In celebration of Philippine Environment Month, Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC) conducted an annual plogging activity to highlight community involvement and environmental consciousness.
Plogging is a fitness craze that involves jogging while picking up trash. The word is a mix of words of jogging and the Swedish phrase “plocka upp” meaning to pick-up.
The activity is being conducted annually by each Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC) subsidiaries like RTNMC, which started Plogging in 2019.
A total of 155 participants joined in the two-day event set from June 19-20, composed of RTN employees, members of Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO) Brooke’s Point, local government unit (LGU), and community members.
Analyn Hasim, environmental compliance officer, said the company’s plogging eco-marathon targeted the trash along the roadside of the town’s national high way starting in barangays Rio Tuba and Sandoval, Bataraza.
“Mainly, gusto lang talaga nating mabawasan, ma-retrieve kahit papaano yong trash along national high way kasi kung mapapansin natin, marami talaga, parang habit na kasi ng mga Pilipino na magtapon ng basura habang nasa sasakyan. Mabawasan lang, hindi naman natin ini-expect na as in malinis talaga,” she said.
Hasim said they were able to collect around 127 sacks of trash during the first day and 65 sacks on the next day of activity along the high way.
Through environment-related activities such as plogging, RTNMC aims to get the participation of the community and support of different agencies to strengthen the environmental consciousness of every individual in the town including its employees.
Hasim believes that collective action from different participants would leave a bigger impact.
"One of the objectives of the activity is also the sanitation of the community surrounding. With the ongoing pandemic, we want to keep our environment clean and and put emphasis on sanitation to prevent the spread of virus and diseases,” she said.
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