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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
On January 25-27, 2018, the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources held its 4th Eco Waste Management at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, North Triangle, Quezon City. Even though I was only able to attend the last day of the summit, I was able to hear 3 speakers talk about different topics pertaining to the betterment of our environment. There were booths from different businesses that promote loving and supporting the environment. Also, at the end of the event, there was a small concert featuring 3 Filipino bands.
When I got to the event, I signed up at the registration booth and was given a free calendar and Bambuhay Bamboo Straw as the token. Before I went to this event, I searched for the event on Facebook first. On the related searches, I saw the post of Bambuhay encouraging people to drop by their booth. I was quite interested because I had been wanting to get a reusable stainless steel or metal straw so I won`t have to use plastic straws. When I accessed their Facebook page, I was in awe of their ingenuity. I love that Bambuhay is a social enterprise that sells products made of Bamboo.
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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Bambuhay PH Bamboo Straws | Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
I did some research after the event because Bambuhay seems to promote Bamboo straws as better alternatives compared to paper and metal straws. From what I gathered, Bamboo is completely natural. It`s a better alternative compared to paper or stainless steel straws because although its lifespan is shorter than the mentioned alternatives, since it`s completely natural, once it is worn out and unusable, I can simply toss it in a compost pile instead of in a garbage. The compost pile can then be used as part of the soil of plants.
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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Bambuhay Philippines | Why Use Bambuhay Bamboo Straws? | Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
These reasons made sense to me because no matter how long I keep the stainless steel straw, one day, there`s still a possibility I might lose it or I might toss it. Unlike with the Bamboo straws, stainless steel straws will only become additional piles in our landfills or even ocean water.
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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Bambuhay Philippines | How to Care for your Bambuhay Bamboo Straws? | Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
Plastic straws don`t only contribute negatively to our environment but also to our health because when used with hot beverages like hot chocolate and tea, toxins can leach from the plastic and enter into our bodies, so I was really planning on buying a reusable Bambuhay Bamboo straws before I even got to the event. The Bamboo Straws only cost Php 70.00 - Php 200 (approx. 1.36 - 3.87 US$) depending on the size. Thankfully, I didn`t have to buy one because I received it for free as my token. I really love it. I had been using it for drinking my tea.
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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Mr. Tomihara Takayuki | Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
When I arrived, Mr. Tomihara Takayuki was having his speech about the cooperation of the Philippines and Japan for various projects that will eventually make the environment, especially in the Philippines better.
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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Mr. David Balilla | Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
The second speaker for the last day of the summit was Mr. David Balilla, the Best Urban Farmer Awardee of 2013. Mr. Balilla is an inspiring man as he is a 60 years old man without any medical maintenance, he is a farmer in a crowded city, and has found many solutions and ways that`ll help in urban farming in the Philippines. Imagining having a farm in Metro Manila which compose of 24, 100, 000 people, is quite amazing since this region is congested, full of traffic, polluted, and seemingly not an ideal place to build farms. However, with Mr. Balilla`s presentation, I was in awe with what we can do in our own backyards with non-mechanical or simplified composting.
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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Mr. David Ballila | Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
His barangay, (village, district or ward), Barangay Holy Spirit, have their own equipment for waste disposal unlike other barangays that rely on the city government. His barangay strives to solve the problem of poverty (through backyard farming), hunger, high rate of malnutrition in the Philippines and problems with health and sanitation, and reduce wastes.
In his speech, he showed the wonderful projects he has done including pictures of plants and crops growing in various containers or pots such as reused styrofoam cups, old tires, pails, sacks and others using different techniques of planting and growing plants like hydroponics.
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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Mr. Jose Angelito Palma | World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
The last speaker was Mr. Jose Angelito Palma, the President, and CEO of World Wide Fund for Nature. He tackled topics regarding the state of the Earth, statistics of our consumption and how it affects our environment, and practical ways to reduce waste.
According to their data, humanity`s ecological footprint is 1.6 meaning we are running on a deficit. We are consuming more than what we ought to. Our economy is getting better but not our environment. More than 60% of ocean plastic came from China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The big four that are often found are bags, straws, cups, and bottles. We can do simple things in our everyday lives that will definitely make an impact in making our environment better like investing in a reusable bag instead of using plastic, saying no to plastic straws and investing a reusable one, returning unnecessary packaging at any establishment, investing in a reusable water bottle and stop buying beverages packed in plastic, and bringing your own tumbler to the coffee shop.
There`s so much food waste that 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year. In the Philippines, families experience involuntary hunger at least once in 3 months. Filipinos waste rice enough to feed 4.3 million people.
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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Awarding Ceremony with Atty. Noel K. Felongco | Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
After the speakers, there was an awarding ceremony for people who showed great passion in protecting and preserving nature. The closing ceremony was hosted by Atty. Noel K. Felongco, the undersecretary for Solid Waste Management, Local Government and Indigenous People`s Concerns. After the closing ceremony, Avalon Beyond, Tanya Markova, and Sponge Cola performed and entertained the audience.
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| 4th Ecological Waste Management Summit: Sustaining Shared Responsibilities (January 25-27, 2018 at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Vertis North, North Triangle, Quezon City) | Closing Ceremony hosted by Atty. Noel K. Felongco | Blog Post by +The Graceful Mist (www.TheGracefulMist.com) |
How can you help protect and preserve the environment? Do you reduce, reuse, and recycle? You may share your thoughts in the comments` section below.
If you have any other comments, requests, suggestions, and/or questions, you may leave them in the comments` section below. Thank you.
Have a blessed and beautiful day!
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I was invited to this event because I also signed up for this. I only received a small token of appreciation as one of the bloggers who attended. All opinions in this post were written with utmost sincerity and honesty.
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