How bad can I be? I am just doing what comes naturally. How bad can I be? I am just following my destiny… (How Bad Can I Be soundtrack, Lorax movie 2012)

I am guilty. And so are millions of Filipinos, throwing garbage–from a peanut shell, candy wrapper to huge bags–everywhere. The sad thing is, it comes natural to us and most of us live with it. “It’s biodegradable,” we say as an excuse to justify that throwing a banana peel on the street won’t hurt at all. But those “tiny” trashes, if piled up will make a dump site!

For one week, I listed five persons I see littering on my way from house to work and vice versa (in two different routes) daily. Surprisingly, my list went beyond 15. And most probably, while you are reading this entry, millions of Filipinos do this simple mistake (that we never seem to learn from). Scary! Then, we blame nature for the calamities and disasters, or worst–God.

(Here’s a recorded video for my entry in a GoGreen promotion competition:)

“…Who cares if a few trees are dying? How bad can this possibly be?” Nothing much—that’s what we think. If the recent flooding that took thousands of lives because we don’t have efficient drainage system or we don’t have enough trees to hold excess water, or the overflowing of our dams brought by long consistent rains, or landslides, and the like, are too less to care about, then why bother about our environment, right?  But if we all think that these calamities are too much and there has to be done about it, then it’s time for us to act “naturally” as well.

In the Bible, God created human beings (as part of the entire creation) to take “charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals,” and definitely the rest of God’s creation. We are a part of nature and everything in it is interdependent with one another. Throwing garbage anywhere has been natural for us Filipinos. Yet, reversing this bad habit is also “natural.”

Practice to throw trash in its proper place; segregate plastic from paper; recycle plastic and other materials; share this good habit to a friend or family, then to your community, and we’ll all reap positive results from doing our “natural” part in maintaining and caring for God’s creation.

At the boarding house where I live, the owner encourages us to segregate. At first it was hard—what is the difference anyway, it is all trash—but, week after week it became a practice until it was natural for me to throw the waste accordingly. Same thing with my roommate—making it two of us! It is never too late to save our environment if each of us does our part in saving it.

Have you contributed something good to Mother Nature?