BROUGHT by DROUGHT

Have you ever tried walking under the sun for a couple of minutes? You get thirsty so you sip water from your hydro bottle or even buy refreshments in nearest store. At home, you take a refreshing shower to soothe your tired body. You drink plenty of water to re-hydrate yourself. You also wash your dusted clothes for another weekend of classes.

Truly, our lifestyle depends much on water. But, have you ever wonder where water comes from? “From the faucet,” Of course from the faucet! But look beyond the pipes laid under our house, have we ever ask ourselves where our water supply comes from? And; for that matter, where it goes after we used it?

At first, I thought La Mesa Dam is the main source of our water supply? Oh-oh. Although the La Mesa Dam supplies raw water, it is not the primary source. It is just a reservoir which is filled by water coming from rainfall, from its own watershed run-off and surrounding tributaries and, of course, from the Ipo Dam. Water coming from rain and in-flows from nearby streams is almost negligible since majority of La Mesa Dam’s water comes from Ipo Dam.

Previously knowing that a watershed was just a body of water such a lake or a big river. I found out wrong. I learned that a watershed actually comprises not just an inland body of water but also the area of land where water flows across or through on its way to a particular water body such as a stream, river, wetland or a lake. This body of water is the lowest point within a watershed and it serves as the collecting reservoir of all after that passes through the watershed.

How if our water supplies went to its deficit state? Do we able to perform our daily personal necessities? How about our agricultural sector? Of course, we won’t. We’ve already experiencing El Niño’s upshot and before we experience its worse effect, let us awakened and act accordingly. It is very clear that the major causes are the continuous destruction of our ozone due to our inhumane acts, rampant illegal loggings and kaingin, improper burning of plastics and throwing of wastes, patronizing CFC products that cause pollution as like as domino effect.
We have been hearing and hearing over the news about soil droughts and grass fires regarding our mountains caused by global warming. In Central Luzon, which serves up as our agricultural basket and water source where Ipo and Angat dam is locatd, rice fields needing water supply from dams are on it’s very critical stage as it concerns us all.

I would like to point out our watersheds needing trees to ensure a steady supply of clean drinking water for us. Without forest cover, there will be a reduced supply of water especially during this summer season. Because of deforestation, the soil easily dries up or desiccates causing freshwater shortage and even destroyed a million of crops. The increased reflectivity of sunlight from barren land warms up the atmosphere, reduces and disperses clouds, and may eventually cause a decrease in rainfall. Trees keep the water supply in a watershed intact.
As students, we can do a lot to save our land from deforestation. We all brag about being the first in everything, being the coolest. Why not brag about being the first to reforest lands destroyed by kaingin? Tell your story to the world so that they will also help in the protection and rehabilitation of our land, plant trees and be a responsible stewards of His creation.

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect” a quotation from A Sand County Almanac


DONA CHARMAINE P. DELIZO
BJ3-1D

Wait for Spring

Kimberly dela Cruz

Recycling changes the world

Recycling is one of the most important environmental activities that should be imposed in the world. There are a lot of help that recycling can contribute into maintaining the beauty of environment and our earth.
Garbage is another problem in the society even decades ago. Government and non-government organizations keep finding ways on how to solve this garbage problem and make our surroundings clean and healthy. With this vision, everything starts with recycling. Through recycling, we can reduce the garbage that we are producing every day, garbage problem will be minimal and we can help our government to deal with this problem. If we recycle, the amount of garbage being thrown in the landfills will be minimized and toxic wastes has a bad effect in our health will be also reduced. We need to recycle because the garbage that we threw will come back to us someday if we don’t make a move on preserving our environment. Aside from that, recycling is an eco-friendly activity. You can make money out of recycled garbage or you can make handicrafts from garbage. Recycling also helps prevent floods and disasters during storms because there is no need for a lot of trees to be cut out to accommodate our garbage. There are still a lot of good things that recycling can do to us. Recycling can offer jobs to others, can discipline people regarding garbage problem, recycling means less garbage and less pollution and most of all, recycling can save our existence in this world.
If we don’t want climate change to fully destroy our world, we should take part upon making our environment neat and healthy. We can start in simple things if we really want change. Start with recycling. You don’t know how huge favor you are doing for all the human beings in this earth especially yourself.

WE AS ONE

Since environmental awareness has began, we have been educated that abuse of human to nature has been the cause of global warming. It might have been true, if not the blame became centered in the individual cases of wrong disposal of non-biodegradable materials or for the simplest of terms, throwing our garbage improperly.


If you've been blaming the tragedies of Ondoy, Pepeng and the other catastrophes; that left grave damage upon the earth; on each individual you saw sneaking up throwing their candy wraps everywhere, well, you could now think twice and try researching the Kyoto Protocol which determined that over-production is the number one source of global warming.


This proves that environmental problems are not solely a problem of an individual but also to our society, thus, it should be solved collectively.


However true that each of us should be responsible in every piece of thrash we threw, long-time solutions to these environmental problems wouldn't be solved just by keeping it to ourselves. Community awareness should be conducted to educate others about these environmental problems concerning our society.


Planting trees wouldn't be enough to stop flash floods if illegal loggers and mining companies continue to linger and destroy our lands. The problem should be, collectively, solved with real solutions, implemented not only to each individual but also to the roots of our problem.

-Kimberly dela Cruz

Environmental Advocacy by Dianne Lynn A. Dulgach

Senator Loren Legarda attended a forum in the University of the Philippines last February 6, 2010 and gave her speech in front of the students and professors regarding its theme: Mga Kandidato ng Kalikasan at Kapaligiran: May Boboto ba?
Senator Loren said that because of the environmental degradation and disaster risks that happened in our country, the present government had failed to take an action to solve and reduce these kinds of environment disasters.
Senator Loren’s advocacy is to protect and practice our different communities to be ready from different environment disasters and calamities caused by climate change. She advised that climate change must be added in the school curriculum. Aside from that, she also said that climate change adaptation should be practiced.
“We face other major threats of our time – poverty, threats to peace and order, and a widening gap between rich and poor. Formidable challenges, indeed. Advocating green politics is not as simple as a walk in the park, what with other issues and advocacies that appeal more to the masses of voters.”
Senator Loren believes that advocacy concerning the environment should be one of the top priorities of the next government and next leaders.

Nature is Crying

Are you throwing your waste anywhere? Do you stick your chewing gum under the armchair? Do you dispose your waste properly?

Nowadays, we are completely aware of the environment that surrounds us. We witness different exhibition of human ill behaviour especially how they dispose their garbage. Here in the Philippines, it is normal in our sight to see those wastes anywhere because we used to be with it in our normal lives. We can see piles of waste materials besides the street, we can see dogs and cats scavenging garbage around it, and sometimes we see even those street people doing the same thing. We Filipino, most of us are messy, disobedient and arrogant, it hurts nut that’s ironic. We don’t obey proper management of our wastes. In instance, in schools, students just randomly hurl their garbage in trashcans regardless of the cans label (bio, non-bio, recyclable). We don’t pay attention to the label for as long as we dispose our waste immediately. In some instance, students or even others will just toss the filter of their cigarette butts on the roads right away after they’ve smoke, others will spit their chewing gums and saliva anywhere.

Most people no longer care for the environment, and as a result they forget how to manage their waste properly. With the practice of improper waste disposal, we are just adding burdens to the nature. If we could just reverse everything or be simply disciplined creatures, not only we can help ourselves but furthermore save earth away from its austere state. It’s still fresh in our minds, the storm and the floods that make our country devastated. Somehow I can’t blame the nature, this are the consequences of our illicit acts. Our environment is really suffering because of us. You can’t blame someone about this, WE, we all have to take responsibility of our nature that’s slowly deteriorating. THINK NOW, ACT NOW… is this the environment we want to handed down through the next generation and to the generation after next generations? We are depriving their right to live, their chance to see how our nature is magnificently created.

WE SHOULD TAKE PART, YOU ARE HUMAN AND YOU ARE PART OF THE ENVIRONMENT!!! WE CAN DO BETTER TOGETHER…


Dona Charmaine P. Delizo

Our Humble Abode

This would be the perfect getaway if you want to escape the noise and pollution of the city. A simple house perched in the middle of the hill with bananas and papayas scattered across the area. Fresh air, green surroundings, simple lifestyle. Beautiful.


Kimberly dela Cruz
BJ 3-1D