Simple but very educational

There were several picture frames along the walls of a department store which we visited last Saturday morning. Upon closer look, we learned that each poster was a reminder to all the visitors of the department store to do their share for the protection and sustainability of our precious environment.

Each picture had children being shown the simple things that they can do for the environment. For example, one picture showed children being guided about how to properly segregate their garbage. Another photo had the caption, where does your garbage go? The next picture showed what happens to plastic water containers if thrown correctly in the proper containers. And so on.

The most interesting message of the displayed photos was the invitation to the public to bring their children to join a free workshop about the proper conservation of the environment to be held at and sponsored by the department store!

Wow, what a simple but very meaningful, educational gesture by a responsible business corporation seriously concerned about helping to sustain our precious environment! 

Children are guided through some sectors of the department store and then are gathered to be taught, in a very creative and participatory fashion, the important lessons about what happens to the products that they consume and throw, if properly and if improperly managed.

As shopping malls are now part of the weekly destinations of our children and their families, what a great contribution shopping malls and businesses can do for environmental protection, if only they find the time and attention to creatively join and promote education for sustainable development (ESD) where and whenever they can!!!

Together with other sectors, the civil society, government, the academe and more, the business sector does not have to incur significant costs for helping to promote environmental consciousness. They just have to get together, conceptualize and share their expertise and resources, have a venue and a program for training and practice, and get the ball rolling for ESD!

Festivals are also very good occasion to promote learning and ESD.

In the recently-concluded Tsukuba International Festival, there were young volunteers who were manning the area for segregated garbage and there were volunteers as well for leading the visitors to the so-called designated disposal areas and assisting them to properly segregate their trash!

The organizers did not take the garbage for granted. They well understood that with thousands of visitors, the amount of garbage would swell. Anticipating this, they early on prepared a system to effectively manage the festival garbage, making sure that with proper segregation, they could still find use and earn from the recyclables. They ensured that there were enough paid staff to sort out the garbage, to remove the cap, the plastic label from the pet bottles ( like mineral water containers). They also sorted out the paper and wet garbage. They also did not allow visitors to throw unsegregated waste.

With the volume of recyclables collected, it was easy to see how they could pay their paid garbage sorters – no need for extra budget from government or the private sector to pay for the hired garbage sorters for those two days!!!

Aside from paid garbage sorters, as mentioned earlier, the organizers also elicited the participation of volunteers to remind people to properly segregate and dispose of their festival garbage! They even had elementary student volunteers, who called out together with excited loud voices, to remind people to responsibly take care of their garbage!

Can we all imagine a well-prepared system for segregation and disposal of garbage in all our fiestas, including the well-attended Sinulog?

It just takes a system for an inexpensive, effective, and sustainable for proper garbage segregation and disposal. The system does not have to be instituted only by government.

Collaborative partnerships of private and public sectors, involving students, the youth, and, even the large unemployed groups in the nearby communities can be tapped to start and sustain a very effective sustainable garbage disposal system! Early collaborative planning and preparation before the festivals and fiestas can go a long way to effectively earn from, rather than just spend money and resources for, garbage.   

 Reminders about simple practices that each one can do to help protect and sustain our present world can be done with everyone’s cooperation. Partnerships and collaborative initiatives can also go a long way to preserve and protect our earth.

 Education for sustainable development (ESD) does not have to be done only by formal schools and teachers. The business sector is a very vital partner as well as our young students and community residents who can be tapped, either as volunteers or as paid personnel, to assist the government effectively and inexpensively manage garbage which continues to swell and grow into costly, smoky, and dangerous mountains of trash.

Through simple but very educational, creative partnerships and ways, so much can be done to preserve our earth. It is never too late to do our share together to save our world.

There were several picture frames along the walls of a department store which we visited last Saturday morning. Upon closer look, we learned that each poster was a reminder to all the visitors of the department store to do their share for the protection and sustainability of our precious environment.

Each picture had children being shown the simple things that they can do for the environment. For example, one picture showed children being guided about how to properly segregate their garbage. Another photo had the caption, where does your garbage go? The next picture showed what happens to plastic water containers if thrown correctly in the proper containers. And so on.

The most interesting message of the displayed photos was the invitation to the public to bring their children to join a free workshop about the proper conservation of the environment to be held at and sponsored by the department store!

Wow, what a simple but very meaningful, educational gesture by a responsible business corporation seriously concerned about helping to sustain our precious environment! 

Children are guided through some sectors of the department store and then are gathered to be taught, in a very creative and participatory fashion, the important lessons about what happens to the products that they consume and throw, if properly and if improperly managed.

As shopping malls are now part of the weekly destinations of our children and their families, what a great contribution shopping malls and businesses can do for environmental protection, if only they find the time and attention to creatively join and promote education for sustainable development (ESD) where and whenever they can!!!

Together with other sectors, the civil society, government, the academe and more, the business sector does not have to incur significant costs for helping to promote environmental consciousness. They just have to get together, conceptualize and share their expertise and resources, have a venue and a program for training and practice, and get the ball rolling for ESD!

Festivals are also very good occasion to promote learning and ESD.

In the recently-concluded Tsukuba International Festival, there were young volunteers who were manning the area for segregated garbage and there were volunteers as well for leading the visitors to the so-called designated disposal areas and assisting them to properly segregate their trash!

The organizers did not take the garbage for granted. They well understood that with thousands of visitors, the amount of garbage would swell. Anticipating this, they early on prepared a system to effectively manage the festival garbage, making sure that with proper segregation, they could still find use and earn from the recyclables. They ensured that there were enough paid staff to sort out the garbage, to remove the cap, the plastic label from the pet bottles ( like mineral water containers). They also sorted out the paper and wet garbage. They also did not allow visitors to throw unsegregated waste.

With the volume of recyclables collected, it was easy to see how they could pay their paid garbage sorters – no need for extra budget from government or the private sector to pay for the hired garbage sorters for those two days!!!

Aside from paid garbage sorters, as mentioned earlier, the organizers also elicited the participation of volunteers to remind people to properly segregate and dispose of their festival garbage! They even had elementary student volunteers, who called out together with excited loud voices, to remind people to responsibly take care of their garbage!

Can we all imagine a well-prepared system for segregation and disposal of garbage in all our fiestas, including the well-attended Sinulog?

It just takes a system for an inexpensive, effective, and sustainable for proper garbage segregation and disposal. The system does not have to be instituted only by government.

Collaborative partnerships of private and public sectors, involving students, the youth, and, even the large unemployed groups in the nearby communities can be tapped to start and sustain a very effective sustainable garbage disposal system! Early collaborative planning and preparation before the festivals and fiestas can go a long way to effectively earn from, rather than just spend money and resources for, garbage.   

 Reminders about simple practices that each one can do to help protect and sustain our present world can be done with everyone’s cooperation. Partnerships and collaborative initiatives can also go a long way to preserve and protect our earth.

 Education for sustainable development (ESD) does not have to be done only by formal schools and teachers. The business sector is a very vital partner as well as our young students and community residents who can be tapped, either as volunteers or as paid personnel, to assist the government effectively and inexpensively manage garbage which continues to swell and grow into costly, smoky, and dangerous mountains of trash.

Through simple but very educational, creative partnerships and ways, so much can be done to preserve our earth. It is never too late to do our share together to save our world.