An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has encouraged the people to give eco-friendly gifts this holiday season.
“We recommend that they give eco-friendly stuff,” said Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, chairman of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee.
He urged the public to environment friendly gifts such as plants, to their loved ones this Christmas, which also persuades the receiver to care for the environment.
“It’s not only eco-friendly it is also cheaper since you can get it from your own backyard,” Iniguez said.
Likewise, he urged holiday shoppers not to use plastic bags and instead carry “bayong”, a hand-woven native bag made of buri palm leaves or other locally available plant materials.
“We should avoid using plastic and this is one good opportunity for people to learn,” Iniguez said.
The prelate’s call coincides with the pro-environment group Ecowaste Coalition that supports the previous move of the Samahang Pagkakaisa ng mga Tindera sa Talipapa (SPTT) to observe every Monday beginning October 11 as “No Plastic Bag Day” to cut unrestrained consumption and disposal of plastic bags.
“Let us take pride in using the ‘bayong’ in the ‘palengke’ and even in shopping malls knowing that we are saving the planet, ourselves and the future generations by cutting our craving for plastic bags and the ensuing emissions,” the prelate earlier said.
Government data revealed that plastic comprises 15 percent of Metro Manila’s solid waste, with food and kitchen waste accounting for about 45 percent, paper 16 percent, glass and wood 9 percent and other discards 15 percent.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources data also showed that some 756,986 kilos of garbage were collected during the coastal cleanup operations in 2009 with plastic bags constituting 300,176 kilos or almost half of the retrieved garbage from shorelines and waterways.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Bishop asks the people to give eco-friendly gifts this Christmas
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