As millions of Filipinos are expected to visit cemeteries this week to pay their respects to their dearly departed, an environment group urged the public to observe "three Rs" — respect, reduce, refuse. EcoWaste president Roy Alvarez requested cemetery visitors to be mindful of the 3Rs (Respect, Reduce, Refuse). These include: 1. Respect the dead and the living by not leaving any litter in the cemetery and surrounding area. 2. Reduce what you bring to the cemetery to just the bare essentials and cut down on stuff used and discarded. 3. Refuse habits and practices that tend to pollute the occasion: smoking in the cemetery, dumping and burning of trash, consumption of disposable, one-time use plastic bags and containers, extreme noise from radio and music, etc. “Let us treat the cemeteries with due respect and refrain from turning these sanctified sites into giant garbage bins," Alvarez said. Meanwhile, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez Jr. and environmental group EcoWaste Coalition made the appeal in their call for a simple and waste-free Undas. “I exhort everyone to keep our cemeteries safe and clean. Please don’t leave any trash behind. With public cooperation, we can turn the tide on trash and make Undas a pleasant occasion for all, especially for Mother Nature," said Iñiguez, who heads the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ public affairs unit. Environment-friendly practices EcoWaste also suggested environmentally friendly practices for cemetery goers:
Candles: Select plain, clean-burning and minimally packed candles. Light just one or two candles to minimize heat and pollution. Flowers: Pick locally grown fresh flowers and abstain from wrapping them in plastic that will soon become an unwanted litter. Meals and drinks: Just bring enough, not easily perishable food items to avoid spoilage and poisoning. To reduce plastic bottle consumption, come to the cemetery with your own water jug. Refrain from bringing single-use, throw-away plastic bags, plates, cups and cutlery. Discards: Place your discards into their proper bins. If there are no bins available, bring them home for reusing, recycling or composting. Transportation: Walk, bicycle, take public transportation or share a ride to the cemetery. Noise Pollution: Keep the noise down, especially from blaring radio and music, so as not to disturb others. Other suggestions Earlier, the group gave 10 suggestions to keep Undas clean and solemn: 1. For local government and cemetery administrators, hang cloth banners to remind the public that the cemetery is a waste-free zone. Implement ecological solid waste management and encourage vendors to support waste prevention. Place segregated bins (biodegradable and non-biodegradable at a minimum) in strategic locations. 2. On Undas, remind the people to properly manage their discards through regular public announcements. Unwanted discards should be sorted in segregated bins or if bins are not available, discards should be brought home for reusing, recycling or composting. Nearby recycling communities can be invited to monitor cleanliness of the cemetery while the collected recyclable discards can be donated to them. 3. Walk, bike, carpool or take the public transportation to the cemeteries. 4. Use only non-toxic soaps or detergents to clean the tombs and unleaded paints for those who plan to re-paint them. Avoid burning of grass and plant cuttings and garbage piles. 5. Reuse left-over candles at home. If buying new candles, select plain and clean-burning candles to minimize smoke and pollution. 6. Choose locally grown fresh flowers and abstain from wrapping them in plastic to avoid additional litter. 7. Avoid use of plastic bags, polystyrene packaging, disposable plates and utensils and etc. to reduce garbage. 8. Just bring enough, not easily perishable food items to avoid spoilage and poisoning. 9. Bring water jug and reusable cups and glass to reduce plastic bottle consumption. 10. Keep your noise and voices down as a respect to others. - GMA News 
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