An environmental group castigated yesterday devotees and onlookers for leaving behind piles of garbage along the processional route of the Black Nazarene in Manila.
EcoWaste Coalition said that for the nth time, their calls for a spotless ‘Traslacion’ seemed to fall on deaf ears as assorted discards were indiscriminately dumped along the roads and sidewalks.
“We are saddened by the lack of respect for the environment by some of the devotees who simply left their discards lying on the ground for others to pick up,” said Ochie Tolentino, Zero Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
“From Luneta to Quiapo, we managed to take photos of mounds of garbage that have kept waste workers and volunteers busy and tired,” she reported.
Among the common waste materials discarded were food leftovers, food packaging, bamboo skewers, polystyrene containers, plastic bags, plastic bottles, soiled newspapers and cigarette butts, the group said.
“We even found PET bottles and plastic bags filled with human urine in Luneta,” Tolentino pointed out.
“It seems that the appeal for a trash-less Traslacion by no less than Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada has fallen on deaf ears. This is lamentable as January is also designated as Zero Waste month,” she noted. (Chito Chavez)