"Take care of the Mother Earth and she will take care of you."
I always believe that it's never too late to save Mother Earth. Being the common mother of all human race, she needs to be taken care by EVERYONE. But unfortunately, majority of us slowly killed her. The result? Her sickness.
That's what I pondered during the I Love Earth: The 1st Technologian Environmental Conference held last February 11 and 12, 2011 at the CIT University Case Room. The event was made possible with the teamwork of Student Personnel Services (SPS) headed by MIS Director Engr. Bernard Nicolas Villamor and Supreme Student Government (SSG), headed by the President, Mr. Alan Angelo Llevares. It was the gathering of student leaders from different student organizations and invited environmentalist to discuss all about saving the environment.
At first, I thought saving the environment was not yet a law, until I found out R.A. 6969, also known as "AN ACT TO CONTROL TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND HAZARDOUS AND NUCLEAR WASTES, PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES." and R.A. 9003, which is also known as "AN ACT PROVIDING FOR AN ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, CREATING THE NECESSARY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS AND INCENTIVES, DECLARING CERTAIN ACTS PROHIBITED AND PROVIDING PENALTIES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
Again, ironically, it is already a statute but apparently, only the minority managed to obey it. These laws need strong enforcement.
I was also amazed with the panel interview. I never expect the feeling when I listened to the words the environmentalists uttered. The feeling was like just talking to a person whose heart came from the nature, and not just an apathetic person, if you know what I mean. Before the first day of the conference came to a close, we wrote our promises to save Mother Earth. Yes, you read it right, PROMISES! I used that term because after the series of lectures, it is pretty obvious that all of us are already EARTH WARRIORS.
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| The "promise" writing... |
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| The Technologian Earth Warriors! | | | |
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I consider the 2nd day THE HIGHLIGHT of the event because on the 2nd day, the delegates went outside the walls of CIT University and proceeded to FairTrade, Inc. and Nestor Archival Eco House. On the first stop of the eco-tour, we we're taught by the hospitable FairTrade personnel how to make something out of tarpaulins, juice packs, rice sacks, etc., also known as, recyclable items. And I admit, making them is as easy as A,B,C! The snacks provided were also organic! How environment-loving!
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| Earth Warriors with Kuya Tutor of the Juice-Pouch Lunch Bag! |
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| With fellow Technologian Earth Warriors eating organic banana chips. |
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| Earth Warriors with friendly FairTrade Personnel |
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| Me, together with fellow SSG Officers, with a travel bag made out of used tarpaulin. |
After the recycling session at FairTrade, we headed straight to Talamban to visit the famous Archival Eco House. The award-winning house made me in awe because of its very green features. That house is really remarkable for me. And after I found out their methods in conserving just to contribute in keeping the environment clean, I totally dropped my jaw. I really thought these methods are impossible to achieve, but they managed to do it with ease!
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| The House that didn't fail to amaze me. |
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| A view at the interior. |
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| Believe it or not, that water was previously a residue from the laundry bathing sessions. They managed to get rid of the soap residue in a biological way. Amazing, indeed! |
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| Inside the Vermi Composting Chamber, where wastes are being converted into compost by using worms. It might be disgusting, but hey, its environment-friendly! |
The tour at the Eco House seemed to be too short for a day, but I am positive that there will be another one pending, so, I am crossing my fingers for that.
The event ended with a simple lunch and a little closing program at the Golden Gear Hotel and Suites. After the event, we have created Technologian Earth Warriors. I we are optimistic that these new breed of homo sapiens will branch out until all are certified Earth Warriors. I was already an Earth Warrior even before I was invited to cover the
Bijoux Cebu Event at Shangri La Mactan. After the event, I do hope all of us Technologians will start to care for our environment. Again, it's never too late to save our Mother Earth. So act now before it's too late!
Photo courtesy of Guian Godofredo
