OpinionsEye OpenerSaving the environment even at Christmas

Saving the environment even at Christmas

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A few more nights of sleep and it will be Christmas.

It’s amazing to see people line up inside malls busily choosing what to give for gifts during the holiday season; lining up for the hams and queso de bola in grocery stores in the face of economic hardships that almost everyone is going through.

Notwithstanding the water crisis, the insurgency problems, the moral decay that many of us feel today, sea levels on the rise everywhere, criminality escalating — all of these can never dampen our anticipation of the Christmas holidays.

As a practicing Christian and a devout Catholic, I believe in celebrating Christmas, and in waiting for it with extreme eagerness. I love the gift-giving, the reunions with relatives and friends, decorating the Christmas tree with my wife and daughter, singing Christmas carols at home, and most especially, singing along with carolers who frequent our home during the season. In short, Christmas is just around the corner and I can ‘smell’ it.

But with the rising apprehensions about our present environment problems most especially climate change, I can’t help but wonder if I can genuinely feel the spirit of Christmas. So I’m thinking, what can we do so we can continue to celebrate Christmas faithfully without destroying the environment, without contributing to the decay that we are facing at present?

Below are my suggestions on how we can revel and have fun during the yuletide season without the waste, and without additionally contributing to emissions, and further harming the environment:

Get a real Christmas tree. For many of us who do not have the budget to buy a new Christmas tree, the name of the game is ‘recycling.’ After using the tree, we store it in the bodega, and preserve it for the next celebration. But we know what these commercial Christmas trees are made of — the trunk and the leaves are made of plastic, all the glittering stuff we decorate it with are all made of synthetic materials that when tossed away, do not biodegrade. So when the time comes that we will finally throw them away, they will become an addition to the tons of garbage that pollute the earth.

So why don’t we utilize a real tree? You might ask, are we going to cut trees now? No, definitely not! Also, you might say it’s difficult to find a real pine tree here in Dumaguete. But who says a Christmas tree has to be a pine tree? I am referring to the hundreds of drift wood lying around in beaches. If we use our creativity, that dead wood will look amazing in our living room or veranda, and we will not be destroying our surroundings.

NO to glitters and glistening wrap paper.
Let us try to avoid preparing gifts with excessive packaging, and avoid using sparkly and glittery wrapping paper, cards and advent calendars as they cannot be recycled. Instead, let us wrap gifts in plain parcel paper or newspaper or perhaps with banana leaves. Banana leaves can be very attractive when done creatively.

Experiences instead of material gifts. Another good way to reduce waste is to reduce the giving of unwanted gifts that will only occupy storage rooms and bauls for the next 12 months.

Let us instead give experiences instead of things. For instance, if we have a sick relative, why don’t we spend an afternoon with him, instead of merely sending over a picture frame or a glass bowl? Or perhaps, for an aged friend, maybe we can take her to the park or the boulevard, and reminisce her favorite events or places. In other words, let us share our time, not material things.

LED bulbs. For our veranda and for the Christmas tree, let us use LED bulbs if we have to use lights at all. At least, we are assured that not much electricity is wasted, and our Noreco bill will not skyrocket by January.

Vegan food instead of lechon. I’m sure this suggestion may be harder to take, knowing how almost every Filipino family would relish the sight of a lechon on the table come Christmas Day or on New Year’s Eve. But let’s face it, what can lechon give us aside from high-blood pressure? So instead of the usual pork-laden dishes, why don’t we be creative with our menu this Christmas? Doing away with the usual party fare can actually mean less expense, and the assurance that we are eating healthy food even during celebrations.

Get talking. Climate change experts say mass awareness and lobbying is necessary to bring about change. Bringing up the reality of climate change over Christmas dinner can raise and increase awareness. With this, we can provide a lively and friendly debate even as we celebrate Jesus Christ who I’m sure will never approve of humans depleting the earth’s resources.

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Author’s email:
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