From late 2017 until the start of 2018, there seems to be a rise in the promotion of eco-friendly products, and sustainable living. Suddenly, everyone’s selling reusable straws and utensils, washable menstrual pads, most grocery stores require the use of eco-bags, and some businesses have started using eco-friendly packaging.
Even the beauty industry is stepping up their game by coming up with products that are less harmful to the environment, and at the same time, healthier for the consumer to use.
It’s obviously becoming a trend, and environmentalists hope for it to be more than just that. Because we need to take care of our environment more than ever.
Aside from these trends, authorities are coming up with ways to contribute to the betterment of the environment. Recently, in the Philippines, a bill that mandates parents to plant two trees for every child born in their household is almost ready to become a law. Headed by Reps. Noel Villanueva (NPC, Tarlac) and Carmen Zamora (PDP-Laban, Compostela Valley), they reiterated that failure to comply will not secure the release of their children’s birth certificates.
According to Villanueva, the bill aims to give people the right to live in a healthy environment and safe space, through preservation. The planting of the seedlings will be done in their own homes or a nearby location that will be assigned to them by their barangay.
These site assignments must first be approved by the Department of Natural Resources. This is to ensure that the locations chosen are suitable for the plants in terms of climate and topography.
The head of the barangay will work hand in hand with the Department of Natural Resources and is required to provide a certificate of compliance to be submitted to the registrar.
Similar initiatives have been made all over the world. In York, England, the City of York Council and the Rotary Club of York teamed up to implement a project that requires parents that are registering their child, to plant a tree along Haxby road.
Every parent registering the birth of their child through York Register Office will be offered the chance to get involved in the scheme at no cost to them. Parents will be asked to send their baby/babies’ names to a dedicated rotary website http://www.yorkrotary.cvo.uk/tree-partnership and a tree will be planted to commemorate their arrival at an appropriate time. (York Press)
Another project is “One Tree Per Child” where in a student in his or her primary level will be required to plant a tree as part of a school activity. This project is initiated by Olivia Newton-John and Jon Dee, who are also the original founders of National Tree Day.
One Tree Per Child aims to highlight the importance of the preservation of the environment through tree planting as early as primary school. This project is regularly being done in schools in Australia. They have currently planted a total of 39,000 trees.
Efforts are continually being made to to preserve the environment. As mentioned earlier, we need to take care of it more than ever. We don’t have to wait for it to be in critical condition just so we do our part. Projects initiated will not be successful if we do not comply. Let’s work as a team in saving the environment.