With elections over, bets urged to help in cleanup

RECYCLE, PLEASE EcoWaste Coalition shows upcycled materials made from tarpaulin and other campaign materials. —Jhesset O. Enano

MANILA, Philippines — As the election season drew to a close, winners and losers alike were told: Clean up your mess.

With posters bearing their faces and names displayed on every street corner, candidates and political parties were urged to take responsibility for disposing of their campaign materials, and working to combat the country’s worsening waste problem.

Environment and health watchdog EcoWaste Coalition said those who ran for elective posts should lead in taking down the campaign materials that they had put up.

But instead of throwing them into landfills and dumps, the group said it was much better to sort and recycle these paraphernalia.

Aileen Lucero, the group’s national coordinator, said that while they had called for the enforcement of the resolution of the Commission on Elections for bets to use recyclable materials during the campaign period, their plea went unheeded.

“Since this was the case, we want to show what could be done instead to avoid filling our landfills with additional trash,” she added.

Repurposed tarps

Showcasing their “products” at the storage area of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, where thousands of collected posters were stockpiled, EcoWaste said tarpaulins and streamers might be repurposed into shopping bags, cell phone cases, shoe containers and delivery bags.

The sample bags carried the faces of popular politicos, such as reelected Makati Mayor Abby Binay, newly minted Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Carlo Sotto and former Sen. JV Ejercito.

Paraphernalia made of paper, meanwhile, may be turned into bookmarks, memo pads, folders, envelopes and even teaching aids for the coming school year.