EcoWaste Coalition Holds “Iwas Paputoxic” Drive for an Injury-Free, Litter-Free and Toxics-Free Welcome to New Year 2025
16 December 2024, Manila City/Quezon City. As the clock ticks towards a fresh new year, the EcoWaste Coalition reached out to children at a public school in the City of Manila with a timely plea to the young and old to welcome 2025 sans injurious and polluting firecrackers and fireworks.
At the launch of its yearly campaign called “Iwas Paputoxic” at the General Vicente Lim Elementary School in Tondo, Manila, the environmental and health watchdog group encouraged the participating students and their teachers to go for alternative noisemakers to usher in the New Year to avert serious hazards to life, limb, property and the ecosystems.
With school principal Dr. Josepina Villareal and guests from the Department of Health, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health present, some 500 students staged a cheerful and lively countdown to New Year 2025 using household stuff that were repurposed to create sounds without causing injuries and toxic emissions. Led by their student government leaders, the students also recited a pledge not to buy and use firecrackers and fireworks.
Among the alternative noisemakers featured in the event were piggy banks, pots and pans, coconut shells, maracas, and shakers using plastic beverage, ice cream and cosmetic containers, as well as soap and toothpaste boxes, filled with the 4Bs (barya or coins, buto or seeds, butones or buttons, and bato or pebbles).
“Our time-honored practice to herald the New Year with a bang need not endanger the health of our children and the environment,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition. “By opting for alternative merriment sans firecrackers and fireworks, we can save our children and our pets, too, from life-threatening injuries and protect our Mother Earth from toxic pollutants at the same time.”
“Aside from serious physical injuries, firecrackers and fireworks can contaminate the air with particulate matter and other environmental pollutants that can put the health of kids, the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions at risk. Hazardous air can trigger or worsen respiratory diseases and even cause heart arrhythmias and attacks,” said Dr. Percival Lao of the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health.
To emphasize the oft-repeated warning that “firecrackers are not toys,” some students held placards alongside fake bloodied and injured hands. Also, the most creative noisemakers and the most persuasive slogans towards a New Year revelry safe from firecrackers and fireworks were duly acknowledged and given modest cash prizes during the animated event.
The “Iwas Paputoxic” has been organized by the EcoWaste Coalition since 2006 in support of the “Iwas Paputok” campaign led by the Department of Health (DOH) and backed by national and local government agencies.
To date, “Iwas Paputoxic” events were held in 15 schools, namely Krus na Ligas Elementary School (2006), Esteban Abada Elementary School (2007), Claret School (2008), Marcelo H. del Pilar Elementary School (2009), Kamuning Elementary School (2010), Pinyahan Elementary School (2011), Cubao Elementary School (2012), Commonwealth Elementary School (2013), Fernando Ma. Guerrero School (2014), Quirino Elementary School (2015), Jacinto Zamora Elementary School (2016), Marcelo H. del Pilar Elementary School (2017), Jose Rizal Elementary School (2018), San Antonio Elementary School (2019), and Bagong Silang Elementary School (2022).
For 2023, the EcoWaste Coalition staged three “Iwas Paputoxic” events at Barangay Central in Quezon City, Barangay Bagong Silang in Caloocan City and SM North EDSA (with the Philippine Animal Welfare Society) to protect children and pets from injurious and polluting firecrackers and fireworks.
Amid the global triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss that affect us all, the EcoWaste Coalition reiterated its appeal to all communities and families not to spend for firecrackers and fireworks, and to embrace a more ecological way of welcoming a new beginning with healthier bodies and a safer environment for all.
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