An animated children’s series on environmental issues has concluded with an episode focusing on pollution and community action, following a four-year collaboration among government, business and environmental groups.

“The Greenhouse Monster Part 2”, the fifth and final episode of the Miming and Friends sustainability series, was launched at Lola Café Broadway in Quezon City last June.

The series was produced through a collaboration among Mondelēz International in the Philippines, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), Save Philippine Seas, and the creators of Miming and Friends.

During a panel discussion at the launch, Janice Pammit, regional director of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), said that the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act has made environmental protection a shared responsibility among producers, communities, local governments, and citizens.

Pammit also emphasized the role of environmental education in encouraging changes in behaviour and improving compliance with the law.

Caitlin Punzalan, corporate and government affairs lead at Mondelēz International, said information campaigns are part of the company's EPR commitments. She said these efforts include encouraging consumers to dispose of waste properly.

The creators of Miming and Friends, Ramon del Prado and Meryll Yan, said they had to balance scientific accuracy with storytelling when developing episodes on topics such as climate change and waste management.

The series was also intended for parents and children to watch together, using songs, humor and characters to explain environmental concepts.

Anna Oposa, executive director of Save Philippine Seas and technical adviser for the series, said scientific information should be presented in a way that children can understand without losing accuracy.

"We don't believe in dumbing things down," Oposa said. "We want to simplify it, but we don't want to dumb it down."

She said details in the episodes were reviewed to ensure scientific information was accurate.

During the event, DENR-EMB and Mondelēz International also signed a memorandum of agreement covering environmental education initiatives and public engagement on sustainable practices.

Since the series began in 2022, its episodes have dealt with waste segregation, plastic recycling, composting, and greenhouse gas emissions.

In “The Greenhouse Monster Part 2,” the characters discover that the threat facing their island is linked to pollution caused by human activities. They respond through waste segregation, recycling, and composting, highlighting how community-level action can help address environmental challenges.

Miming and Friends was launched in 2020, and its educational videos have been used by schools, teachers, nongovernment organizations and government agencies as learning resources.