IS REDUCING garbage this joyful season a tall order?
The much-awaited Christmas and New Year festivities are just around the corner. Can we celebrate in a manner that will not further take a toll on the environment which is already drowning in plastic waste and medical waste due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic?
It’s possible to trim down the generation of preventable “holitrash” (a portmanteau of “holiday” and “trash”) during the yuletide season. Wastefulness need not characterize the festive Christmas season of sharing. To prevent “holitrash” from wreaking havoc to the environment, we urge households, local authorities and businesses to keep discards that can be reused, recycled and composted out of bins, dumps and landfills. Bags and jewelry products made from recycled paper? Holiday decors from fabric, metal, paper and plastic recyclables? These are sustainable practices. But doing so takes courage and creativity.
As we celebrate the Redeemer’s birth amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we remind every home, parish and community to be mindful of the tons upon tons of garbage that will be generated if we simply consume and recklessly throw away what we consume. There’s no excuse for generating “holitrash” which can only add to the huge volume of single-use plastic waste and medical waste as a consequence of the pandemic.
As stewards of the environment, let us celebrate Christmas and usher in the New Year with the well-being of our Mother Earth in mind. We should make use of our inherent creativity and kindness to reduce our carbon footprint during the most joyous time of the year.
