Public urged to observe garbage-free Holy Week

MANILA, Philippines - This long weekend, pray, fast, and dispose of your garbage properly.

The Climate Change Commission (CCC) is appealing to the public to continue recycling and segregating garbage this Holy Week, an annual holiday when garbage piles up in vacation sites. 

“Christian reflection can be best observed with wholesome actions. Let’s remember that improper garbage disposal produces methane that is 21 percent more disastrous than carbon dioxide,” CCC Secretary Heherson Alvarez said.

He said most vacationers taking advantage of the Holy Week break leave tons of garbage in beaches, forest and mountain trails, hotels, and resorts.

Alvarez said plastic thrown in the sea has killed turtles and seabirds that mistake it for food.

Mountaineers, on the other hand, tend to burn their garbage in the forest, causing fires.

Environment Secretary Horacio Morales also urged Catholics to ponder on the precarious state of the environment during the long weekend.

Horacio said the public can also do their share in environmental protection through conscientious use and maintenance of motor vehicles; respect for wildlife and their habitat, reporting incidences of environmental abuse to proper authorities, and not posting campaign paraphernalia on trees.