Sign of environmental awareness shows in cemeteries

LUCENA CITY—The army of annual scavengers of All Saints’ Day recyclable materials—plastic bottles, aluminum soda cans and other forms of trash—was disappointed with the decreasing volume of their collection.

The trend was explained by an official of an environmentalist group here as the result of the growing environmental awareness of the people.

Mario Rosita, 15, said his earnings from recyclable trash that he gathers every All Saints’ Day had been decreasing in the last few years.

“There were fewer scattered plastic water bottles and empty soft drink cans in three private cemeteries. Before, these kinds of garbage were everywhere ready for picking,” Rosita said while rummaging a pile of trash at a corner of a memorial park here.

Juliet Borlon-Aparicio, Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Luzon officer in charge, said this trend was a positive indication of the public’s growing awareness of  environmental protection.

“It’s a good sign,” she told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

Aparicio attributed the low volume of recyclable garbage to the city ordinance that bans local businesses from using plastic bags and to the continuing environmental awareness campaign by the academe and nongovernment organizations.

Rosita, feeling dejected after finding nothing with value, said he would  no longer scavenge next year.

“It’s just a waste of time. I could barely earn P20 from my collected trash this year,” he said.

According to Aparicio, people are now conscious that nonbiodegradable trash should not just be treated as ordinary garbage but should instead be recycled   to prevent pollution.

She said she had also observed that more cemetery visitors had been bringing their own garbage back home.

She recalled that several years ago, she and her family were the only ones among their “cemetery neighbors” who were collecting their own trash.

“But yesterday (Nov. 1), almost all of us brought our respective garbage back home. Maybe for some, they want to sell the garbage for themselves. But still that’s one sign of positive awareness,” she said.

She said she also noticed that many cemetery visitors came with reusable containers such as lunch boxes and water jugs to avoid purchasing bottled water.

A worker in a private cemetery on the outskirts of the city also noted the low volume of trash left by the cemetery visitors on Friday. “It’s good for us. Less garbage, less work,” the worker said.