Palarong Pambansa 2012 is ‘green’
LINGAYEN– Most of the stores operating in the municipality of Lingayen are definitively going Green as part of the provincial government’s effort to support the Department of Education’s (DepEd) call for an environment-friendly Palarong Pambansa 2012.
The booths/stalls participating in the 5th Tourism and Trade Exhibit in the Pangasinan Training and Development Center (PTDC) complex will use newspapers turned into paper bags to pack dry goods purchased by customers.
Well-known convenience stores and food establishments in the municipality like 7-11 and Goldilocks have already began using brown paper bags, instead of the standard plastic bag for packing their products.
Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. earlier announced the four objectives of the Palaro in Pangasinan and one of which is its being “clean and green”.
“There should be no littered plastics and styrofoams,” the governor said.
During the press conference for the provincial government’s Summer Triple Treat, Espino showed samples of environment-friendly bags to be used during the Palaro to eliminate the use of non-biodegradable materials such as plastics and styrofoam/styrofor.
Education Secretary Armin Luistro also bared the Department of Education’s determination to seriously pursue the campaign to make the Palaro an environment-friendly event.
“We will require food caterers to dispense with plastic and styrofor in the preparation of meals,” Luistro said.
The 2012 Palarong Pambansa will officially open on May 7 at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center with President Benigno S. Aquino III gracing the event.
On January 17, 2011, the Sangguniang Bayan of Lingayen passed an ordinance prohibiting the use of plastic bags on dry goods and regulating its utilization on wet goods and prohibiting the sale and use of styrofoam in the municipality of Lingayen.
Authored by Councilor Judy Vargas, the ordinance states that in its desire to reduce, if not totally eliminate the use of plastic film bags as packaging materials, the municipality of Lingayen encourages the utilization of alternative packaging materials such as woven bags (bayong), cloth bags (katsa), paper bags and other similar materials (e.g. banana leaves, taro leaves, etc.) and at the same time, promote the ‘Bring Your Own Bag Program’.
The ordinance further states that there is a need to regulate the use of plastic bags to prevent potential serious ecological imbalance particularly in the creeks, rivers and other waterways.
Plastic bags and Styrofoam, being non-biodegradable materials, clog canals, creeks, rivers, during rainy season and end up causing harm to the community. (PIO/Sheila H. Aquino)
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