Of pencils and us

My mother used to complain that my younger brother lost his pencils as fast as he can say the word, "pencil." She told him that pencils don’t grow on trees, and that if he could get a peso for every pencil he lost, he’d be a millionaire by now.

In a manner of speaking, pencils do grow on trees. I asked myself just how many pencils could we get from one tree. I tried counting how many pencils my brother lost. I also tried counting how many pencils were lost by his classmates — who have the same pencil-losing habit as he. I gave up.

I started thinking about pencils when it hit me how much I love trees and plants. When my brother and I were kids, trees and plants were useful for games of hide-and-seek, as well as shields from the tormenting summer sun. Later on, I learned about other uses like housing and shelter. I even started my own club dedicated to trees. Our goal was to plant trees so there would be enough for everyone — even those yet to be born.

What saddens me nowadays is that people aren’t conscious of how important trees are. They’re not apathetic; they just aren’t aware. People don’t realize that for every pencil and paper they waste, they have, in some way, killed a tree.

Little things can wreak much havoc, the same way that a little effort can go a long way in making a turnaround. Instead of using wooden pencils, why not use mechanical pencils instead? For writing memos, why not just use e-mail? These gestures may seem small and insignificant, but to the environment, they are immense.

And to future generations, they are everything.