Cool to be GREEN

The COOL2BGREEN Environmental Forum was spearheaded by the CIT Industrial Engineering program, IE Leadership Expedition Members Batch 2: The Avantgardes together with the CIT’s Supreme Student Government. I was a member of the 1^st batch of the IE Leadership Expedition, so I also helped them and became a part of the organizing committee. This was held last February 9, 2008 at the CIT – Audio Visual Room from 1–5PM.

Its objective is for students to understand the environmental issues of today, Philippine setting, the Role of the Youth, to be familiar with Green Businesses and to create an Institutional wide organization that is solely dedicated to promotion of environmental protection.

We had 3 speakers all in all, Atty. Gloria Enstenzo-Ramos who is a lawyer-advocate for the environment, women and children’s rights and good governance. Our next Speaker was supposed to be Hon. Nida Cabrera who is the currently the barangay captain of barangay barrio Luz, Cebu City, but she wasn’t able to make it but she sent a representative which was Mr. Ronilio Sab-a who is also from the barangay (I'll also make a separate "Green Business" entry and I''l try to go to barangay Luz to make a feature about it if I can find time). Last was a student speaker, the vice president of the Supreme Student Government Mr. Benjie Belotindos who shared his learnings from his experience in the Foreign Exchange Program in which he was sent to the Netherlands.

Atty. Ramos was the 1^st speaker and talked the environmental issue concerning the Tañon Strait in between Cebu and the Negros Provinces and the Oil Drilling project of JAPEX – a Japanese firm (For further information I will make a separate entry concerning this issue). Mr. Sab-a talked about applying the R.A. 9003 of 2000 (The Ecological Solid Waste Management act) to its utmost utilization. And the Result is Green Business, specifically segregating and recycling there waste and creating them into new products such as Tetra Juice Pack re-made into Bags slippers and the like which is what his barangay is currently doing and right now they are already exporting it!

After the student speaker Mr. Belotindos, the SSG President conducted an Action Planning in the creation of the core group for the Institutional wide Organization that would promote awareness not just among students but also adults and younger minds. Also it would empower students to take action and get involved in the Environmental Issues, trends and the like for the betterment of not just the Philippines but also the World – EARTH. Thinking Globally, Acting Locally! Changing the World one step at a time in our own little way. Small things done is much better than Big things planned...

GET INFORMED. INTERACT. TAKE ACTION!