To set off a newly established Humanist Alliance Philippines, International (HAPI) chapter, HAPI-Dumaguete has its pioneering activity to take part in the first ever Zero Waste March held in Dumaguete City on January 19, 2019.

The said event aims to celebrate the achievements of the zero waste movement in the city and the Negros Oriental province. Furthermore, it also calls for the public and the private sectors to incorporate more zero waste practices and strategies in the conduct of their business.

Participated by around 10 members of the organization, they joined other youth groups, NGOs, and environmental agencies as they marched starting from Quezon Park going around the downtown area and back.

“Humanists should be concerned about the environment considering that it is our environment that gives us certain resources that are beneficial for our lives—for humanity,” said Angelo Tabada, member of HAPI-Dumaguete, as he explains the role of a humanist for the environment.

“The crops, the fish, the livestock that we consume for food, the water we drink, and the air that we breathe are offered to us by the Earth. We should just not be taking from our environment; it should be a two-way street. We receive gifts from environment, so we should give care for it as well,” he added.

With the country’s lack of proper waste disposal facilities and practice, ranks the Philippines as among the top contributors of plastic waste in the world’s oceans, according to a report released by the Ocean Conservancy.

Cited in the report, the country produces 2.7 million metric tons of plastic waste every year, with half a million metric tons believed to be exiting into the Pacific Ocean, making this problem the main focus of the participating organization.

Tabada also said that to effectively help humanity’s progress into greater heights, the people must “take care of the environment as well, the Earth as a whole.”

Moreover, member Jon Nichole Lapac mentioned that Filipinos should consider going a zero waste lifestyle because of the huge waste problem the country has.

“To address the problem, we should enforce stricter compliance in terms of taking actions such as “zero waste” management even stronger,” he added.

Zero Waste is the advocacy that promotes the designing and managing of products to eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials.

War On Waste Negros Oriental organized the said march. The whole month of January is Zero Waste Month, as mandated by Presidential Proclamation no. 760, dated May 5, 2014.