Planting trees is a good Earth Day activity but it means work
This summer I am not teaching but I am preparing new ways of teaching Environmental Science 1 (Environment and Society) for the coming academic year. ES 1 is one of the more difficult introductory courses to teach. Unlike other general subjects, you cannot “box in” environmental science with a straight laced syllabus.
The truth is that right from day 1 of the semester, students will have to think not just outside the box but beyond it. The science of environment of course rests on theories. I introduce the following theories 1) Matter and energy links and cycling, 2) Resources, 3) Technology impacts 4) Sustainability and 5) Earth as a system.
Take note I don’t have in the syllabus “climate change”. This is a subject that in my few years of teaching “boxes” in students’ thinking to the extent they mouth what I call “Greenpeace-isms”
Climate change for one thing, cannot be stopped for if there is one thing true about planet Earth’s climate, is that it is always changing. But climate change can be best dealt in the classroom in terms of all the theories earlier mentioned. So I hope students develop a critical eye on events like “Earth Hour” and “Earth Day”.
National Geographic has something on how Earth Day started. What was once a Vietnam War era anti-war type of protest has become a global movement. This year 1 billion people are expected to take part. But sadly many people just celebrate a single day of commitment. That’s why I found Earth Hour an idiocy. For one thing that’s just 6o minutes of commitment.
Earth Day is historical for it ushered in a global awareness of environmental problems. But the Earth Day activity that has the most impact is caring for trees. The usual tree planting we do is a one time commitment, but taking care of trees is a lifetime commitment. As for the usual Earth Day plantings as part of publicity stunts and corporate social responsibility involves a photo op and putting a tree sapling in a hole previously dug by someone else! Then the soil is put back in the hole and voila, I am green and I feel good!
But the foresters I know have said that these Earth Day activities take much from their most pressing responsibility of guarding and seeing that the trees are cared for or protected. Also its the foresters who dig the holes and these weekend environmentalists never even bother to dig the hole themselves.
Planting and carine for trees is the most basic “landcare” activity. It has a pedagogical purpose. Students should internalize after the activity that planting trees means hard work . In fact it is much easier to chop down trees.
So some environmental advocates say that we need to dedicate “Earth lives” if we want to see some positive results. But our Pinoy Earth Day is I believe still a cliche! This morning I saw a media spectacle of an Earth effigy held aloft as a protest in front of DENR’s Visayas Avenue gate. The stunt caused a traffic gridlock which resulted in 1) more greenhouse gases spewed up by idling engines, 2) more NOx emissions and 3) a horrible rush hour!
Now how’s that for saving planet Earth? So just like many things about Pinoy society, our environmentalism has to grow up and send for recycling its cliches.
The environmentalism that counts is more than mere one day gimmicks but something more substantial. Thankfully we have people like Cardinal Dency Rosales of Manila, who as Bishop of Malaybalay showed how the Church can critically be engaged against the illegal logging problem.
BTW, in the photo above, you can just make out the dilapidated UP Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM) building. The good news this Earth Day is that construction of the new IESM building has commenced at the National Science Complex (NSC). Environmental Science has been a discipline at UP for almost 40 years but hasn’t received much priority in science program development. In the last 20 years, our science development priorities were directed at launching the economy to high technology industrial development. Environment took a back seat. But now the idea of viable “green technologies” has taken the front seat.
The IESM building will be the first “green” academic and research building in the country. While it cannot be completely carbon neutral (sorry, some of the analytical and research equipment requires airconditioning!), at least the teaching building will utilize passive cooling, using appropriate engineering and architectural innovations, recycled rainwater for toilets, solar energy for lighting, and if there are sponsors, venues for demonstrating “green technologies” for urban settings.
However the 100 million peso budget allocated by the national governmemnt only covers the physical structure itself and given the technical and design specs for the building, this amount is barely enough. We need friends to ensure that the classrooms will have the right facilities to make learning enjoyable. If readers want to sponsor the classrooms, just holler!
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Preserving environment is good. I'm OK with it. Environment is just so expensive to preserve that we cannot afford it for now. We can take few baby steps but not in the way Greenpeace wanted us to. Let us shine a light on America for they don't want to drill oil in the Alaskan tundra or off California or shale oil extraction because it ruins the environment and exterminate species to extinction.
Right now, in Tanon strait, that is between Cebu and Negros, they have stopped oil exploration of potential millions of barrels of oil because IT HARMS THE HABITAT OF THE DOLPHINS!
HA! Which is going to be Dolphins or Filipinos?
Preserve the Dolphins to hell with Filipino children. GOT FOOD?
To hell cirtizens of the developed world. They eat 150 times more food and higher on the trophic level than Filipino children. Again the Renato Pacific mouth operates before the brain does!
LOL! Even the Obamamessiah is considering exploiting the Alaskan tundra. Again the Renato Pacifico trap runs before the brain stem does!
You have a passive warming syndrome + attention deficit disorder. developed world has wealtth to eat 150 times more food. the Filipinos cannot eat 150 times more food because we cannot afford it.
The civilized world eat less gas-emiting food than Filipinos who eat camote that develops gas that comes out of your but as fart that causes global-warming.
I heard, California is trying to control how much their cows fart to protect the environment
Oil exploration in Tanon Strait was stopped. To preserve the habitat of Dolphin. Save the dolphins, to hell with children.
Man is the only specie in the Universe that destroys its home. You can see other species building and taking
care of their homes and environments. The chemical pollutants, the nuclear pollutants, the gaseous pollutants
and the tremendous garbage we are dumping are all contributing to this Climate Change. We have to love the
Planet Earth. It is the only inheritance that we can give to future generations.
The Planet Earth and the Universe in whole are realigning . This condition comes from time to time, as
centuries to centuries passes. But, it is aggravated by the irresponsibility of man to his environment.
We have also wars, hate, greed, tremendous use of fossil fuels, etc…not good for living on Planet Earth…
The Oil Problem will soon be solved. Fossil fuels will be a thing of the past. Cold Fusion (Low Energy Nuclear
Reaction) is slowly being developed commercially. We rejoice for this Technological Development.
The Energy produced in Cold Fusion will be used to fuel computers, cars, trucks, boats, airplanes, space crafts,
power plants, etc..
The raw materials are cheap. The metal Palladium, and the water bath that consist of Deuterium or Heavy
Water. Heavy Water comes from the Sea water.
The Oil business will be like the Silk Trade business. It will soon be in demise and gone. Along with the Islamic
Radicals who are bent on using Oil as a political weapon.
You can visit the remnants of the buildings built along the Silk Trade Routes. It was once a very busy commercial
and trade route. Technology helped us, along with the unity of the brains of men.
OK. I HOLLER! Filipinos students and workers who are exposed in the sun to wear comfortable clothes like shorts and cotton shirts! White foreigners will find us crazy in a green building that is heavily air-conditioned because the students are wearing long shirts and neck ties.
I don't think you do care to read. Do you know exactly what passive cooling is? That's what happens when the mouth operates first than the cerebrum!
OK, guys. Wear your shirt and tie. It looks COOL without needing A/C
I=PAT, "means that environmental impact is equal to population multiplied by affluence multiplied by technology.
"…as people get wealtheir they can afford cleaner water and air." Meaning, environment comes after people gained wealth.
Filipinos cannot afford geen living for now. Let's go green on things we can afford and live with.
Good reading from New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/science/earth/2...
LOL! a misinterpretation on what the Kuznet's curve is all about!
Drill that oil, gademn it! To hell with the Dolphins, Filipnos need to live, too!
P100 m? Reminds me of P200 m double entry alleged by Ping. Also reminds me of P200 m alleged by Neri (was it?).
Taxpayers pay each senator a year P200 m also to administer these "invisible' funds sans rigid auditing requirements?
Poor UP, the school to go.
what about the politics of environmental science? You should try engaging the political science department when it comes to many environmental issues.. as a Chemical Engineer, at the end of the day, implementing many technologies isn't the most important problem, but it is the economics and the politics of how to implement such processes of green building and more environmentally friendly processes..
in such things, as many engineers in practice will tell you, we can make these processes a reality, but the economic reality will always be a trade off, this is why, such processes and such moves towards better efficiency will always require some form of subsidy until it becomes profitable to do so.
this is why, cap and trade, an out of the box thinking back then, is being pushed as a viable solution, not the entire solution, but part of that solution towards putting an emphasis on the environment when it comes to many industries..
Speaking of thinking out of the box, I am reminded of my ecology class. We sure had lots of field trips.
We learned sampling procedures for turbidity, microbial analysis and velocity in various locations – Pearl Farm in Samal Island, Talomo river at the base of Mount Apo, though I didn't like the location near the stinking slaughterhouse.
Also had fun learning quadrat-sampling in the field – Philippine Eagle Conservatory, in the coconut, sugar, and orchid plantations.
Sure chugged cases of Gold Eagle, Blue Ice, and San Mig Super Dry afterwards.
*****
Blackshama, please fill in <a href=”http://www.moveonphil.org/beneficiaries.htm” target=”_blank”>http://www.moveonphil.org/beneficiaries.htm – it will be forwarded to the UP Alumni Association in NorthEast Florida.
Can readers sponsor something less than a classroom? A microscope? Educational CDs from National Geographic? Classroom supplies? National Geographic magazines – something affordable by middle class households.
How about chairs?
China has become a global leader, which Filipinos envy, by breaking all environmental rules. America would rather trash other countries environment to save their own from oil drilling. America don't really care about environment, they only care their own.
Speaking of thinking out of the box, I am reminded of my ecology class. We sure had lots of field trips.
We learned sampling procedures for turbidity, microbial analysis and velocity in various locations – Pearl Farm in Samal Island, Talomo river at the base of Mount Apo, though I didn't like the location near the stinking slaughterhouse.
Also had fun learning quadrat-sampling in the field – Philippine Eagle Conservatory, in the coconut, sugar, and orchid plantations.
Sure chugged cases of Gold Eagle, Blue Ice, and San Mig Super Dry afterwards.
*****
Blackshama, please fill in http://www.moveonphil.org/beneficiaries.htm – it will be forwarded to the UP Alumni Association in NorthEast Florida.
Can readers sponsor something less than a classroom? A microscope? Educational CDs from National Geographic? National Geographic magazines – something affordable by middle class households.
Just to inform you that my brother Putsie replied in the email with excitement when I wrote him to ask if he knows Dr. Benjamin Vallejo whom I accidentally encountered in a web-discussion: " Yes yes, I know Benji. He was a student of Coke. I met him before. Ha ha, small world !"
how much would a chair cost? how many chairs are needed to fill a classroom?
here's what i'll do, i will get in touch with the UP Alumni Association prexy (I know they are quite active in JAX), mention this initiative, get the prexy's email, give it to you – hopefully that starts the ball rolling given the current recession.