Hello!

So I am entering my fifth year in the university in three more days, and so I would be having less time to do stuff other than my academics. So I really felt the need to actually post this now.

I am taking up a degree program that deals with the relationship of men to their environment. So throughout my life here in my university, I was able to witness and appreciate the beauty of nature.

We had various exposure trips- I climbed around four mountains, went to two forests and many beaches. You know these areas are really beautiful and well-maintained. But the places we have to pass through are different stories. Cities are very much polluted, trees are cut down and garbages are seen here and there.

Even through the eye, you can really tell that nature is slowly deteriorating because of man-induced activities.

And so I asked myself, "What can I do to help?"

Although this sounds a bit big, I pushed through with my change of routine. I believe that no matter how small the efforts are, they can still create a huge change.

So I'll be sharing five of the things I now do to be of help to the environment :)

(1) Bringing of own containers

The past years have been quite hectic for my family because of various concerns and so we barely have time to actually prepare food because we would be choosing extra minutes of sleep rather getting up extra early to cook food. And so we started ordering cooked meals nearby our home.

At first, we just let the seller to put the meals in a plastic then we will just transfer the meals to plates when we arrive home. But after sometime, we got really tired with the amount of plastics we have to dispose everytime we purchase meals so we thought of bringing tupperwares or containers when we buy meals.

At first, it wasn't really easy, especially when people won't get the purpose of it. There was this time when I went out to buy a meal and asked the seller to place it in the container that I have brought but yknow she still used a plastic to "measure" the meal then she transferred the food to my container then threw the plastic somewhere I didn't saw.

It was frustrating.

But it got better since that time I went out with my mom to buy meals for dinner. We brought out our containers for the seller to place the meals in, and there were people in queue behind us. Then the two or three persons next to us were like, "Oh wait that's nice. I (we) had not thought of that." So we had a small talk, and they told us that they would be bringing their own containers starting tomorrow when they buy their own food.

Then suddenly it became a "thing" in our neighborhood :D

(2) Bringing of own water bottle

So last semester, my classes would start at eight in the morning and would end at around four in the afternoon. There are many days when I have to go out on the field under the scorching heat to do interviews. So I made it a point to always bring water with me, and having my own water bottle was really a great help.

Fortunately, there were places that offers free water refills so I really don't have to spend much on water during those times I'm in the field. However, there were times when water is not free and so I would be needing to pay 10cents per refill. But that's better (for me) than paying 30cents for a 15ml bottle of water in convenience stores.

(3) Bringing of stainless steel straws

Plastic straws caused many heartbreaking news, more specifically in the marine life. And so people thought that shifting to paper straws are better compared to the plastic ones.

But I beg to differ. Papers are used for the making of paper straws, obviously. And so the more papers needed, the more trees are cut down.

I learned how to say "no" when offered straws when buying and eating outside. I also bought and started using stainless steel straws as they are washable and reuseable.

I know we can just drink directly to the cup, but I have issues with hygiene in some food establishments so just to be safe, I bring my straw.

(4) Use of recycled notebooks

In my degree program, we are required to submit many (when I say many, there are really reallyyyy a lot) type-written paper requirements. I have kept almost everything, just in case my professors would ask for those. But yeah, they don't.

And so my older sister started to make notebooks out of my papers, and her papers too in her office. She would cut the papers in half and have it ringbind.

She got me two 200+leaves notebook, and those were more than enough for two whole semesters.

(5) Ecobricking: Creating ecobricks

What are ecobricks? According to ecobricks.org, an Ecobrick is a bottle packed solid with used plastic to make a re-useable building block.

I started ecobricking just this April. I was so stressed in my academics that I turn to stress eating..well, junkfoods. That's when I noticed that our plastic wastes are much compared to before. Of course as an ecologist, I feared for what would happen with that amount of plastic. So I searched for things I can do to recycle plastics, and then I came across ecobricks.

I just collect the plastic bottles and the sachets, plastic pouches and the likes then I pack the bottles with the wastes every now and then. Since I don't have a time to drop the packed-solid bottles, I just had them stacked here.

So earlier, I woke up late (like lunch time) and I told myself that "Ah! Today is the day, no matter what happens, that I will be dropping off my ecobricks to the nearest drop off location." The ecobricks gathered in that drop off location will then be used to create a school/children center to the partner organization of the organization which started the ecobricking move here in my area.

And guess what? In just two months and so of ecobricking, I have created 14 bottles! I have dropped off the eight bottles earlier, and the other six are still subject to check and improvement =))

So for those who are interested in starting creating ecobricks, I have searched for different drop-off locations. So far these are what I got:

* Philippines: http://thecirclehostel.com/drop-off-points-for-eco-bricks/

* South Africa: https://www.aquarium.co.za/blog/entry/how-to-make-ecobricks-reducing-waste-at-home

* Bali: https://coconuts.co/bali/news/anythings-possible-you-can-use-your-trash-help-bali-street-kids/amp/

Ecobrick Exchange also have drop-off locations in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg, and Pretoria. However, they stopped collecting as of the moment for they are still looking for a beneficiary project. But I'm still leaving the link here: https://ecobrickexchange.org/views/home.php#involvement

If there's no drop-off location nearby..good news!! You can still build something for yourself! Check out the links below: 

* https://www.ecobricks.org/build/

* http://thecirclehostel.com/how-to-build-with-ecobricks/

* https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/270305503/building-eco-brick-benches-with-students

So this is the end of my storytime#2 blog. I hope that you get something out of this, I guess? :)))

​​​​