Pinoys urged to fast for the environment

MANILA, Philippines - As the nation prepares for the observance of Holy Week, Comissioner Heherson Alvarez of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) urged Filipinos yesterday to consider a different kind of penitence – fasting for the environment while addressing the need for clean, sufficient and sanitary water.

Fast for Mother Earth, a yearly program for Holy Week initiated by the Earthsavers Movement 10 years ago, is a different kind of penitence that highlights the need to protect our environment and address climate change.

“During the Lenten season, as we atone for our sins, it may be most relevant that we also fast for the environment,” Alvarez said, as he asked Filipinos to join the effort.

“A withdrawal from our wasteful consumption habits, a cutback of a meal a day, could provide some relief to our beleaguered environment and drive home the point that the solution to our environmental degradation would be disciplined use of energy like electricity and vehicle fuel, water and food, forest, promotion of alternative clean energy,” he said.

According to Alvarez, who is also founding chair of the Earthsavers Movement, he makes this appeal every year to remind the public of their responsibility to protect Mother Earth.

He explained that this kind of penitence is more significant this year after the homily of Pope Francis during his installation mass, where he asked everyone to be “protectors of God’s creatures and of the environment in which we live.”

“This selfless penitence drives home the point that climate change, as a man-made disaster, will need our collective efforts to address” Alvarez said, adding that an equivalent savings an individual makes with this kind of penitence may be turned over to their parishes to respond to the call of Luis Cardinal Tagle to assist the Kapwa Alay disaster fund of the Archdiocese of Manila.

“As we put a stress on our scarce resources, the more we consume, the more waste we generate which, as a community, we have been unable to manage systematically and sustainably,” he added.

Climate change, which upsets global temperatures and the balance of the global climate, is primarily caused by the warming of the earth due to extensive burning of fossil fuels, such as gasoline, coal and oil, and improper waste management that leads to the accumulation of methane, a bi-product of rotting garbage and a lethal greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

“We must cut back on our use of water, vehicle, fuel, food, forest and all other dwindling resources for the meaningful celebration of three significant events,” he said, referring to World Water Day last March 22, the United Nation’s Declaration of 2013 as the International Year for Water Cooperation, and Earth Day this coming April 22.

Meanwhile, Senator Loren Legarda has recommended new ways of fasting to atone for our sins that includes efforts to reduce individual carbon emissions to protect the environment.

Legarda encouraged Filipinos over the weekend to fast on the use of carbon, a kind of fasting that is environment-friendly.

“Filipinos are encouraged to do fasting in many other ways. Aside from fasting from food, we are asked to fast from vices and activities that we can do without, as we focus on and usher in a period of reflection and spiritual growth. One best way is to carbon fast,” Legarda said.

Legarda outlined several ways to “carbon fast” – opt for food that is local, plant-based, and in-season because food from distant places utilizes more energy for transportation and preservation, resulting in greater carbon emission; venture into modes of transportation that are energy-efficient, such as walking, biking, taking public transport, and carpooling whenever possible.

She also saw the need to economize on energy consumption and shift to indigenous and renewable energy sources, use low-wattage appliances, unplug electronics when not in use, and other similar practices; practice solid waste management by segregating at the source, composting biodegradable wastes and recycling; consume water wisely like gathering and storing rainwater for daily chores; and planting trees, creating forest parks, protecting natural forests and undertaking reforestation.

“To carbon fast is to reduce our individual carbon emissions, which is a concrete action on climate change and will ultimately help in saving our ailing ecosystems. It would be best if we practice a low-carbon lifestyle, even beyond the Lenten season,” said Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change.

– With Christina Mendez