Mindful of the need to reduce wastes amid the call to stop plastic pollution and protect the environment, the municipality of Pontevedra in southern Negros Occidental is celebrating Christmas in an Earth-friendly way.

Standing at the town’s reclamation area is an almost 35-foot colorful tree made of trash and scraps from the local materials recovery facility (MRF) and various junk shops.

Antonio Biangco, a Filipino teacher and Boys Scouts outfit advisor at Pontevedra National High School, conceptualized the design, which he executed with assistant Jep-jep Lizada in cooperation with the Office of Vice Mayor Jimmy Gavan.

“The Christmas tree is made of recyclable garbage materials. We want to show the Pontevedrahanon and other people that we can make a beautiful masterpiece out of trash,” Biangco told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

As a teacher, he also wants to help raise consciousness that there could be money from waste and something useful can come out of it, he said.

“This is also a step to ‘Save Mother Earth,” he added.

Biangco said about 100 kilos of trash materials were used to create the tree. These included empty plastic bottles, discarded household and personal items, old tires, and plastics chairs.

The Christmas display has been spray-painted with yellow on the upper side and red on the lower part to make it more eye-catching.

Red shows the state of being ripe while yellow depicts “being ready for harvest, abundance, and prosperity.”

“The tree also symbolizes the ingenuity and creativity of the people of Pontevedra,” Biangco said.

On Monday night, the eco-friendly Christmas tree was lit up along with the other holiday attractions in the municipality, which also coincided with the staging of the 3rd Parade of Lights Festival and the 1st Pasundayag sa Paskwa at the Municipal Park and Reclamation Area. (PNA)