and consumption to something less wasteful, less polluting. It’s not about swapping one “disposable” material with another. “The goal isn’t to find a ‘green’ material for every disposable product” but to rethink how we produce and consume, Doun Moon of international environmental organization GAIA explained at the BYO-US Reduces online meeting.
It is in this light that we should assess “bioplastics.” The word bioplastics is an umbrella term for plastics that have “some percentage of bio-based inputs,” “and/or have the ability to biodegrade under specific conditions” (GAIA, July 2026). Bioplastics are often labeled as biodegradable, environment-friendly, compostable, or industrially compostable — but these are claims. There is no global regulation, no global standard. Thus, GAIA warns, there is “ample room for deceptive marketing practices, including greenwashing and false advertising.”
So, while “bioplastics” may sound good and green, we don’t actually know how safe and biodegradable they are. While they, unlike traditional plastics, may not be made from fossil fuels, they still contain chemical additives. Note also that oxo-degradable (sometimes called oxo-biodegradable) plastics are petroleum-based and not bioplastics. Oxo-degradable plastics “have additives that accelerate their fragmentation into microplastics” (GAIA). Fragmentation, not biodegradation.
BYO may not be a radical strategy toward system change. This is acknowledged by its own advocates. But they also believe that every action, however small, makes a difference. BYO is people-driven, low-tech, and doesn’t require any investment. We can all be part of the reuse movement. Never underestimate the power of people’s movements — businesses and governments cannot ignore forever a large number of people voting with their feet.
