My Green Philippines

You cannot sweet talk Mother Nature

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:13:04 +0000

As the environmentalist Rob Watson likes to say: “Mother Nature is just chemistry, biology and physics. That’s all she is. You cannot sweet-talk her. You cannot spin her. You cannot tell her that the oil companies say climate change is a hoax. No, Mother Nature is going to do whatever chemistry, biology and physics dictate. Lastly, Mother Nature always bats last, and she always bats 1.000.”

Do not mess with Mother Nature.

But that is just what we’re doing.

Amazing Rice Fields Artwork in Japan

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:34:27 +0000

All over Inakadate, Japan are rice paddy fields that look like works of art instead of rice. Little purple and yellow-leafed Kodaimai rice along with their local green-leafed Tsugaru, a Roman variety are planted strategically to create the coloured patterns.

Lots of patience is required as the artwork will not emerge until the crops have grown.
This is what the fields look like up close. Amazing, isn’t it?

Truly Remarkable Recycling

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:41:15 +0000

An artist in Brazil by the name of Jose Geraldo Reis Pfau has taken apart old watches (hopefully they were old and not working anymore) and turned them into incredible pieces of moving art. He started this project just using regular keys, and then through research in publications and web sites of other artists, he moved on to more complex pieces, eventually creating something entirely unique to him- miniature motorcycles using the pieces that make a watch.

His friend, Alexandre Ranieri Peters, helped him collect old watches by creating a campaign where whoever wanted to buy a new watch or a pair of glasses could give their old ones as a first instalment.

He also uses other mediums to create miniature art and this dog is one of my favourites. You can view much more of his work at his blog.

Bill Gates on How to Get CO2 Emissions Down to Zero

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:37:21 +0000

Gates talks about how cutting emissions down to half will get us nowhere because it will still mean global warming. We need to get down to 0 and we need to get down to it ASAP. Things to consider are (1) cost, (2) transmission, and (3) storage of energy.

He suggests that several companies should be concentrating on breaking through the current barriers, to encourage crazy ideas, especially with current battery technology which supposedly can only store 10 minutes of energy needed (if you combine all existing batteries today). Another crazy idea is using the 99% uranium waste (depleted uranium), where the amount collected in Kentucky is enough to power all of the USA for 200 years. He calls it TERRAPOWER, not sure if he coined it or someone else did.

Solar Power in the Philippines Heats Up

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:10:10 +0000

Green Power Philippines is a Filipino-German Engineering Company founded in 2008. It acquired an established alternative energy company, ALTENSOL, to kick start its business.

It provides photovoltaic, solar thermal and solar pump systems as well as manufactures small and middle size wind turbines.

Focus on “Reusing”

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:24:49 +0000

Here’s a really clever way of making your old phonebooks useful again if you think that sending them to the recycling bin is too boring of a strategy in your bid to help save the planet earth. This brilliant idea is brought to you by Chica and Jo who have lots more to share on their website. Aside from the green theme, they are really good at showing users in a step-by-step basis on how to go about creating masterpieces out of what normally gets tossed. Go check them out!

And voila! the finished product which I hope jumpstarts your brain into thinking of all sorts of other uses for your phonebook aside from being a door stopper although that’s always good too

Windmills in Bangui

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:20:12 +0000

Bet you didn’t know that the Philippines actually has windmills in Ilocos Norte.

How to get to the Windmills in Bangui (Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte) courtesy of OAP- Our Awesome Planet.

SOS- Saving our Seas

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:07:56 +0000

It’s no longer us that needs saving- it’s our seas. And the Philippines is in a particularly enviable position to have so much coastline, so much coral reefs, so much teeming life around it that it bears focus and protection.

In this New York Times Op-Ed contribution by Dan Laffoley, he clearly lays out the importance of the seas in the world’s fight against global warming. While most of the talks center around protection of land- forests, peat moss, swamps and fields as primary absorbers of carbon dioxide, the oceans function has been neglected.

Laffoley, the marine vice chairman of the World Commission on Protected Areas at the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the principal specialist for marine at Natural England says, “In addition to producing most of the oxygen we breathe, the ocean absorbs some 25 percent of current annual carbon dioxide emissions. Half the world’s carbon stocks are held in plankton, mangroves, salt marshes and other marine life.”

Already, the ability of the seas to absorb emissions has lessened as its entire chemistry has chained. Studies show that the waters have actually become more acidic as a result of absorbing continually rising amounts of effluents from burning fossil fuels since the 1950′s when industrialization spread across countries.

“It’s a small change in absolute terms,” Dr. Samar Khatiwala, a research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said. “What I think is fairly clear and important in the long term is the trend toward lower values, which implies that more of the emissions will remain in the atmosphere.”

So the next time you’re out in the waters, or even if you just look at a picture like that one above, remember to do your part to save our seas. Pick up junk, conserve resources, reuse, recycle. Every little bit of conservation counts.

Mayon Volcano Erupting Soon (Dec 09)

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:57:11 +0000

It is another year of living dangerously in the Philippines with Typhoon Ondoy in September and now Mayon Volcano about to erupt again. This picture shows only a bit of the volcano’s fury- the disastrous results of which I saw with my own eyes a couple of years back when it erupted between July and October of 2006. Huge boulders covered the landscape and houses had become buried in lava and mud with only their rooftops visible.

As much as we try to change nature, its power and fury is really beyond us. For what takes decades to build, it takes seconds for an earthquake, a flood, a volcanic eruption, to wipe out.

Breathing in Clean Air

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:14:15 +0000

Staring into the Heavens

It is really a luxury these days- clean air. Almost everyone’s noses are filled with black grime at the end of the day if they happen to live in a city and Manila is one of the most polluted. So a trip out to the vast countryside is really needed, by body, mind and soul.

On this particular adventure, we went to Clark and stopped by the relocated Nayong Pilipino which was still not finished (in July 2009) and already in a state of disrepair. For non-Filipinos, this place is basically a 45-acre theme park featuring a miniature version of the Philippines and its cultural offerings, complete with livable “bahay kubo(s)”, replicas of famous churches and even caves (which became garbage dumps due to the lack of visitors). Since it wasn’t really ready, we got in for free and were only asked for a donation. We bought a whole bunch of handicrafts from the locals instead as a show of support. Sadly, the items were of shoddy worksmanship and fell apart after a few uses.

Despite the obvious deterioration, the place is still 1000x better than the old Nayong Pilipino and is worth taking the time to go to- even if it is just breathe in the fresh air.

Entrance Fees effective 15 November 2009:

Children (pre-elem & elem.) : P20.00
College students & adults: P30.00

Parking Fee: P30.00
Coasters: P50.00

But, if you park just outside where there are lots of open spaces, it’s FREE!