Barangay Tisa’s Christmas decor made of recycled materials should not only be copied by other barangays but also encouraged and diversified if only to make a serious dent in the 500 or so tons of garbage that Cebu City produces daily.
Barangay Tisa chairman Philip Zafra said he decided to campaign for the use of recycled materials this Christmas after getting tired of having to spend so much of barangay funds for new yuletide decor.
He nudged officials to mount an outdoor Christmas tree. This one was a creative pyramid of stacked plastic chairs, damaged wooden arm chairs from the local school and a base of discarded tires, painted in layers of primary colors. Soon enough, the tree became a magnet for “selfies” and souvenir photos.
Christmas trees don’t have to be artificial copies of plastic evergreens imported from a supplier.
Making them a project of craftsmanship and creativity has turned out to be a celebration of community spirit.
This is the same momentum behind Cebu Daily News’s annual Christmas decor contest where grade school and high school students are challenged to create something beautiful out of used sheets of CDN newsprint.
This December, there were stunning entries. The students mixed glue for papier mache, folded and rolled paper strips, used origami to design ornaments of trees and large parol lanterns.
In one school, students explained that it took an entire day to meticulously fold newsprint to make six compact paper star ornaments of a tabletop tree.
In the traditional “belen”, instead of plastic or ceramic dolls, the Holy Family emerged from a moving tableau of stuffed paper figures in a shed of rolled paper logs, created by first place winnner
Mandaue Christian School. Even the angels watching the manger were fashioned out of paper.
Inayawan Elementary School used multicolor accents in a large “parol” of folded paper strips. The striking star won first place in its category.
There’s no monopoly of creativity and beauty when one strives to celebrate a visually appealing Christmas with modest raw materials.
CDN correspondent Julit Jainar wrote about a sales clerk in Talisay City, Shelany Pafibe, who recycled used buttons, softdrink bottle caps and plastic water bottles to make a striking snowman in the office.
“I want to show people that it is okay not to spend too much for Christmas decorations. Instead, we can rely on our creativity and recycle materials,” she said.
“I’m really starting to like what I’m doing,” said Pafibe, who’s eyeing her next project for Valentine’s Day.
The task starts as an assignment or an exercise, and grows into a hobby. Slowly it can produce a whole new mindset about meaningful consumption.
What better time to celebrate the story of transformation, of humble, overlooked material given new life, than during Christmas!
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