Essay on Responsible Nature Keeping

Its regular for Mr. Miguel D. Dairo, the schools principal to find himself
planting trees, cultivating soil. During early morning you can see him roaming around the
school campus to check his trees. It is part of his daily routine to visit the schools newest
area we called Main Forest Park. It has more or less 100 wood and fruit trees which he
himself planted many years ago; some by students. It is this same spirit that triggered him
to push the students towards responsible nature-keeping.
In November or 2008, faced with economic strain, parents, teachers and students
banded together to establish a school with a forest park to promote tree planting within
the school campus and in the vicinity of their own houses. The school administration and
faculty explained trees are important part of our lives. Taking care of them has to be done
by willing hands of teachers, students, parents and the community. The adverse effects of
global warming is now the schools growing concern. So in a small way, it wants to
contribute to the universal solution and begin its campaign to us.
I dont care at the beginning. Everyone in school is cleaning. Why should I? I
come to school to study, not to plant trees and clean around. And why should I become
concern with global warming? Its just an issue anyway. It shall pass away like the
fertilizer fund scam. But when I saw some statistics written in a white straw lace hanging
beside our comfort rooms, I begun to wonder this climate change is really burning my
skin. Daily, I suffer under the mercy of the suns scorching heat. As a matter of fact, I ride
a tricycle though the school is just a stones throw from our house just to evade the sun.
Yet according to the writings, one person emits 30 to 40 tons of Carbon dioxide (CO 2) a
year. It is this CO2 that is responsible for the trapping of too much heat in the atmosphere.
It further says one tree can absorb 1 ton of CO 2 a year. Meaning a person needs to plant
30-40 trees a year to counter act climate change radically. Whew, its serious isnt it?
I begin to care when our Physics teacher required us, all fourth year students to
submit trees seedlings every week till graduation. It was our share in the schools entry to
Best School Forest Park regional contest. It further aggravated when it became a
requirement not for graduation but for signing of clearance. Thats where I begin to ask
my mother what trees I am digging at the backyard every Monday morning. She
oftentimes laughs at me while my father curses my teacher, Anot a ro yabot it tanom
ngaron sa Physics ay? I never answer him back because I dont want to be late in class.
But I begin to realize, its really like father like son. But I think its time to cut the
attachment. Anyway, it is still me who will benefit at the end.
There it goes, the school set forward to accomplish a great ambition. Now we
have seen the fruit of our labors. Our school is beautiful because of these trees and the
care we gave to them. Although we did not win the contest, the beauty that our eyes
behold now is more than a prize we will treasure. Every time we set our foot at the gate
of our school and see the principal water the plants and trees, we knew its responsible
nature keeping.