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HOLIDAY ACTIONS Part 2


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December 12, 2010


magazine the green revolution The Sunday Times »


FOR BIODIVERSITY A wish List—


COUPLE of weeks more and Christmas Day is here! Most of us are probably scurrying for last minute shopping, menu preparations and parties to attend. December is undoubtedly the busiest month of the year, proven by highways turned into huge parking lots because of traffic jam, crowded malls and skyrocket airfares.


With all the frenzy going on, it’s easy to forget the real essence of Christmas, which is giving back. When Jesus Christ was born, God showed love and generosity for His people. Let’s celebrate this season by living in the true spirit of Christmas and give love to God’s most awesome creation— Biodiversity. Below are some tips on how you can do your part in conserving the environ- ment while enjoying the holidays. 1. Choose to buy Eco-Cosmetics Gift packs are very common during this season. Almost every beauty, or bath and body brands have their own bundle for the holidays, probably because it’s a safe bet when giving gifts. Who doesn’t need loofah and shower gel anyway? With many parties to attend, females are most likely to stock up on new makeup colors, and use it more often, that’s why it’s important to be wary of the ingredi- ents of the cosmetics that we buy. Most cosmetics sold today contain chemical products (preservatives, synthetic perfumes, surfactants, etc.), which are not biodegradable and are even harmful to the environment, particularly the aquatic environments where these products often end up.


»GLOBAL WARNING


discounts this season, that will most likely leads us to impulse buying especially on clothes. When shopping for new clothes, be sure to check the washing instructions and avoid clothes that need to be dry-cleaned. Most dry- cleaners use perchloroethylene (or tetrachloroethylene). This solvent is toxic for those who handle it: It irritates the skin


and mucous membranes, and can cause nausea, headache, and loss of consciousness. It accumulates in the body and is probably carcinogenic. 3. Become a “Locavore” Locavore are consumers who only eat


food produced locally. Aside from supporting producers in our region, you are limiting the discharge of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when food is being transported. This also involves consuming fruit and vegetables in season. They often taste much better than their international equivalents, which require huge quantities of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, while transporting them is very polluting. 4.Reduce meat on your holiday


menu


Why not make your own beauty product by using natural ingredi- ents found at your home and wrap it with a pretty recycled box? Oat bran makes great scrubs, as well as sugar crystals.


2. Do not buy clothing that needs to be dry cleaned


Malls are expected to give huge


Christmas is usually the time when people are lax on their diets claiming it only happens once a year, but too much meat is not just unhealthy but also threatening to biodiversity. In order to raise livestock, it is necessary to have pastures or to produce forage (soy, corn, beets, etc.) all of which requires a huge surface area, often carved out at the expense of forests. Kaingin or slash-and-burn is a common practice among communities who convert forests lands for agricultural purposes. Also, it takes an enormous amount


of water and pesticides to grow forage crops, resulting in pollution of free groundwater. Prepare healthier meals and introduce eco- eating by using locally grown legumes, fruits and vegetables for your holiday pig-out sessions. 5.Buy holiday souvenirs responsibly


Many people go out of town during Christmas. The combination of long weekends, reunions and cheery air brings anyone in the mood to plan a trip. However, remember that when on vacation at some exotic location, boycott any souvenirs containing coral, ivory, sea-tortoise shell and native woods. Some objects such as crocodile- skin bags, butterfly-wing art, may have been made using animals raised in captivity or plants reproduced in artificial environ- ments. There are laws and regula- tions governing the wildlife trade, from international agreements like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, to the more recently enacted Wildlife Conser- vation Act of the Philippines. Be sure to check the specific guide- lines for prospective buyers of wildlife species and products. 6. Give the Gift Tree


Can’t think of a unique gift this season? Why not plant a tree in your friend’s name this Christmas? For only P125, you can adopt a seedling to be planted in Haribon Founda- tion’s restoration sites, choose a Haribon product of your choice and get an Animalaya certificate. Skip buying generic gifts and share the love to nature this Christmas by giving presents that will make a bigger impact to everyone’s lives. We are stewards of Nature. Saving and protecting what’s left on our environment, is the best gift that we can give to our future generations, not just this Christmas.


SOURCE: 52 Actions for Biodiversity. The original version of this document was published in 2009 under the title “366 gestes pour la biodiversite” and “366 tips voor de biodiversiteit”. Copyright—2009 Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.


■ Several groups from different sectors joined in the activity to call for the scrapping of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and enact their filed bill.


Green groups call for a greener Christmas


USHERING in an environmental Yuletide season, activists organized the “Karoling para sa Kalikasan,” which coincided with the filing of the Philippine Mineral Resources Act at the House of Representatives. Several groups from different sectors joined in the activity to call for the scrapping of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and enact their filed bill. House Bill 206 filed by Rep.


Erin Tañada in July underwent further consultations, and was refiled on December 1, by Repre- sentatives Kaka Bag-ao and Walden Bello of Akbayan. The bill was co- sponsored by Representatives Teddy Baguilat Jr, Roilo Golez, Maximo Rodriguez, Rufus Rodriquez and Carlos Padilla. Alyansa Tigil Mina National Coordinator Jaybee Garganera lauded the sponsors of the bill saying, “This is something we could really call a bill from the grass- roots—people in the communities who experience the negative impacts of the mining policy since President Gloria Arroyo’s time until now. What we want is a new policy—the revocation of Executive Order 270-A or the revitalization of mining that benefits the interna- tional companies and not our people. We say no to the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, we say, enact the Minerals Management Bill.” Judy Pasimio, executive director of Legal Rights and Natural


Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines, explained, “The bill is a product of years of painstaking consultations and write shops with grassroots communities of indig- enous peoples and rural folks, multi-sectoral organizations and civil society groups, as well as church formations who are the actual victims and witnessed the havoc created by the present mining policy of the government. One of the more critical changes is that this bill steers the government towards a more ecologically sound and equitable system of natural resource manage- ment, one which ensures that only the mineral resources that are necessary and which will actually be used for domestic purposes and national industrialization.” Meanwhile, environmental organization Haribon Foundation Executive Director Blas Tabaranza said, “Our people and our environ- ment have been paying for the lack of a true sustainable and national development-oriented mining policy. Our watersheds and forests have been sacrificed in favor of foreign profit. We need to stop compromising our food, water and energy security, as well as our capacity to withstand disasters and climate change.”


A national federation of indig- enous peoples also expressed their dismay saying their sector remains as one of the most marginalized and


most threatened by large-scale mining. Giovanni Reyes, secretary general of the Kalipunan ng Katutubong Samahan sa Pilipinas said that “Mining has not brought development to indigenous communities. Rather, mining affected communities have experienced dislocation from their territories, suffered harassment and abuse, and the degradation of their ecosystems”. Alyansa Tigil Mina is an alliance of mining-affected communities and their support groups of nongovernment organizations/ private organizations, as well as other civil society organizations who are opposing the aggressive promotion of large-scale mining in the Philippines.


»TREEVIA


CONTRARY to what lay people consider whales and dolphins to be, they are not fish but marine mammals. Like man and other mam- mals, they have to breathe air and will drown if trapped underwater and they produce milk for their young. (Marine Biology By Castro et al, 2003)


Negros Island, a green island I


WAS invited to speak at the fifth Negros Organic Farmers Festival on December 4, among other Manila-based “green” people like Mara Pardo de Tavera, her son Akio Brown and chef Gaita Fores. It was wonderful being in the midst of many like-minded people like Aboy Evaristo of Aboy’s restaurant who did a demo on “Cooking with Organic Vegetables.” (Evaristo is also a member of the Slow Food Movement, whose members promote buying local ingredients and using traditional ways of cooking). Beyond the festival’s activities, I met many interesting people. First of all, I met the organizer par excellence Ramon “Chin” Uy Jr. and his lovely wife Francine. Chin took me to their Fresh Start Organics farm near Silay airport and we compared notes on Natural Farming, or how to use plants like marigold, sunflower and other natural pest controllers. It was also heartwarming to hear Chin talk about “changing traditional ways” in Negros using small steps, such as giving farmers access to seedlings, organic fertilizers and small farm equipment, which he helped design along with his father, Ramon Uy Sr. Ramon Sr. makes shredders and other equipments that help farmers make their own fertilizer.


Negros is one of a kind. I think it is the only province that has successfully passed an ordinance banning GMOs. Because of this positive development, visionaries like Chin have great hope that the natural way of farming will be restored in Negros Island, sooner than expected. To date over 1,000 hectares are organically certified while 5,000 hectares are “in conversion,” or just awaiting organic certification.


The other person I met after my talk is Ruby Cruz of The Daily Apple. Ruby and her husband Philip pioneered the use of Ganoderma Lucidum in teas, which has so many healing properties. The Daily Apple is also into making VCO with turmeric oil and


CHIT JUAN


other healthy products. A chance meeting with Dr. Harry Rajamannan, care of Nicky Matti (my co-chairman in the Philippine Coffee Board), also completed my Negros experience. Dr. Harry is an anti-GMO, anti-chemical fertilizer kind of guy. He has brought increased production to rice, banana, coffee, and pineapple commercial farmers around the world with the use of Natural Farming techniques. I was so impressed with the numbers Rajamannan gave that I think he should get to talk to more local governments or nongovernment organizations to adopt his ways. Of course, our multinational fertilizer companies are not exactly happy with his presence. But things are changing, times are changing, and consumers are changing. He is also a perfect fit for Negros Island, which as I mentioned has stopped the entry of GMOs through a province-wide ruling.


I could not believe the conver- gence of events during that one-day experience I had in Negros. The meetings I had with like-minded natural farmers. The meeting with Rajamannan, and the general atmosphere that pervaded the whole Organic Farmers event, only proves that the world is indeed changing. And as Rajamannan said, consumers will now force farmers and producers to change their ways, back to how nature intended it to be. Consumers are now looking for organic produce and farmers will be gently persuaded to change their ways. Young entrepreneurs like Chin have also gone into “waste trading,”


something unknown to farmers in the past years. Now, manure producers can trade some of their excess wastes for other kinds of wastes like mud press from sugarcane processing, carbonized rice hull from rice millers, and manure from poultry and piggery operators. These wastes are then combined by people like Chin and his father into organic fertilizers. Other farmers can learn from the examples being practiced by these Negros entrepreneurs to advocate Natural and Organic farming. Chin is even willing to teach others so they can establish their own organic supply chains. It may sound technical to the uninitiated, but to a smalltime vegetable farmer like myself, I could so relate to what Negros is doing. Indeed, restaurant owners like myself become co-producers, too, because we persuade farmers to produce what we continue to use in our establishments. If we stop using natural ingredients, the farmers will stop producing them. As consumers, we have to help the movement by asking what goes into the food we eat or order from restaurants. As consumers, we deserve to know what goes into the produce we buy even if we just use it for cooking at home. Be a locavore. Try to buy only local ingredients or ingredients sourced from within 100 miles, or 160 kilometers from your place of business. These small steps help the whole supply chain become more natural, and eventually, more organic. The power is within you. Do your share every day. It is not as hard as it seems.


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Chit Juan is an owner of Le Bistro Vert sustainable foods, ECHOstore sustainable lifestyle, and many other businesses promoting sustainable eating. She often speaks to the youth and corporate audiences on Sustainability, Social Entrepreneur- ship and the Women Empowerment through Business. E-mail her at puj@echostore.ph or follow her on twitter.com/chitjuan.


GREEN SPACE


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