EcoWaste sees less Undas trash

MANILA, Philippines — Environment group EcoWaste Coalition has observed a significant decrease in littering in cemeteries during Undas.

The group, however, lamented that garbage bins were overflowing with unsegregated waste.

“While littering inside the cemeteries has remarkably dropped, mixed waste bins, plastic bags and other improvised receptacles were literally bursting at the seams in most cemeteries,” EcoWaste Coalition national coordinator Aileen Lucero said in a press statement.

Lucero said this indicated that “visitors simply threw their discards in the bins for personnel to pick up and haul to disposal sites.”

“This is unacceptable as visiting the graves of our dead should be done with utmost respect, including not leaving any trash behind,” Lucero said.

EcoWaste volunteers called Basura patrollers visited 27 public and private cemeteries in Luzon, 17 of which are in Metro Manila, to observe cleanliness on Nov. 1.

The group said among the items commonly discarded by cemetery visitors were single-use plastic bags, disposable food containers, plastic water bottles, paper and plastic cups and plates, snack packs, food boxes as well as food leftovers.

“Throw-away culture is drowning our cemeteries during Undas, especially in places where vendors of food, beverage and other stuff are allowed as most of the things they offer are packed in convenient but single-use plastics,” Lucero said.

EcoWaste said that while littering in cemeteries was not as rampant as in previous years, its volunteers observed garbage on the streets and sidewalks near cemeteries.

“The streets and alleys leading to cemeteries would have been carpeted with litter if not for the round-the-clock services by street sweepers assigned by local government units,” Lucero said.