Start ‘carbon fast’ in Holy Week to aid environment–Legarda

You’ve heard of fasting and abstinence during Holy Week but ever hear of a “carbon fast?”

Sen. Loren Legarda on Sunday urged the faithful to engage in the more environment-friendly carbon fast, which refers to a lifestyle that leaves a smaller carbon footprint, as a timely practice during Holy Week and beyond.

For starters, Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on climate change, said that carbon fasting means opting for local, plant-based, in-season food that does not use up more energy in its transport to market or in its preservation.

This is because the transport of foodstuff and other products use up fuel, especially in the case of imported items that come from far-off countries.

Catholics are urged to abstain from eating meat—and on certain days from food altogether—as a form of sacrifice in oneness with the suffering of Jesus Christ during the Passion. This practice is observed mainly on all Fridays of Lent, more so on Good Friday.

Legarda said carbon fasting could be extended to other aspects of one’s lifestyle, including mobility by using more energy-efficient transportation like bikes and public transport, by carpooling or simply walking; using low-wattage appliances for smarter energy consumption; segregating waste; conserving water, and planting trees.

Stewards of God’s creation

“Filipinos are encouraged to fast in many other ways. Aside from fasting from food, we are asked to fast from vices and activities that we can do without, as we focus and usher in a period of reflection and spiritual growth. One best way is to carbon fast,” Legarda said.

The senator, who is running for reelection with the administration coalition Team PNoy, noted that “no less than Pope Francis said that we are the stewards of God’s creation and we must protect all things He created, including our environment.”

“To carbon fast is to reduce our individual carbon emissions, which is a concrete action on climate change that will ultimately help save our ailing ecosystem. It would be best if we practiced a low-carbon lifestyle, even beyond the Lenten season,” she said.

Legarda said that learning to manage natural resources more wisely “will eventually lead to the sustainability of our country. Ultimately, the objective is to help the world manage its ecological assets more judiciously so that humanity can live within the earth’s limitations.”

Quoting the Environmental Studies Institute of Miriam College, the senator said a low-carbon lifestyle “is the conscious effort by individuals and communities to change their daily routine and practices to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to create carbon dioxide sinks. The aggregate of these individual and community efforts will considerably mitigate climate change.”

A carbon dioxide (CO2) sink is a carbon reservoir that is increasing in size, and is the opposite of a carbon “source,” according to ScienceDaily on the web.