I still remember when my friend asked me to join a marathon for a cause. Back then, I was really a busy bee and just the thought of running for several miles makes me exhausted already so I turned her invitation down. However, just when the marathon was over, I wondered how I managed to let that great opportunity pass. Then I realized that being a citizenof my country, I should have the initiative to join such movements especially if it caters to preservation of the environment. There are a lot of noble programs like the Philippines Green Movement. So if you’re having half the mind in joining these events, here are some insipirations that you might like:

You will be an earth warrior – Well, not literally, but by joining this kind of movement, you will have a deeper insight about how important it is to take care of the environment.

Interact, interact! – If you’re the timid type of person, it’s time to come out of that shell and talk with lots of people! This is one advantage that you can get if you join Philippines Green Movement, you will be able to know different people with the same passion – to save Mother Earth.

You will learn something new – Haven’t tried recycling things yet? If not, I’m sure you won’t have the slightest idea about these things. If you want to learn something valuable, joining movements for a cause can greatly help you.

Are you looking for groups that caters to the earth’s urgent needs? You can visit some websites that give some updates about Philippines Green Movement. There are some links provided that can direct you to a more useful page. If you want to have more results, you can also try looking up for several websites on the search engine.

I saw a very cute vehicle today while I was having walking to the office along Paseo de Roxas. It looks like an open multi-cab van. Everyday, I see the air-conditioned jeepneys plying the streets around Ayala center hence the name Ayala Loop jeep. But this is the first time that I saw this cute and colorful jeepney. Someone from behind me said e-jeepney.

An e-jeepney in Makati? Haven’t heard of that. I researched a little in the internet and I learned there are only a few e-jeepneys circling around Legazpi and Salcedo Village in Makati. It started with 2 last July but surely in a few months, we’ll see more e-jeepneys not only in Makati but in other places as well.

This is a very good idea and I hope that all jeepneys in the Philippines will be converted to electronic jeepneys. Since e-jeepneys run by rechargeable batteries and not through fuels, they can decrease our national consumption of fuel which is a non-renewable energy source.

E-jeepneys run on batteries that are charged by plugging it in electrical sockets. It’s just like charging our cell phones. They charge it overnight and the batteries last from 3 hours to whole day depending on the speed. With the heavy traffic around Salcedo Village and Legazpi Village, it probably lasts long.

Because they burn fuels, e-jeepneys don’t produce any air pollution and noise pollution. They don’t emit any smoke. They don’t ruin your ears when they accelerate like most of the ordinary jeepneys.

I overheard from someone from the street who also noticed the e-jeepney that aside from being cute, silent and clean, e-jeepneys will not reduce our consumption of fuel because fuel is used to generate electricity. But what I think is the main idea behind the e-jeepney is to eventually use other sources of energy for our electricity.

We know that we can use the energy of water falls and wind to generate electricity. When we change to e-jeepneys, it will be easier to find alternative sources of energy because the e-jeepneys don’t need fuel. They only need electricity. And electricity doesn’t necessarily have to be sourced from fuel.

The e-jeepney I saw today made me realize that a truly green Manila is still possible.

How do you know that the milk you’re putting in your cereals or coffee is not harmful to you? This may sound like a stupid question because milk is supposed to be good for our health giving us our daily calcium and protein requirement and many other nutrients. When we were young, our parents tell us to drink our milk. Our commercials today bombard us with the messages that adults should not stop drinking milk to avoid osteoporosis. How can milk be bad for us?

Recently, two news stories helped in ruining my cereal breakfast routine: the melamine scare and the discovery of growth hormone injection in cows. Melamine is a toxic chemical that is used in making plastics. It has recently been discovered that many milk manufacturers in China add melamine to milk to increase the milk’s protein content. Thousands of babies who consumed melamine-tainted milk died due to kidney malfunction.

Officials have also cautioned the public in consuming milk that are from cows injected with bovine growth hormone (BGH). Milking cows are injected with BGH to increase the production of milk. Scientists are concerned of this because they believe that consuming milk from a cow that was injected with growth hormone can cause hormone-related cancer to humans.

How can milk be bad for us? It can be bad for us if things that are not supposed to be in our milk are added to our milk suck as melamine and BGH. What is supposed to be healthy can now be the source of illness and even death. Blame both of these with too much desire for big profits. We may notice the increase of the number of milk products in our groceries’ store these last few years but this may not be good news for our health. What the solution to this problem? Go green. Buy organic milk.

More about organic milk in my next blog.