Celebrating Mothers and Mother Earth

Soon, it will be Mother’s Day!

Happy, happy greetings of gratitude and love to all mothers throughout the world! And including those who have since joined the Lord as well!

What about Mother Earth?

How many of us have remembered to thank and celebrate our Mother Earth for the love, home, and other provisions shared with us all, across generations?

Have we returned the same care and protection provided us all by Mother Earth?

Looking at our present world, the answer is clear and obvious.

We have neglected and continue to harm Mother Earth.

If we do not change, we are given till 2030 before the adverse effects of human-produced global warming will boomerang back to all!

As we celebrate Mother’s Day, would you also like to celebrate and thank Mother Earth?

Would you like to start by keeping your waste away from destroying Mother Earth?

Shall we start, today, with our kitchen/food/organic wastes?

Instead of throwing these for disposal to dumpsites and landfills, would you like to start composting these instead, immediately, today?

Coinciding with Mother’s Day, May 7-13 is International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) 2023! This year’s theme: For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost!

It may be worth repeating always that composting your kitchen/food/organic wastes will, among other benefits, 1) improve the health and fertility of soil and produce healthier plants, including healthier food for all, 2) reduce soil erosion caused by wind and water, 3) reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers harmful to Mother Earth and human health, 4) reduce dumpsite/landfill waste that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, help reduce global warming and protect people and Mother Earth.

The compost and composted plants can also offer livelihood and extra income for the practitioners.

Your simple daily kitchen/food/organic waste composting will be a very fitting tribute and celebration for Mother Earth and a wonderful offering to protect people and planet, you included!

 Your home composting can be your simple but meaningful form of partnership with the rest of the world in celebrating 2023 International Compost Awareness Week.

Then please also encourage all your family members, neighbors, office mates, classmates, church members, all others to do home composting to celebrate and thank Mother Earth every day!!!

In what promises to be a vital fruitful direction, the Cebu City Human Resource and Development Office has proposed, for May to July, a series of 90-minute-onsite training initiative featuring resource persons and instructional modules to educate Cebu City’s government employees and their households to manage their existing wastes (focus on biowastes for home/community composting) and recyclables (specifically paper and plastic).

This laudable initiative is Cebu City’s timely contribution to the ongoing efforts to avert/mitigate global warming and pro-active response to prepare for El Niño and ensure food security for households and communities through alternative household/ community-based solid waste management and capability building, starting with home composting and gardens.

Hopefully, Cebu City’s 10,000 government employees and Cebu City’s 10,000 scholars can be enjoined by no less than Mayor Mike Rama himself to participate in this promising campaign and result in city-wide DEO (daily eco-offering waste segregation) and AGAPE ( A kitchen/biowaste composted Garden per Home/Ecosystem)!

In a related encouraging gesture, DENR-7 Regional Director Paquito Melicor has also expressed interest to have their office employees and officials participate in the Cebu City Composting and Waste Management Training and Capacity Building! RED Melicor has even proposed supplying soil for this composting initiative!!!

Thank you, Cebu City Mayor Rama, Ms. Emma Azcarraga Ramas (his special assistant on Solid Waste Management), CCPDO head Yumi Espina, CC Agriculture head Joey Baclayon, Ms. Chappy Piramide (CC Sangguniang Panlungsod Secretary) and DENR RED Melicor and Assistant RD Eddie Llamedo for your wonderful partnership/support for this composting campaign which we hope will produce home/community/city compost advocates and practitioners to celebrate/protect Mother Earth!