Saving the Environment, A Piece of Paper at a Time

I have this personal commitment, or one might say obsession, to save waste paper as much as possible. I have observed that paper is one of the most wasted materials in office and in schools. From school to office, I have noticed that reams and reams of paper were being thrown away. I imagined hundred of trees that were put to waste because of this wasteful scenario. Because of this, I have a bag in a corner of my room where I can place waste papers. When the bag is full, I hand over the bag to a magbobote (a person whose job is to collect or purchase recyclable materials and in turn sell them to junkshops) in exchange for money.

Paper is one of the easily wasted materials by our wasteful society. Metro Manila is flooded with it, and in many forms like pamphlets for advertising, food packaging like in boxes of pizza, receipts from ATMs and many more. As easily wasted, paper is also one of the easiest to recycle. The only problem is that many of us do not mind about the environment and are still wasteful in their lifestyle. The government is also not committed to absolutely reduce, reuse, and recycle the garbage that is being generated by the society. Everything is being left for the current system of junkshops and people scrounging the streets with saleable garbage. It is no wonder then why our streets and rivers are so polluted.

Trees being transformed into paper should have served a better purpose like shielding the lowlands from calamities like floods and landslides. Trees also serve in balancing the environment. Killing a single tree also means depriving animals and other organism of their source of food and shelter.

Saving the environment does not require a person to be a super-rich personality that can establish an environmental NGO like Chin Chin Gutierrez or a member of a radical group that grabs headlines like the Greenpeace. It all starts from the collective effort of every individual to save the environment in his or her own little way. What we need is a mindset that is conscious of the environment.

Saving waste paper is my commitment for the environment. What’s yours?

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Announcement:

I have old school books on my shelf and I do not know what to do with them. As a bookworm, I think that it is a waste if those books be send to the junkshops and be recycled. There are elementary books, high school books. There are also some college books. Pre-school books of Dr. Seuss is also available and some novels.

I had decided to donate these books. Since it is the start of another school year, I know that this is very timely. The problem is I do not know where to send it. Is there are an NGO or school that are willing to accept my books? If so, please point me in the right direction.

Thank you.