Tuesday, December 18, 2007 Speak Out: Green Christmas By Ecowaste Coalition
AS Christendom welcomes the season of Advent, a clarion call is sounded by a church leader for the Filipino faithful to hew closer to the essence and simplicity of the first Christmas and, as real stewards of God’s creation, lead the way in “greening” the coming festivities.
Bishop Deogracias Iñiquez Jr., chairman of the permanent committee on public affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, joined the EcoWaste coalition in appealing to every Juan or Juana de la Cruz to refuse crass consumerism and rejoice in a simple and ecological celebration of Christmas.
Originally a joyous celebration of the Redeemer’s birth in the simplicity and poverty of a manger, Christmas has transformed into a pageant of unbridled consumerism and has become the most wasteful and most energy-consuming festivity in the Christian calendar.
“Following the example of the Babe in the Manger, Christmas should be a time of strengthening His light within us so that we can give, receive and spread the real gifts of Christmas — hope, love, charity, peace and joy,” Bishop Iñiquez said. “We pray that we will have more of this inner radiance and less of the store-bought glitter and pomp that quickly fade away at the end of the season,” he added.
In this light, let us all pay attention to the ecological and health costs of the choices we make this Christmas. Any action we take to prevent waste and pollution as we rejoice in the birth of the redeemer will go a long way in conserving our depleted resources and in curbing climate change.
Over-the-top decorations, marketing gimmicks, shopping extravaganzas and the ubiquitous trash created by the holiday frenzy have increasingly shrouded the true meaning of Christmas.
Unknown to many, the highly commercialized observance of Christmas and other popular festivities aggravates the country’s environmental and health problems. Unfettered consumption eats up huge quantities of raw materials and energy, and generates all types of wastes and pollutants, including greenhouse gas emissions that cause our planet to heat up.
Also, such thoughtless celebrations produce tons upon tons of holiday trash. Metro Manila’s trash generation of about 8,000 cubic meters daily is expected to go up by one-third during the Christmas season due to the consumption spree. Household bins will brim over with mixed discards, while stinking “guerilla” dumpsites mushroom in street corners, sidewalks and vacant lots.
Plastic bags, disposable containers, packaging materials, kitchen waste and party leftovers from the flurry of Christmas activities usually end up in poor communities where these are dumped or burned, endangering the health of residents with toxic pollution.
Here are tips to prevent drowning in wastes and toxins during the joyful season:
1. Recreate the scene of nativity using recycled materials. Let your home, school, barangay or church belen mirror the profound meaning of the redeemer’s birth amidst the simplicity and poverty of the manger.
2. Recycle decorations from previous celebrations or create new ones from discards or from what you already have. Decorate with used materials or natural ornaments as much as possible.
3. Reuse old Christmas trees or create your own using potted plants or trees, twigs or broomsticks.
4. If you are to buy some holiday decorations, look for items that are locally made, non-toxic, reusable and require no electricity.
5. Create garlands made of recycled materials such as old cards, gift wraps and ribbons instead of Christmas lights to cut on energy use.
6. If you intend to adorn your home, workplace, barangay hall or church with holiday lights, choose safe, energy efficient and long lasting lights such as light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. Only use Christmas lights and electrical ornaments approved by the Bureau of Product Standards.
7. Use your Christmas lights sparingly. Consider lighting them up only as Christmas nears. Turn them off during daylight.
