The world is my classroom

THE WORLD Cleanup Day (WCD) is an annual event that started in Estonia in 2008 when 4% of the population came out to clean the entire country of illegally dumped waste, in a matter of hours. This captured the imaginations of people worldwide, who were inspired to follow with the same ambitious ‘one country, one day’ formula.

In 2012, the Philippines got involved in the WCD through the organization Let´s Do It! Philippines with a team lead by Dann Diez who organized a very successful cleanup event.

For Baguio City, 2018 is, according to local organizers, the first time the City is participating in the WCD. And for a small group of students, from the Baguio City High School, and their club adviser, their participation is an historic moment.

September 15, 2018 was the original schedule of the WCD, however, several countries postponed the cleanups. This was because of several simultaneous active storms around the world during that time.

While we only know of the damaged caused by Typhoon Ompong, other parts of the world also experienced some sort of crises.

While the cleanups may have been postponed, for the students from BCHS, this proved to be an opportunity to have a different kind of classroom experience.

The World Cleanup Day: Pick and Run event here in Baguio became a learning tool for the students. They learned that even if an event in our life was delayed, we continue in our advocacy.

If the opportunity presents itself to help another individual, we take that opportunity. The WCD doubled as a charity event for those affected by Typhoon Ompong. While you are lucky not be affected by a crisis, be even more fortunate that you are able to help those who are.

Small enough actions by a small group can still lead to big achievements. A total of 11 big bags of trash from picking up a plastic bottle here and a discarded plastic bag there was collected in just an hour.

If you take action, think of everything that has to be done properly. Clearing the streets of garbage is not just picking up the trash. Learn to segregate the trash for proper disposal.

We can rely on our government. Despite of the negative publicity about the people in government, we can still rely on the services government provides. The General Services Office of the City of Baguio was on hand, ready to haul the garbage collected during the WCD.

Lastly, the students learned to enjoy the fulfillment of being able make new acquaintances, becoming aware of organizations involved in promoting positive change, and having a better understanding of their role in the community and environment.

Never stop learning. The world is our classroom.