SUMMER'S HERE! NGYAR......=S

I just know summer's here (in February, really?!) when the breezy, cool noontime walks I didn't mind taking from Boni High all the way to Market! Market! for lunchtime errands is no longer possible. I get out of our office and barely make it to Starbucks (no more than 50 steps away) without melting.

I just know summer's here (in February, really?!) when I have to turn the aircon on much, much earlier at night as opposed to turning it on only right before we sleep. I just know summer's here when the barely there aircon cooling (more for air circulation really, whether real or imagined on my part) gives way to lower and lower temps. It's a vicious cycle I know.....Guilty as charged! Ngyar. ='(

I just know summer's here (in February, really?!) when I couldn't resist having a tall glass of ice-cold Coke Light poured over a tall glass filled with ice. Get that ice-cold Coke just isn't enough? In the office where the aircon blasts on the entire day, I drink coffee. I drink green tea (to aid in my quest to lose 15 lbs. by the time I'm 40!). In House Better, during weekends, nothing else does it for me. Forget the "happiness bit" that they blare out on all their TVC's. It's all about fizz and bubbles going down to soothe a dry, parched throat. *SFX: glug-glug-glug...Aaaaaaaaaaaaah! =D*

I just know summer's here (in February, really?!) when droughts, low water levels and cloud seeding take precedent over presidential campaign buzz and political mud-slinging in the early evening news.

Still, this being Banzo's first summer, I have had a few more reminders. These days, I just know summer's here (in February, really?!) because Banzo has started to shed, his loose furballs rolling all over the place like desert tumbleweeds against the air being blown by the industrial fan. We have started to put bottles and bottles of 1.5L Coke PETs filled with water in the freezer so that Fe-licious can repeatedly replace his water dispenser with ice-cold water throughout the day. (And just like that, he drinks practically half the bottle now everytime he goes, haha.) I have also taken to texting Fe-licious in the middle of the day to check if she kept the industrial fan on as I told her or to direct her to put on the aircon if it's particularly hot (mag-jacket na lang siya, haha).

Finally, I just know summer's here when the resident Siberian Husky who used to curl up blissfully as he sleeps now spreads eagle like an accidental porn star in all those video scandals every time he takes a nap.



Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Welcome to the start of a potentially 40-degree summer.

Heaven help all of us. =S

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If there's anything that'll help cool things down, it's trees.

I know because there is a world of difference between driving down old acacia-lined McKinley Road on the Forbes side and driving down the same road on the Fort Bonifacio side where the trees are still young (in time, in time...).

I know because there is a world of difference between walking the pups on the street outside and playing with them instead in Mother's House Better garden with the Santol tree covering practically the entire backyard and a gazillion other plants and mini-trees cooling things down.

Sometime last year, I goaded the entire family into a tree-planting activity at the La Mesa watershed. 20 seedlings prepared in honor of the kiddies in the family (including Buster J and, back then, Barrioca, haha). 'Would have to find time (and cash, haha) to do that one again.

In the meantime, I do hope this will inspire you to find some way of planting a tree in your own neighborhoods or your own backyards. Come rainy season, they will help keep the floods away. Come summer, they will help cool us down. Could there be any better deal than that? None. So go! =)

MONEY FOR NOTHING / FROM TRASH TO CASH! =D

Sister Pusjing forwarded several links to me about recycling fairs that now happen regularly in SM Supermalls and in the Ayala Malls in cooperation with the DENR. Happy, happy, joy, joy! =D Good to know that the big guns are getting involved, but I wish more people knew about it. So this is me doing my bit to tell more people about it. =)

Last weekend (after 3 consecutive weekends of out-of-town trips, woohoooooo!!!), the Hubby and I decided to stay put in House Pioneer instead of going home to House Better as we usually do during weekends. He was feeling under the weather and really just wanted to crash and sleep all day. I decided to use the time to clean--ACK! Something, admittedly, I have put off for quite some time. In any case, while I am not even half-way done, I've discovered (unearthed is more like it!) two XL garbage-bag full of items that I have decided to drop off at these recycling fairs. (Naku, I actually think I can unearth a lot more if I kept at this house-cleaning bit--enough for all the recycling fairs to be held on the remaining months of 2009! Haha. =D)

In any case, they say to minimize your carbon footprint, you must learn AND apply three words. REDUCE. RE-USE. RECYCLE.


Self-explanatory. In any case, you might have some of these lying around your house. You can actually exchange some of them for cash at the recycling fairs:

• Used Lead Acid Batteries. Genset, UPS and motor batteries
• E-Waste. non-working electronic and electrical appliances, VHS, betamax, cassette tapes, obsolete CPUs and monitors (Aha! Now I know where I could bring my darn industrial fan with a gnawed-off plug. =))
• Paper Waste. Used paper, old newspaper, cartons, magazines, obsolete books, posters.
• Plastic and Metal Waste. Bottles, containers, sando bags, plastic furniture, aluminum cans, tin cans and other metals
• Printer Cartridges. Toners and ink cartridge

No cash exchanges for the next items on the list, but you may also bring the following in case you need help in disposing them: tarpaulin streamers, household batteries, polystyrene packaging, mobile phones, batteries and chargers, tetra pak cartons.

Let's do our bit to minimize the mountain of garbage that we generate. Goodness knows we have enough of these in every country, city, town, street!

This June, the recycling fairs in the Ayala facilities are from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. on the following dates:

• JUNE 5 - Paseo de Magallanes, Bgy. Magallanes, Makati City (beside Honda)
• JUNE 12 - Goldcrest Parking Lot, Glorietta Makati (behind the restaurant row)
• JUNE 13 - Bonifacio Global City, Bonifacio High Street
• JUNE 19 - Alabang Town Center Parking Lot (in front of St. Jerome's Church)
• JUNE 26 - Trinoma Open Carpark

Bit of trivia from the Ayala Foundation site: Did you know that recycling ONE aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for THREE hours?

Food for thought as you clean up your house and go to the recycling fairs! =D

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I still have to get the details for the SM Supermalls. In the meantime, should you have any questions re: the Ayala fairs, please call 7521084 or write them a swm@ayalafoundation.org.

SAVING THE LA MESA WATERSHED / MAY 17,2009 =D

They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot,

With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot,

Don't it always seem to go,

That you don't know what you got till it's gone,

They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot.

They took all the trees, and put 'em in a tree museum,

And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them,

No, no, don't it always seem to go,

That you don't know what you've got till it's gone,

They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot.

- BIG YELLOW TAXI

Joni Mitchell / Counting Crows

(Depending on which generation you belong to =))

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Did you know that this forest paradise exists no more than a block away from the busy Commonwealth thoroughfare? That it even exists behind all the big malls that have taken over our lives?

Welcome to the La Mesa Ecopark.

I've heard about it before, but only vaguely associate it with Gina Lopez talking about saving the watershed that lies inside it for future generations. Every single time, her message would go wooshing over my head. And so I did what I suspect most of us did. NOTHING. =(

Then early this month (or was it late last month?), I had a panic attack borne by the literally burning summer heat that only let up to give way to inexplicable summer storms. Ngyah. I started thinking about Patita, Ray*-B, Siob-siob, GB, Kirstie, Alonso, Noah, Big Boy MG...and the kind of world they would grow up in, unless I did something today.

So I wrote about it. Sister Pusjing (as she is wont to do =)) started researching about tree-planting and recycling fairs, then forwarded all the links to me. Patay! Haha. (I was--*insert sheepish grin here, haha =D*--secretly hoping that I could write about it, then she will enthusiastically take over from there. Hahahahaha!!! 'D).

Anyway! O, sya. I started talking so I (as Sister Pusjing put it) must now walk my talk. Naku! =D I got in touch with Darryn who was listed as the contact person for ABS-CBN's Sagip Kalikasan. "We'd like to adopt 20 trees," I said, "how do we go about it?" In as quick as one phone call, we were able to set a date. May 17, Sunday, 10:00 a.m. WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! =D

Convincing Cousins_Plus (the official code for all cousins plus titos, titas, moms, dads, children and pets, hahaha) to join the activity was easy. In fact, most enthusiastically volunteered! We spend our Sundays eating and talking @ Eduardo's anyway, it was easy to convince everyone to change venue. =) Tree planting, then potluck picnic after. Sounded like a plan. =)

Darryn advised me in advance that they don't do tree-planting activities in summer to increase the trees' chance for survival. In its place, we can have the nursery activity instead where we will help prepare the seedlings for the next cycle of planting. Good enough. Yey! =D

The activities kicked off with a video presentation and an orientation that provided an overview of the importance of the La Mesa Watershed to the sustainability of life in Metro Manila.

As defined in the official website, the La Mesa watershed is a government property titled under the MWSS and commissioned in 1929. It straddles the boundaries of Quezon City, Caloocan City, and Municipality of Montalban and the provinces of Bulacan, and Rizal. It houses the filtration plant that distributes water to 5 cities and 32 municipalities or about 12 million residents in Metro Manila. It is also the last forest of its size in the metropolis.

Imagine that. 12 million people in Metro Manila and its neighboring municipalities depend on it for the water that they drink, the water that they use for bathing, the water that they use for washing their cars, the water that they use for cooking, etc., etc. It was originally set-up by the Americans, but neglect during the Martial Law years led to deforestation--as squatters moved in, cut down and burned the trees, consequently leading to the erosion of the soil around the watershed. In the late 1990's, a plan to put up a residential subdivision in the area served as the wake-up call for "environmental activists". If the plan had pushed through, not only would it have severely compromise the quality of the water, it would have most likely resulted in the complete denudation of the forest area around the watershed, which would have then compromised the fresh water supply of Metro Manila.

Yes, folks, we came THIS CLOSE to a water crisis, and we didn't even know. =(

In 1999, the environmentalists found an ally in the ABS-CBN Foundation. Gina Lopez took on the Saving of the La Mesa Watershed as her personal project, and things have thankfully not been the same since. (Click here to see before and after pics.) I personally admire Gina. More than being a rich kid who does good, she is a rich kid who is committed to doing good. The saving of the La Mesa Watershed did not come easy. Lives were lost as the squatters fought back. Forest rangers were raped as those who had a lot to lose if the illegal logging were stopped pulled out all stops to intimidate those who were determined to turn things around. I think of all those who gave up their lives, and I start to hope that our family's first batch of 20 adopted trees would mean that they did not give it up for naught.

Darryn welcomed us warmly. She thanked us for doing our bit, adding a bit of trivia. They sometimes solicit from corporations. On occasion, they are approached by companies who have pegged the La Mesa Watershed as their Corporate Social Responsibility project for the year. That day was the FIRST TIME EVER that they are doing this activity for a FAMILY. She was actually surprised, she said, when we told her that we are a family who decided to go tree-planting. Turning her gaze at Genius Patita and Adorable Ray*-B (GB, unfortunately, had fever on the day of the activity), she said that it was good that we brought the two pretty kids because what we're doing that day is really going to be for them. The two kids giggled themselves silly, obviously tickled pink at being referred to as pretty (haha =)). I think most of the adults choked, teary-eyed. Haha! =)

Pics follow....

Genius Patita, trying her hand at planting seedlings, armed with a really big barbecue stick. =D

Father watering the seedlings that were planted....

Adorable Ray*-B needing a little assistance from mom & dad, Bro I-gue and MomSan...=D

The seedlings (disclaimer: O, sya, sya....di lahat ito kami ang nagtanim. 20 trees nga lang eh! Haha! =D)

When you adopt 20 trees, they will also take you around the Ecopark on a guided tour. We first visited the Vermicompost facility--where they prepare the soil. They took us through the process of decaying biodegradable garbage before putting the earthworms in. 1Kg of earthworms for every 1Kg of biodegradable garbage (old veggies, dried leaves, etc.). Mother looked thoroughly interested and is probably thinking of going back another day to get herself some earthworms so she can start a backyard composting facility in House Better. See, gardening is one of Mother's major passion. You should see the garden in House Better. It is a mini-ecopark. Haha! =D

We eventually found ourselves walking through the actual park (entrance is free if you adopt a tree =)). Our guide pointed to the different varieties that have been planted since, explaining the primary and secondary benefit of each tree (for paper, bark used as medicine, etc., etc.). Everyone had a jolly, good time walking (kahit na medyo hinihingal na after a while because we are all physically pfffftttt....haha!). It was hard to imagine that the ecopark is just a stone throw away from Commonwealth Ave. The air inside was different. It was cooler. Breezier. I found myself wishing it was the same for the rest of Metro Manila.

Walking through the park is an experience. We all stopped at this tree. A Kupang. The seedlings that we planted earlier, our guide said, would grow up to be trees this sturdy and tall. And this one is not yet even a full-grown tree yet. Wow. =)

Not only did we go around the ecopark, we even climbed the 117 steps to see the actual La Mesa Dam. Unfortunately, picture taking is not allowed by the dam (although I don't know why). (The first picture in this blog post though was taken a few steps down from the top step. =))

We were too tired to walk all the way out (we left the food in the car) so we all ended up riding the electronic jeeps that takes visitors with heavy baggage (read mga kaldero at kung ano-ano pa, haha!) in and out of the park. I think the kids thought it was a theme park ride. Haha! =D

Thinking about the long trek back and the, by then, already full picnic tables, we decided to hold our picnic in another venue instead. Off to U.P.! WOOHOOOOOOO!!! =D The menu? Chicken/Pork Adobo or Tapa Binalot that Panet lovingly prepared, Sr. Pedro Lechon Manok and Mangga't Bagoong, all washed down with soda. Sarap! ^_^ For dessert/merienda (we couldn't decide, haha), we all had Dolor's Sapin-Sapin, Mary Grace Cheeseroll and Iced Saba that Lolo Fred and Tatin prepared. Good all around. Wish we had more. More, as in more space in our stomachs for the quantity of food that we still wanted to eat. HAHA! =D

We were pretty lucky because soon after we finished our meal, it started to drizzle. With that, we ended our nature-tripping-Sunday. =)

Back at Eduardo's (this time for coffee and more cheese rolls), we gave out the tree adoption papers to the rest of the fam. The adoption papers that Hubby Sweet and I got had Buster J and Barrioca's full names printed on them. Hahaha! Ngyah. =D

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Doing your bit to save the La Mesa Watershed--and consequently your bit in helping secure the future water supply of Metro Manila--is easy. Call Darryn Castillo at (632) 415-2227/924-4101 loc 4551 or email her at darryn_castillo@abs-cbn.com. With one convenient phone call, you can set everything! =D

Click on the link to see just how much it would cost to adopt a tree or protect a hectare. Get a group to do it with you, and it wouldn't even be that much.

Someone walking around the ecopark was wearing a printed shirt that can be deemed as an absolute truth:

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.

If you think about it that way, heck, P250 per tree really isn't much so GO! =)

MELTING POINT =(

For all those who regularly follow my blog, you'd know these two. The pic was taken by Mama Mi, my cousin-in-law, two Christmases ago. Genius Patita and Adorable Ray*-B. I keep thinking and I can't shake it out of my head: if the summers are already this punishing for our generation (really, 37-39 degrees?!), how much worse would it be when they get to our age?

Just last week, I was in Cagayan de Oro for work. I've been in and out of the place over the past 14 years. I've never experienced rain that hard, it flooded parts of the city. (Heck, the area was actually handpicked in the 1920s because it had the perfect balance of sunshine and rain, needed for growing pineapples. More sunshine. Less rain. It isn't the case anymore.) Last Friday, there was heavy rain AND thunderstorm. At 3:30 p.m. In the middle of summer. The rain got so bad, I was told flights were cancelled, so other colleagues who were supposed to fly back to Manila that afternoon had to turn back.

Last year, I got hold of a copy of The Inconvenient Truth and sat through it, amazed. Sadly, it all stayed at the "mental level". I know the planet is in trouble, but it's the classic case of the chicken-or-the-egg. The planet is heating up. So I turn on the aircon to cool myself down. Which only contributes further to the heat. So I keep the aircon on longer to keep myself comfortable. Which only contributes further to the heat. The cycle goes on and goes on--at least, until I create a discontinuity that would change its course.

Hubby Sweet actually started this thing. Choosing to eat organic (rice, egg, and what else have you), he told me that he read somewhere that they create less stress on the environment. "Think of it, Sweet," he said, "Pa'no na lang sina Patita, Ray-B*, Siob-siob, GB and Kirstie if we don't do something about things now?" And so SLOWLY (even if it's a bit more expensive), we're choosing to go the organic route.

Tomorrow, I'm also buying an electric fan so we confine the use of the aircon to when it's REALLY needed. (Yes, the only fan I have in the house is an industrial fan, and sadly, in one moment of boredom, Buster J and Barrioca gnawed at the plug. Ack! Buti na lang di nakasaksak. Haha!)

Which brings me to my next course of action. I'm going to start unplugging stuff when they are not in use. I'm going to start putting off lights. It does not make sense to have the light on in the kitchen and the hallway, when really, all of us are in the living room. It's quite simple when you think about it, but it's not easy. We (meaning Hubby Sweet and I) have to start building a habit.

I'm slowly starting to recycle. Who cares if it's not sosyal to reuse PET bottles and instant noodle cups? Haha. We have to learn to segregate what is biodegradable and what is not. The biodegradable stuff, we can bring to a composting organization. The non-biodegradable stuff need to either be used twice or donated to some recycling center. Seriously, if you know any organization who accepts biodegradable garbage for composting and non-biodegradable garbage for recycling, please leave a note in the comments section.

I want to plant a tree. They say, you have to be able to plant a tree in your lifetime. I just don't know where yet. I've planted coffee in Tagaytay with BFF Marts in one of those planting tours organized by Figaro in Tagaytay during the Wander Years. But coffee beans are not trees, and I want to plant trees. I want to get a group together so we can start figuring out how to do this. Soon. Anybody else up for planting trees?

I feel the panic building inside me, not for myself, but for the little children I love who will grow up in a world much, much worse than the one I am living in now--unless I do my bit to change the course we're on. This is Siob-siob, my youngest niece. She's only 3 months old.

When you think about people who would have to live on this earth 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years down the road, whose face do you see?

More importantly, what are you going to do for them today?