A zero-waste advocacy group criticized Black Nazarene devotees for leaving tons of trash after a mammoth procession on Mon, which turned the Quiapo area into a wasteland. Some even dumped “bottles or trash bags filled with urine on the streets.”
“We are saddened by the lack of respect for the environment by some devotees who simply left their discards lying on the ground for others to pick up,” said Ochie Tolentino of EcoWaste Coalition.
The most common waste materials? Food leftovers, food packaging, barbecue sticks, polystyrene containers, plastic bags, plastic bottles, soiled newspapers and cigarette butts.
On the bright side, Tolentino notes the “sincere” efforts of the government, the Church and various student bodies to launch cleanup drives.
“In particular, EcoWaste lauded the Archdiocese of Manila Ecology Ministry for putting up a waste management system at Rizal Park. It also thanked the Philippine College of Criminology and other universities and parochial schools for mobilizing their students for a cleanup,” reports The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Last year, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority collected 315 tons of trash from the route of the Nazareno procession.
