I'D RATHER BE GREEN

SOMETHING SMELLS! 

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By Tina M. Monfort

  It does not take a personal flood-experience to get involved.  I, for one, have not experienced my house go under water, having to reupholster practically the entire place and no experience whatsoever getting stranded somewhere.  In fact, I cannot even recall where I was last December 2006, the night Bacolod City went under water. 

Listening to the horrible stories of how Tita Gigi lost most of her family pictures or how Tita Marilyn had to use a dinghy just so they don’t drown when the water rose to 7 feet high was like recalling scenes from Reality T.V.    I CAN ONLY IMAGINE...

Two weeks ago, during our BAHA meeting, Alan G., who heads the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Division, asked for volunteers to write in this column.  With zero experience in writing, I volunteered just the same.  I thought, this was the least I can do to bring about awareness about the rising flood and trash problems of the City.

So, how does one really encourage consciousness to every moment and action when it comes to caring for our environment, which is in a very crucial stage right now? 

Climate change is real but we can still slow it down.  Only if we make our own personal commitment. We should not be overwhelmed with the immensity of the problem and let us not be discouraged either, by how little our contributions may seem like.  For after all, don’t all big things start from something little?     

I started an anti-plastic campaign for BAHA last May, making it possible for us to sell our re-usable grocery and shopping bags at cost.  Thanks to Ichay Bulaong of Luntian Bags for giving us a really good deal (http://luntianbags.wordpress.com).

Plastics, as we all know, don’t biodegrade, they photo degrade - breaking down into smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest them.   They wrap around living corals, quickly "suffocating" and killing these.  Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken as food. 

Since water keeps the plastic cool and algae blocks ultraviolet rays, every little piece of plastic manufactured in the past 50 years that made it into the ocean is still there, somewhere.   

You can make a difference by BYOB (Bring-ing Your Own Bag) to your next shopping or grocery trip. We can make this happen and we will!  But we need your help in making this change and your personal commitment never to use plastic again.  It is high time that we get ahead of ourselves – break our own records and stand for what is right!  Get involved!  SAY NO TO PLASTICS NOW!

Hope shines!

BAHA Re-usable Luntian Bags are available at: Bob's Café - 7091091; Bob’s Big Boy - 4342409 and 4330448; Bank of Commerce - 4334238; For Kids Only - 4352632; Pendy’s - 4340269 / Envirosax is available at Learning Gallery - 4322699; Pink Elephant Robinson’s Place -   4410599 and at Pink Elephant East - 4339280 /   Save a Bag. Save the World (green bags) available at SM Supermarket - BYOB!!!