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MANILA, Philippines—In celebration of Mother’s Day, an environmental watchdog group on Saturday paid tribute to Filipino women who are active in the campaign against pollution.
In a statement, the EcoWaste Coalition described mothers as “our first zero-waste teachers” for imparting important lessons on not being wasteful such as breast-feeding babies, using hand-me-downs and eating leftovers, and recycling materials that would otherwise be discarded.
“As key adherents of the zero-waste vision, we say thank you to our nanays (mothers) and lolas (grandmothers) for showing us how to manage our families and households [without wasting anything],” said Aileen Lucero, EcoWaste’s national coordinator.
“In our homes, our mothers were the first to remind us not to dispose of used containers such as the versatile garapon (glass jar), which can be ingeniously reused countless times,” Lucero said.
“Their maternal instinct to spend money wisely and save for the future has, without a doubt, helped in reducing the volume of trash that goes to the bins and ultimately to dumps and incinerators,” she said.
“We see zero-waste mothers in our communities creatively turning discards and scraps into functional and decorative items that can be sold to generate extra income for the family,” she said.
Lucero cited mothers in the environmental movement who are active in the zero-waste campaign: Elsie Brandes-de Veyra, Merci Ferrer, Ines Fernandez, Angelina Galang, Annie Guerrero, Neneng Joson, Marie Marciano, Sonia Mendoza, Tessa Oliva, Esther Pacheco, Ofelia Panganiban, Annette Papa, Leah Paquiz, Irma Percela, Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, Lyn Ramos, Baby Reyes, Velvet Roxas, Luz Sabas, Eileen Sison, Chi Tulao and Shally Vitan.