As Filipinos observe Holy Week or go out of town for the long weekend, environmental group EcoWaste Coalition reminded people to keep their surroundings clean.
The group is calling for “zero waste” by encouraging Filipinos to “observe low-emission, climate-friendly and trash-free practices.”
“We can use the holy days to perform acts that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions, while conserving our diminishing natural resources,” EcoWaste’s Ochie Tolentino said in a statement.
The group quoted Archbishop Socrates Villegas who urged Filipinos “to act together to protect the planet from the impacts of climate change.”
“We are one with the church in calling for ecological conversion amidst the changing and warming climate, and many, we hope, will find the Holy Week an opportune time to make environmental amends,” Tolentino said.
The EcoWaste Coalition gave 12 tips to keep waste and harmful carbon emissions at minimum levels during the Holy Week:
- Stop degrading and and littering the environment by avoiding the use of plastic and burning garbage.
- Walk, bike or take the public transportation to the churches for the Visita Iglesia (church visits).
- Use recycled materials for makeshift huts for the reading, chanting or singing of the Passion of Christ (Pabasa). If painting is desired, use lead-safe decorative paints.
- Serve food for the penitential “Caridad” (food sharing) in reusable containers that can be washed and reused all over again.
- Take part in making the penitential walks like “Alay-Lakad” in Antipolo City litter-free.
- Pick up the trash along the route as part of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) rites in the neighborhood.
- Adorn floats for the Santo Entierro (Holy Interment) on Good Friday with longer-lasting mercury-free LED lamps and with locally-sourced flowers and plants.
- Celebrate the Salubong at dawn on Easter Sunday without lighting firecrackers and fireworks.
- Ensure that Easter fun games and activities are simple and not wasteful.
- Gather old and used items in good condition and donate to “Segunda Mana,” the special donations-in-kind program of Caritas Manila.
- Quiet down and opt for “staycation” at home for a meaningful bonding time with family members.
- For those going for out-of-town vacation, please take the following eco-mantra to heart: “take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.”
The group also asked politicians not to put up “Happy Easter” tarpaulins and other greetings “which only add to the street clutter and to the garbage to be collected and disposed of.” JE/rga