EDITORIAL - A billion acts of green

On World Earth Day 2011, which coincided with Good Friday, the earth came down on scores of small-scale miners in Compostela Valley. As of yesterday, five bodies had been pulled out of the disaster area, and local officials said they had given up hope of finding alive the 17 people who remained missing.

Unregulated mining has been going on in the Compostela town of Pantukan since a gold rush nearly 20 years ago dangled the promise of a better life for impoverished residents of the valley. Last Friday, incessant heavy rains dislodged chunks of the mountainside, which came crashing down and buried several shanties at the site.

How to deal with mining operations – both unregulated and those carried out with licenses and environmental permits by large companies – is just one of the many issues that are constantly debated in efforts to save the planet. The issues are rarely simple. Governments especially in the developing world often must weigh energy needs against the need to protect the environment. Rising demand for biofuels is one of the biggest causes of soaring global food prices, with the poor the worst affected. The world cannot do without minerals, but the extraction of ore from the earth always entails some form of environmental destruction. Replacing plastic bags with paper means cutting down more trees for pulp.

But there is continuing research on making the exploitation of natural resources sustainable. Much progress has been made in the development of green energy and environment-friendly technology. Progress has also been made in saving certain endangered species. There are many ways by which the environment can be protected.

Every individual can do his share; the mere act of tossing a cigarette butt or a candy wrapper into a garbage can instead of dropping it on the sidewalk can save the environment. This is the theme of this year’s World Earth Day, which the Philippines officially marks today: “A billion acts of green.” Everyone has a role to play in saving the planet. No act is too insignificant; every little bit helps.