Efforts to promote proper waste management through trash segregation took center stage at the SM Supermalls in celebration of Earth Day on Saturday, with 60 SM malls in the Philippines taking part.
As this developed, Senator Loren Legarda called on the people to unplug gadgets and unused appliances, plant trees, segregate garbage, put up a rainwater collector at home, share eco-friendly practices in social media.
Legarda said these are simple practices we can start with and “there are many more.”
The senator encouraged everyone to do acts that would help save the planet not only during Earth Day but every day.
The nation’s biggest nationwide chain of malls has been at the forefront of promoting proper waste management in Filipino households via the “Trash-to-Cash Recycling Market” introduced in 2007 and is held every first Friday and Saturday of the month at all SM malls.
SM Supermalls says it is enjoining households to collect and sort out their household recyclable throwaways—paper, plastic, metal, and glass waste—and turn these to cash.
The support of Filipino households point to the success of Trash-to-Cash—in 2016 alone, the program was able to recycle over a million kilos of paper, or the equivalent of pulp that can be processed into paper from 18,452 seven-year old trees.
With SM’s Trash-to-Cash firmly in place to highlight responsible solid waste management as a daily task, SM challenges Filipinos to make every day as a celebration of Earth Day.
In conjunction with the April 22 celebration of Earth Day and as part of the 406th Foundation Anniversary commemoration of the University of Santo Tomas, the UST College of Education (CE), College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD), and UST Museum, in partnership with SM Cares and SM Supermalls, presented collaborative project, “Likhang-Bayan Year 9: UST’s SweetART” fusing two advocacies: care for the environment and preservation and propagation of “pabalat,” a traditional Filipino art form.
The exhibit aimed to heighten environmental consciousness and emphasized man’s unique role as “steward of God’s creation.” It also aims to deepen appreciation for traditional Filipino arts as cultural treasures and encourages people to take part in their preservation and propagation.
Designs featuring flora, fauna, scenery, and environmental mottoes were showcased. Upcycling and photography projects of UST Interior Design, Industrial Design and Advertising Arts students, respectively, were also included in the exhibit.
SM Cares, a division of SM Foundation, is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings.
A collateral activity of the exhibit will be workshop on “pabalat,” a wrapper made of Japanese paper with intricately cut tail ends used for traditional Filipino milk candies called “pastillas” on April 30, 2017. The workshop will be facilitated by UST Museum assistant director and professional Interior Designer Assoc. Prof. Anna Marie H. Bautista. UST Department of Food Technology faculty members Enelyn King and Essence Jean Logan will prepare flavored pastillas complementing some of the designs. This workshop will be held on April 30, 2017 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Skygarden, SM North Edsa.
The exhibit runs until May 1, 2017, and is also part of the USTCE Foundation Week activities; CFAD’s contribution to National Interior Design Week and Earth Day celebration; the UST Museum’s contribution to the declaration of May as Heritage Month; and UST’s response to Pope Francis’ papal encyclical “Laudato Si” (Care for Our Common Home).