Pilgrims observe clean, green environment during papal visit

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – The office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources regional office 8 was thankful to the public and the pilgrims for their mindfulness and discipline and listening to the call for a "clean and green" environment during the papal visit.

DENR-8 Regional Executive Director Leonardo Sibbaluca said that the estimated 160,000 pilgrims who attended the Papal Mass at the Tacloban City Airport last January 17, generated a "very negligible waste during the activity".

It was observed that what the pilgrims brought to the Mass area were also brought by them when they left, except for the few water soaked paper mats that cannot be taken by them anymore, Sibbaluca said.

It was also observed that what mostly remained in the Mass area were the empty water plastic bottles. The pilgrims were not allowed to bring with them bottled water to the Mass area because they were provided by the organizers with these items.

Sibbaluca also said the crowd along the 12-kilometer papal motorcade route from the airport to the adjacent town of Palo where the Pope dined with the 30 survivors "was practically waste-free".

He said the DENR-8 appealed to the pilgrims and the public to produce less waste by practicing the 3 Rs: Reduce the amount and toxicity of trash you discard; reuse containers and products; and recycle as much as possible, which includes buying products with recycled content.