Save the Palawan Movement: 10M Signature Drive

Palawan is a biodiversity sanctuary. It is home to many of the country's endemic species, a habitat of wildlife, and a host to 40% of our remaining mangrove areas and 30% of our coral reefs. It has 17 key biodiversity areas (KBAs), 2 world heritage sites, and 8 declared protected areas.

But mining strips away these wonders from Filipinos.

Only 3% of our country's old growth forest cover remains -- an alarming fact for a nation that needs at least 45% forest cover to protect lives and regulate natural processes.

Mining is both extractive and destructive: it entails uprooting trees and digging holes on the earth. It leaves behind a barren land of absolutely nothing but a trail of tears for sorry Filipinos.

We give up generations' worth of food, livelihood, water and air for a sector that consists merely 2% of our country's annual Gross National Product. What's worse is we're only a small country surrounded by huge bodies of water. With climate change and its effects, inevitable, what makes us think that mining is our future?

Save Palawan. Save the Philippines. No to mining.

Sign up to the 10 Million Signature Drive of the Save the Palawan Movement.

3 Ways to make your voice heard:

1. Cast your vote online.

2. Download the Petition Form and ask your family, friends, acquaintances, co-workers, etc. to sign.

3. By SMS.

- Text: No2mining (space) name/age/location

- Send to 2366

* Note:Php 2.50 per text

Go Social! Advocate online.

By Facebook,

By Twitter, and

By email.

Supplemental Readings:

1. Oposa, Ana. Paradise Not Yet Lost: 10 million signatures to save Palawan. Philippine Online Chronicles.

2. Economic and Social Statistics Office, National Statistical Coordination Board. Gross National Product and Gross Domestic Product by Industrial Origin at Current Prices.

3. The Society of St. Columban. A Report from a Recent Fact-Finding Mission on Mining. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

4. Kuwait China Investment Company. Philippines' Country Profile 2010.

A Run for the Pasig River

This will take place tomorrow. Hopefully, the aims of this activity will be met. Good luck to all the runners!

For more info, click here.

Green Store Review: Eco Market

To be green is to be practical.

This is why I used to frown at so-called green products that have outrageous prices. These products can have a greater and more significant impact on the environment only if we can bring down the prices and make them more affordable to the mass market. Since freight is a major price component, it is great that we now have locally-made organic household cleaning and hygiene products like Messy Bessy and Ilog Maria that are available in Eco Market stores.

Afew weeks ago, I passed by the Eco Market kiosk at Trinoma and was enticed by the variety of their reasonably-priced products. I bought a bit of this and that from their personal hygiene, household cleaning and baby collections. They all worked well and smelled great! Plus, they wrap purchases in earth-friendly packaging. I'm happy and will definitely patronize them.

Oh and they will definitely make great Christmas presents. Check out Messy Bessy's 2009 Christmas Catalogue here.

A Green Makeover: Refurbishing a Used Envelope

Before

Sans the writings, this brown envelope should still be good enough to use. However, there is a possibility that the last recipient will no longer use it given that it's no longer pleasing to look at.

So in accordance to the green initiatives in the office, we decided to give this used envelope a little face lift. We designed a label that is easy to print from its .pdf format. (Printing on the other side of a used paper is preferred.)

A sender will just have to write the delivery details on one box. Upon receipt, the recipient has to cross out the same box and write on the other for the next correspondence. This is so spontaneous that this brown envelope can now be routed within the office for up to 34 times.

After

Opinion: All Roads in Rural Mindanao Start with Solar Energy

The solar panels installed in Palimbang and other rural towns in Mindanao may have produced more watts to light up optimism among those who have read the news.

Availability of electricity in such economically underprivileged and conflict-ridden areas will enable improved access to information and livelihood. Residents can listen to their AM radios or watch television news programs that will keep them updated with the latest events in the country. The same news cited sari-sari stores extending their business hours and even offering cellphone battery charging services at minimal fees.

Aside from these, children can already study more comfortably with sufficient lighting in their classrooms and in their homes at night. Soon, these children will have access to the Internet and other educational media such as the Knowledge Network.

Further, we can expect more roads that will allow SMEs and large enterprises to flourish in the off-grid towns in Mindanao. At the same time, won't it be too much wishful thinking to expect that insurgencies may be lessened when children, who are supposedly brainwashed into joining rebel groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, have means to better education?

The fact that solar energy is basically free entails hope for the Filipinos in Mindanao. However, will there be any efforts to make solar panels affordable?


Source:
Solar energy ends darkness in town, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 09 Aug 2009

Celebrate Greenology at Ayala Malls

Long before green was in fashion, Ayala Malls was in on it, says the half-page ad in today's Inquirer.

This does not come as a surprise as Ayala companies are known to operate both sustainably and responsibly.

Ayala Malls invites its goers to celebrate Greenology, their earth-friendly philosophy, with them in a series of activities that will run from August to September 2009.

Eco Tote (Aug)

Be eco-fab in a wide selection of reusable bags designed by well-known Filipino designers such as Louis Claparols, Michi Calica-Sotto, Vic Barba, Patrice Ramos-Diaz, Jun Escario and Randy Ortiz from the Filipino Zone in Greenbelt 5.

The bags are to be sold at each mall's concierge stations for Php 400. For each sale, Php 100 goes to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Eco Art (Aug 28 - Sep 11)

Art installations aiming "to educate the shoppers of how much garbage is consumed by using plastics or paper cups" is to be exhibited simultaneously at various Ayala Malls during the period. Eco Art is made by renowned artists Alma Quinto, Pete Jimenez, Mac Valdezco and Ral Arrogante together with students from various universities.

Eco Dash (Sep 13)

A fun run will be held at Bonifacio High Street for the benefit of Bantay Kalikasan.

Green Line (Sep 16 -30)

Be even more eco-fab by purchasing clothes and accessories from the Green Line at the Filipino Zone in Greenbelt 5. Designers who are said to participate are Aranaz, Arnel Papa, Barba, Bonne Bouche, Gaupo, Jun Escario, Myth, Paradi, Religioso and Ana Rocha, as well as huge Filipino clothing chains Bayo and Folded and Hung.

For more information, visit the Ayala Malls Greenology page or text AYALA MALLS to 2948 (for Filipino SMS subscribers only).


Sources and For Further Reference:
1. Ayala Malls
2. Circuit Magazine
3. PH Best Deals

Why Pinoys Should Be More Conscious of Packaging

Apparently, traditional snack and candy wrappers in the Philippines all have to go and therefore contribute to the over 7 tons of garbage that Metro Manila dumps everyday.

During a phone inquiry, the National Solid Waste Management Commission said that wrappers are treated as residual waste.

This is problematic, considering that most local food products have non-biodegradable packaging. Aside from this, other products for mass consumption such as shampoo sachets prove that segregation and recycling efforts are futile if they all have nowhere to go but in the landfill heap.

So what must be done now?

It does seem too much to ask for food manufacturers to use green packaging for their products. One of the reasons may have something to do with costs.

However, individuals shouldn't consider their voice too little to be heard. In fact, consumers as a whole can do so much by creating the demand for green packaging.

So support products with biodegradable wrappers. It wouldn't take long for manufacturers to know why their products are selling less than their competitors.

Let's be on a quest for local green products.