ways to go GREEN.

not a campaign blog. cause im not even green. :)

would like to believe that someone out there is actually reading my blog. haha. so that's why im kinda y know. basta, haha.

"i think that i shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree." and that's the only line that i can recall from that poem.:)

a few months ago, together with my family, we decided to go and follow the green lifestyle. my papa, a fulltime worker for Gawad Kalinga, was then newly assigned to become a coordinator for Green Kalinga, the environment program of GK. so that was the start of our GREEN story. papa never fails to share and impart with us the importance of doing our part in saving mother earth. i remember the last time we had our christmas vacation in Bohol, he gathered us, me and siblings, and we had this short adventure to the forest parts of our place with short talks about the environment. our place in Bohol is really cool and nature-y. we have the beach and a rocky seaside a few meters in front of our white house and the mountains at the back. so that's where my love for everything green, the trees, mountains, and blue, the sky, the beach, around me started. 

the beach few meters away from our house.

some visitors having fun on the mini-pier located on the beach.

so would like to share with you some simple and do-able ways that my family are doing to go green. some may be on your list already.

• Turning and switching off unused lights and appliances. Best to unplug appliances when not in use. cause even if you turn them off and still NOT unplug them such as unused cellular phone chargers, TVs, radios, etc.,  you'll still be using a little of those energy. 
• Change your fluorescent lightbulbs to CFLs. converting your lights to these environment- friendly, twirling bulbs will not only conserve energy but lessen your electricity bill as well. trust me. these CFLs eats up waaaaay low power than those power- hungry fluorescents and they emit lesser heat too.
• Use glass in brushing water and minimize the use of shower in baths. self-explanatory.:)
• Minimize the use or disposing of plastics. if possible, bring your own plastic bags when purchasing in markets but haven't tried using those environment bags in purchasing from grocery stores. when eating in restaurants and using glass for drinking, plastic or not, is available, don't use straws anymore. small thing, but will surely have a big impact.
• Using second-hand stuffs. clothes, school supplies, household stuffs, and many others. don't buy things that you don't really need. we follow this strictly and mostly because we also don't have the luxury to buy a lot of stuffs. haha. we will only add to the trash that will be dumped if we keep buying, then use them, then throw after we don't need or want stuffs anymore. not only that, more buying means more production, more acquiring of raw materials from nature and the use of energy of producing these stuffs. get the bigger picture? learned this just a few weeks ago when papa showed us a video about the simple how-to's on conserving energy and power.
• Waste Segregation. some thinks it is a hassle to do this, but it's really simple. and you'll earn from your basura. we had this waste segregation inspiration 3 years ago. we have this yearly christmas party with the kids in our street in our subdivision. to pay for our prizes and goodies to be given away, the kids must do caroling days before the party, then we thought why not segregate our trash too and sell the cans, plastic bottles, metals/ steels and newspapers and earn money and add it to our christmas party's cash. and we added a culmination activity for our rosary month too so we have to earn and gather more. the kids are starting to be consciously aware of the need to preserve and save what is left of our mother earth and that no matter how young they are, they already are part of the solution of our environmental crisis. 

the signage.

the kids doing their part. segregating.

• Vermicomposting. if you are into gardening or planting, you may have heard of this. it's a process where you have these vermi worms eat up your biodegradable trash, banana peelings, paper, kitchen trash, etc., and their poop becomes the organic fertilizer that we put into our plants. really cool. too bad i don't have photos to show you. our plants are very, very healthy. it is a must for every household member of our house to know this as not to throw any necessary vermi food. and it's a challenge to find a way to lessen your trash that you need to dispose to the garbage truck. you have to see to it that they are not wet and if they are, sawdust and piles of paper are to be layered. the vermi worms die if there's too much moisture if it's too dry. we have a small space at home so my resourceful papa had this blue containers for this stuff. they smell cause it's garbage but we had this solvent from banana by PLANTEX that eliminates the bad odor instantly. to know and learn more, feel free to contact me. your dad, lolo or uncle might be interested and we are giving out free worms for now with free training. so avail while this service lasts.

the blue containers. inside those are hundreds of worms and their poop.

our healthy plants. that huge plant is an aloe vera. we have aloe vera juice for our daily supplements, aloe vera gel shaked and mixed with honey. the wonders of aloe vera are all over the net. very healthy.

• Go organic. we have switched to organic and it was not a difficult decision for us especially when we have found affordable and world-class organic products in the market and you get to help the poor communities that they are helping. Human Heart Nature and Plantex. totally addicting! two thumbs up. from our shampoos to hair gel, toothpaste to laundry powder, facial wash to lipbalm, all natural and super safe. separate blog for product reviews. bath time is never the same, leaving the bathroom scented with lemongrass and mandarin. can't imagine going back to those commercialized and chemical-full beauty and household products.  

our human heart nature stash. with the old packaging.

the new packaging. love, love it!

plantex stash. love how it easily eliminates bad odors.

• EARTH HOUR 2010: Switch off your lights. Be one with the rest of the world, as we turn off our lights on March 27, 2010, Saturday, 8:30 PM to show support for the movement of saving our environment. spread the word to your friends, families and neighbors. repost on your facebook and twitter.

that's all folks. hope you did get to learn a thing or two. share your green ways too. :)