Environmentalists hit candidates on campaign trash

As election campaign heads towards its final stretch, environmental advocates hit political candidates and their supporters for the campaign trash the election campaign has generated.

The environmental network EcoWaste Coalition lamented the illegal posting of campaign materials by campaign organizers and the volume of campaign trash littering the environment.

Roy Alvarez, president of EcoWaste Coalition has appealed to candidates to “put environmental conservation and protection at the heart of their campaign.”

“We beg the 50,000 candidates vying for nearly 18,000 national and local positions to stand for Mother Earth,” he said

Alvarez dared pro-environment candidates to remove campaign materials nailed on trees and those illegally posted outside designated places.

They should not wait for government personnel to do it for them, he said.

“Also, we urge them to openly say and assure the public that they will remove all their campaign materials immediately after the election day regardless of the poll outcome,” he added.

The Eco group criticized campaign organizers for defiling trees with all sorts of campaign materials nailed on them, adding that nails could damage and stress out trees.

“We are deeply saddened by the way trees are violated as if they do not matter,” noted Alvarez, who has planted over 50,000 tree saplings since 1997, particularly in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range.

Alvarez reminded political candidates of the various benefits the trees are providing humanity.

“Trees clean and provide us with breathable air. Trees store water and prevent soil erosion and floods. Trees serve as homes for other living organisms as well as provide shade, food, medicine, paper and fuel, among many other numerous benefits,” Alvarez pointed out.

The group also lamented political candidates’ other campaign violations, such as “littering of promotional leaflets in campaign sorties, the use of smoky vehicles in motorcades, the hanging of posters and streamers on electric wires and posts or over walkways and sidewalks, and the use of oversized posters and billboards.”

Urging political candidates to observe an ecology-friendly campaign, the environmental watchdog suggested that political wannabes observe the “5 Rs”, that is, restrain, reduce, respect, retrieve and remove, during the remaining days of campaign period.

The group said candidates ought to restrain from spending beyond what is allowed; reduce campaign trash by using only what is necessary; respect trees by not nailing campaign materials on them; retrieve campaign materials instead of dumping them; and remove materials right away after elections.