RECURRENT garbage woe blights cemeteries during the annual observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. Why don’t we opt for a waste-free and toxic-free Undas? Let us stop being inconsiderate litterbugs who turn cemeteries into dumpsites with our wasteful habits.
The cemetery is not a dumpsite. Our beautiful tradition of Undas can exact a major toll on public health and the environment if we continue generating avoidable trash and pollution. Given the threats of more injuries and fatalities due to changing climate patterns and more frequent calamities, we should find it necessary to switch now to a simpler, climate-friendly and toxic-free lifestyle.
Let every occasion that comes our way be an opportunity to make green choices. Our beloved departed ones deserve our prayers and respect, not trash. Let us honor them by not trashing the cemeteries and keeping them waste-free all the time.
Consider this editorial a public appeal for a waste-free Undas. We request the full cooperation of the public in making the cemetery a clean and safe place to visit and pay homage to our departed ones. The cemetery management and staff can only do so much and we really need the people to help and be involved.
For example, pick clean-burning candles that do not give off black fumes or ash. Also, shun candles with metal wicks, which may contain harmful chemicals such as lead.
Light just enough candles to save on money and energy as well as to cut pollution. It’s the thought that counts, not the number of candles set alight and, definitely, not the dispersal of harmful by-products.
Offer locally-grown fresh flowers instead of imported ones that are not only costly, but also require tons of energy to get them flown to flower shops and to you.
Refrain from putting flowers in plastic wraps. Plastics eventually end up clogging waterways and causing floods, injuring and killing marine animals, and poisoning communities with hazardous chemicals when burned.
Pack everything you wish to bring to the cemetery in reusable bags and baskets in lieu of single-use plastic bags and containers. Instead of plastic disposables, better use banana leaves or containers that can be reused.
Throw all discards into the proper recycling bins and be conscious at all times that littering in the cemetery — as elsewhere — is a no-no.
Lastly, offer prayers of gratitude and remembrance to your departed loved ones. Prayers are said to be the best way of thanking and honoring the people we value and love, and they cause neither garbage nor pollution.
