Eco group's 'Papu-toxic' campaign warns children vs fireworks

The EcoWaste Coalition, an environmental group, has been going around schools to warn school children about the dangers of using fireworks.

Radio dzBB's Manny Vargas reported that EcoWaste members visited the Kamuning Elementary School in Quezon City on Monday as part of their "Papu-Toxic" campaign.

The EcoWaste members urged the pupils to use alternatives to fireworks.

The group said children can create noise by using filled cans and bottles or banging on pots and pans.

Shopping tips

Meanwhile, as the Christmas shopping rush peaks this week, EcoWaste offered tips for earth-friendly shopping.

The group said the shopping extravaganza can be stressful not only for shoppers and motorists but for Mother Earth as well.

“With the huge amounts of fossil fuels spent, greenhouse gases emitted and trash created during the most festive time of the year, Christmas can be ‘traumatic,’ instead of fun, for the climate and Mother Earth," said EcoWaste president Roy Alvarez, on the group’s blog site.

The group said the extraction, transportation, processing, manufacturing, marketing and advertising of products and eventual disposal will consume much energy.

All these activities result in greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet, it added.

“We make the holiday pollution worse by our failure to embrace the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) as core practices in our personal, family and community lifestyles," Alvarez said.

“"If we don’t watch our waste size over the joyous holidays, we’ll surely end up with another stinking garbage disposal crisis that can ruin the yuletide spirit," he added.

The group warned Metro Manila’s garbage can go up by one-third, or even double in some areas, during the Christmas holidays due to the widespread consumption binge.

It cited figures from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority that Metro Manila can generate some 6,000 metric tons of trash daily.

“Bins and bags overflowing with plastic garbage, packaging materials, kitchen discards and party leftovers are common sights in the neigborhood during the jolly season, while ugly and smelly dumps thrive on street corners and around market areas," the group said.

Posted in: 'Papu-toxic'