This New Year, fireworks won’t just light up the sky. In many streets, they explode right where people live. On the road. Near houses. Beside parked cars. Smoke stays low. Noise bounces off walls.
By themselves, fireworks don’t have a big impact on climate change. One night of smoke won’t shift global temperatures or rewrite climate data.
After last year’s New Year celebrations, several city streets were left covered with piles of firecracker debris, paper casings, and leftover trash. What looked festive for a few minutes turned into cleanup work by morning—evidence that the celebration didn’t just disappear into the air, but stayed on the ground.
But climate change isn’t built on one night. It grows through habits we repeat and excuse because “ganito na talaga ang Pinoy.” When pollution becomes part of celebration, it stops being questioned.
Celebration doesn’t need smoke in the street to feel real. Sometimes, choosing not to add to the mess is already a statement.
⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ
