Not just world peace, but greenpeace

New Year’s resolutions. Whenever December 31 draws near I try to sit myself down and ask myself what I want to do better for myself next year. I should exercise more, improve my vocabulary, and clean out my room. Somehow, after a week or so, I get lazy and end up sleeping the whole day in my incredibly messy room. I’ve always felt that my resolutions were uninspired. They’ve never particularly moved me to the point of overhauling my life. In fact, I end up with practically the same list of resolutions every year.

The great thing about the New Year is that it compels people to do something different and greater with their lives. At the end of another year, we think of what we can do to improve the quality of life. Yet we always end up scribbling down ordinary resolutions, resolutions about our own lives. This is probably why people never stay committed to their New Year’s resolutions after a short period of time. We never see what real impact it has. So what if we stop exercising? We won’t die (immediately). Our resolutions should create positive changes around us and to involve more than just ourselves. If we realize the great contribution that our resolutions bring to the communities around us, there’s no question that we will stick to them.

What better way to start the year than by helping the environment? Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization that uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environment problems, and to force the solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. I was quite impressed by the true creativity of this organization because they have coordinated a lot of innovative activities to raise awareness about the state of our environment. They first contacted me about the SolarGeneration, an international youth project organized by Greenpeace to promote solar energy. One of the biggest environmental problems we have is climate change, and the Philippines is one of the many countries with a SolarGen delegation helping to solve it through solar energy.

Last October, the SolarGen delegation went to Apo Island to install a solar photo-voltaic system to power the school library of the Apo Island Elementary School after exploring the potential for solar and wind power in Apo Island. They are hoping to make the province of Negros a model city for their "Pilipinas, Go Renewable" campaign. It turned out to be a momentous event, supported by local officials, Greenpeace volunteers, celebrities like Angel Aquino, and the whole town! "SolarGen is an eye-opener," says Jed Benitez, a college student from Bacolod. "In SolarGen, the youth are empowered to do beneficial, positive, and constructive measures to change the world."

Greenpeace also hosted a screening last November 22 of An Inconvenient Truth, former US Vice President Al Gore’s movie about global warming. This documentary has created not just Hollywood buzz, but more importantly, environmental buzz, as it discusses the imminent and frightening issue of global warming in a straightforward and passionate way. This was part of Greenpeace’s Climate and Energy Campaign, which encourages people to switch to renewable energy sources to battle climate change. The attendance of several opinion leaders from different sectors (everyone from actor Christopher de Leon, mountaineer Romy Garduce, Congress Representatives Neric Acosta, Rissa Hontiveros-Baracquel, and Etta Rosales, and prominent Puerto Princessa Mayor and anti-logging advocate Edward Hagedorn) showed the gravity and significance of the issue at hand.

They also recently held a Greenpeace "Pilipinas, Go Renewable!" Run-Bike-Walk for Clean Energy event in the University of the Philippines Diliman to promote more environmentally-friendly ways of getting around Metro Manila. Along with SolarGeneration and the Firefly Brigade, a citizen’s volunteer action group for clean air that advocates the use of bicycles in cities, Greenpeace encouraged all the volunteers to walk, jog or bike in support of renewable energy – not just for that day, but as a lifestyle. At the same time, people were also biking in Negros at the "Pedal Power for Clean Energy," supported by Mayor Gamboa of Sarabia, Negros Occidental and other local organizations.

One of the most interesting Greenpeace endeavors is a blog called "Cool My Planet." Check it out at http://coolmyplanet.blogspot.com and join in the interesting and informative discussions about climate change and renewable energy. It started as a project to create awareness of the climate talks in Nairobi, Kenya. There are 14 bloggers (mostly Filipinos) giving their own perspectives on how climate change affects their everyday lives in different ways. Bloggers include Ala Paredes, model and architect Wan Reyes, political and environmental activist Red Constantino, and more people passionate about saving the world through renewable energy. Topics range from the Nairobi Talks to inventions that could promote renewable energy to the ubiquitous Orocan here in the Philippines. "Climate change discussions have always been held in formal conferences and meetings so that we tend to think that this is the concern primarily of scientific experts and governments. But this isn’t true at all," said Greenpeace Southeast Asia Climate and Energy Campaigner Abigail Jabines. "This discussion involves everyone around the globe, but most particularly the youth whose future depends on the well-being of planet Earth." After reading the different entries, I felt that Ms. Jabines was right. Climate change is an everyday problem that we all have to deal with, not just the decision makers in the world. I felt it, especially these past months. It was so hot that the "-ber" could have melted off September, October, November and December. I remember only a few years ago, when these months would usually signal cool breezes; this year I hardly even got to throw on a jacket! Yes, climate change is very, very real.

"I think it’s incredibly important that we, the youth, get involved because it is our future that is at stake here. The older generations will not feel the burden of climate change. Instead, it is the young people that will face the consequences of mankind’s dependency on fossil fuels," states Marian Ledesma, another college student from Bacolod and a member of SolarGen.

Your New Year’s resolution could help ensure that the following years will be clean and green for us and for all the generations that follow. In fact, your New Year’s resolution could develop into a lifelong habit that could help save the world. What’s a better resolution than that? Contact Greenpeace now and find out how you could help.

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Thanks to Andrea Escalona for sending all the articles regarding Greenpeace.

For more information contact: Abigail Jabines, Climate and Energy Campaigner, (0917)8864767; or Lea Guerrero, Media Campaigner, (0916)3744969, 434-7034 local 104. Also check out: Greenpeace: www.greenpeace-.org, SolarGeneration: http://en.solargene-ration.de/Cool My Planet: http://coolmyplanet.-blogspot.com.