Church, environmental group urge 'green Christmas'

The Catholic Church and environment group Ecowaste Coalition joined forces Monday to remind the faithful to observe a "green Christmas" by observing Christmas in a simpler and cleaner manner. In a statement on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Web site, Caloocan bishop Deogracias Iñiguez Jr. and Ecowaste said the Yuletide is one of the "toughest times" of the year for the environment. "Refuse crass consumerism and rejoice in a simple and ecological celebration of Christmas," Iñiguez and the EcoWaste Coalition appealed. Ecowaste lamented the celebration of Christ's birth has become a pageant of "unbridled consumerism" and has become the "most wasteful and most energy-consuming festivity" in the Christian calendar. "Following the example of the Babe in the Manger, Christmas should be a time of strengthening His light within us so that we can give, receive and spread the real gifts of Christmas—hope, love, charity, peace and joy," Iñiguez said. He offered prayers of "more of this inner radiance and less of the store-bought glitter and pomp that quickly fade away at the end of the season." EcoWaste Coalition youth advocate LJ Pasion, meanwhile, said any action toward protecting the environment will go a long way in conserving "depleted" resources and in curbing climate change. The group said over-the-top decoration, marketing gimmicks, shopping extravaganzas, and the ubiquitous trash created by the holiday frenzy have increasingly shrouded the real essence of Christmas. In Metro Manila alone, trash generation of about 8,000 cubic meters daily is expected to go up by one-third during the Christmas season due to the consumption spree. "Let us all pay attention to the ecological and health costs of the choices we make this Christmas time," Pasion said. - GMANews.TV