Penultimate Semester

Another semester! How time flies.  This is now my second to the last (I hope) semester for UPOU. Many times I felt like quitting, but just like the “little engine that could,” I just say to myself ... I know I can! I know I can!

Last semester was a whirlwind semester. I especially loved DEVC 208 – Social Marketing and Mobilization, specifically because it allowed me to work with a group and to really realize a concrete output that interacted with the “real world”! We had fun creating our campaign, Reuse+Ability. Our website is still up, www.reuseability.com.  DEVC 263 – Communication of Scientific Information – was really challenging and exhausting. We still do not have our grades, though.  I am a getting a bit impatient, because aside from the comments and feedback we get throughout the year, the grades are also testaments to one’s level of understanding of the lessons. (Note: I think timely feedback is essential to distance learning to keep up interest and for students to gauge their performance... since you hardly see each other for immediate feedback giving). 

This semester, I decided to take 2 majors: DEVC 206 – Design of Print and Radio Communication Materials, and DEVC 204 – Communication Research and Evaluation.  Based on my experience last sem, 2 majors at the same time was really difficult! However, I wanted to “free up” some time for my last semester for DEVC 290 (Special Problem) , so I take that + an elective.

The semester started right in the middle of a very important event at work. I am still trying to catch up to the first few assignments!

Hanna's Green Travel Tip and a Giveaway!

Sawasdee and Greetings from Bangkok, Thailand!

My work calls for a lot of travel. I rack up a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions brought about by air travel. Since I can't really prevent air travel, I have to compensate for it by trying to live a sustainable lifestyle. I enjoy thinking of ways on how I can travel "green" by tweaking my practices and making personal choices that reduce my personal contribution to waste and environmental degradation.

Do you shop when you travel? I do. I end up with several plastic and paper bags, which I hardly also pack and bring home with me.

Green Tip #1 - Bring a lightweight shopping bag when you travel

By practicing this green tip, you could reduce waste, you could have an easier time carrying one bag (than several small ones), and you also have an opportunity to be stylish by using the shopping bag of your choice!

Now before I turn in a full blown article , I would also like to know what YOU think! I challenge you to share your own Reuse+Ability for GREEN TRAVEL ! And WIN THIS:


Live Simply reusable shopping bag and journal (recycled paper!) + surprise prize !

 

3 WAYS TO JOIN!

1) Log-in with your Facebook or Twitter Account on http://reuseability.com/ and share your travel tip on our commitment wall ("What's your ReuseAbility idea?")  OR contribute an article with the hashtag #GreenTravelTip

2) Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/reuseability and post a photo and a description of your green travel tip with the hashtag  #GreenTravelTip

3) Tweet @reuseability a photo describing your #GreenTravelTip (don't forget the hashtag!)

Winners will be notified by FB Message or Twitter. Prize will be delivered for free to any Philippine location.

GET THOSE TRAVEL TIPS COMING! Challenge ends 11:59 PM (GMT+8) Saturday, September 21!

Eco Enterprise : Rags 2 Riches - scrap cloth to chic bags

Have you ever been stuck in traffic and offered to buy “basahan” (cotton cloth rags). These are usually scrap pieces of cloth (“retaso”) sewn together. Another variation is the woven cloth door mat, a classic design. The nanays who make these rags spend a lot of their time sewing and weaving, only to sell them for a few pesos through informal means, or much worse, get cheated out of extra income by middlemen who supply the rags and buy the finished products.

Throwing in some ingenuity, Pinoy creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and social responsibility – Reese Fernandez-Ruiz and some friends formed Rags to Riches (R2R). R2R is a social enterprise that helps empower the “nanays” or former rag weavers, to become bag artists. With the help of big name Pinoy designers, such as Rajo Laurel and Amina Aranaz, R2R harnessed the lowly rag weaving style to create fabulous designs of bags worthy of high-end boutique shelves. Talk about adding value!

This upcycling of scrap cloth offers several benefits. It has turned scrap cloth from waste to  commodity, and added on to its value by creating luxury items that would generate “repeat buyers” (How many cloth rags does a girl really need? J How many bags does a girl need? ).  More than the improved livelihood, the bag weavers are also empowered with new skills and fresh confidence.

Rags to Riches , indeed, is a testament that successful businesses have room for environmental and social responsibility!

Learn more about R II R :

http://rags2riches.ph/

@R2RecoStyle

 

I've been lucky enough to score these R 2 R goodies in some events. I am still saving up for the Buslo  tote bag  :) Good things come to those who wait.

 

 

article as seen on www.reuseability.com -- our DEVC 208 Social Marketing project! Check it out !

Edu-Trip - Nuvali's Greenstallations

I’ve been seeing a billboard along SLEX about a Green and Sustainable Exhibit at Nuvali. As a sustainability fan (and also a frustrated Nuvali homeowner… I'd live to live there) , I made arrangements for the family to go.

The exhibit is located at EvoLiving, Nuvali’s sales building. I was a bit puzzled at this because the location is far from the Solenad area, where foot traffic was better. Upon seeing the exhibit, I saw that it was more of an info-installation / marketing exhibit of the sustainability features of the Nuvali community. It was interesting nonetheless. If you are not really a green/ sustainability aficionado – though I think everyone should be – it might not be worth the trip. The exhibit runs up to Sept 1, 2013. We didn't catch any of the Green activities , those might be interesting too.

The exhibit (I assumed curated by the Ayala Museum, since their logo is included in the poster) featured outdoor artwork, some recycled art, and interactive exhibits that teaches about greener lifestyles and community engagement. We were not able to check out the outdoor sculptures because of (1) the rain, (2) they’re a bit spread out and you wouldn’t know where to go.I saw a blog with more photos, though!Check it out at http://www.kumagcow.com/2013/08/nuvalis-greenstallations.html.

The interactive exhibits inside were really nicely done, and one can see the time and effort put into it. It highlighted the importance of recycling, waste segregation, energy / water / resource conservation. It’s a good introduction towards green living. 

Starting him young. My son Tonyo learns how it's good to be green :)

-- this is not a paid ad --

About Energy Service Companies (ESCOs)

Submission for DEVC 263 Midterms
Category: On-line Leaflet , or Infographic that can be part of a newsletter

For easy reference, please see list of accredited Philippine ESCOs below from the Department of Energy website. (http://www2.doe.gov.ph/EE/Accredited%20Companies.htm)

List of DOE - Accredited Energy Service Companies (ESCOs)
	A. THERMAL SOLUTIONS, INC. –TYPE“A”      MR. WILLY R. LEGASPI - Contact Person      VP-Sales and Engineering      1215 Acacia St., Madrigal Business Park, Ayala, Alabang      Muntinlupa City       Website: www.thermasoiInc.com      Tel. No. 771-0541 B. PHILCARBON, INC. – TYPE “A”      MS. RUTH YU-OWEN - Contact Person      President      2231 Aurora Boulevard      Pasay City      Email address: ruthyuowen@philcarbon.com      Website: www.philcarbon.com      Tel. Nos. 895-2062 / 899-6764 C. ELECTRO-SYSTEMS INDUSTRIES CORPORATION – TYPE “A”      MR. WELLINGTON C. SOONG- Contact Person      President      G/F ENSO Bldg., 399 Gil Puyat, Makati City      Email address: sales@electro-systems.net      Website: www.electro-systems.com      Tel. Nos. 897-8888 / 895-2677 D. DESIGN SCIENCE INCORPORATED – POWERBOSS – TYPE “A”      MR. ROBERTO S. TENCHAVEZ – Contact Person      President      BT&T Center #20 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave.      Libis, Quezon City      Email address: rst@designscience.biz      Website: http://designscience.powerbossproducts.com      Tel. Nos. 911-5420 / 913-5356 / 911-5386 E. RENAISSANCE PACIFIC ENERGY SOLUTIONS ASIA (REPESA) – TYPE “A”      MS. LILIBETH S. MEDIAVILLO – Contact Person      President      Suite 409 JR Building 1520 Quezon Avenue      South Triangle, Quezon City      Email address: repesacorp2007@yahoo.com      Website: www.savenergyplus.com      Tel. /Fax No. 738-2745 F. SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC PHILIPPINES, INC – TYPE “A”      MR. MARIANITO L. MARTINEZ– Contact Person      President      5th Floor, Bldg. 391 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., Makati City      Email address: sheila.mina@schneider-electric.com      Website: www.schneider-electric.com.ph      Tel. No. 976-9999 G. COFELY PHILIPPINES – TYPE “A”      MR. ERIC A. GRAEF – Contact Person      Chief Executive Officer      Room 910 Philippine Stock Exchange West Tower      Ortigas Center, San Antonio, Pasig City      Email address: ray.marquez@cofely.com.ph      Website: www.cofely.com.sg      Tel. No. 655-7426 H. FILAIRCO, INC./ TRANE PHILIPPINES – TYPE “A”      MR. RICARDO J. ROMULO – Contact Person      Chairman      L1 D3 Ninoy Aquino Ave., Barangay San Dionisio      Parañaque City      Email address: maalamiel@trane.com      Website: www.trane.com      Tel. No. 820-3097 I. OSP –ESCO INTERNATIONAL, INC. – Type “A”      MR. JOSE DE JESUS – Contact Person      President      10-28 Malaya St., Malanday      Marikina City      Email address: joeydejesus1950@yahoo.com      Website: www.cofely.com.sg      Tel. Nos. (632) 393-9566; 393-9559 J. MVCP BIOTECHNOLOGY & ENERGY RESOURCES –Type “A”      MR. MANUEL PLANAS – Contact Person      Managing Director      UG – 28 Cityland Dela Rosa Cond., Dela Rosa St., Makati City      Email address: virginiaco@gmail.com      Website: www.mvcpbiotech.com      Tel. No. 818-8953 K. ENERGY AND AVIATION SUPPORT CORPORATION – Type “A”      MR. REYNALDO D. LEGADA – Contact Person      President/General Manager      #804 Cityland Shaw Tower, Shaw Blvd.      Mandaluyong City      Email address: eascorp@globenet.com.ph      Website: eascorp2004@yahoo.com.ph      Tel. Nos. 631-5726 / 910-1535 L. HI-COOL ENGINEERING CORPORATION – Type “A”      MR. CONRADO P. ACEDILLO – Contact Person      President/Chairman      19th Floor, Galleria Corp. Center      Ortigas Ave., Quezon City      Email address: hicool.engineering@gmail.com      Website: www.hicoolengineering.com      Tel. Nos. 634-5349 to 50 ------------------------------- Main Reference: "Energy Efficiency Governance." 2010. International Energy Agency. p. 123-125 (available for download at http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/name,3931,en.html) Supplementary Reference "Sustainable Energy Finance Training." 2010. International Finance Corporation Department of Energy Website  Icons / Symbols Acknowledgement: Energy Efficiency icons available for free from http://www.publicinterestdesign.org/2012/04/20/new-energy-efficiency-symbols-introduced/ Other icons from Windows font pack, Webdings & Wingdings Template inspired by www.Piktochart.com , designed using Adobe Photoshop

Visual Reporting with Infographs

DEVC 263 is Communication of Scientific Information. Although I have considered this field my bread and butter for the past 4 years, I did not realize that there is a LOT to learn, and that my work does not even come close to what the hardcore science communicators do.

For our mid-terms, we were asked to communicate scientific information in either a semi-technical or a popular way. I am still debating what to present (5 days to go!). I decided to explore the world of infographs, which I can probably use in my work as well.

I used Infograph, a web-based software for creating infographics.

Sustainable Energy Finance - PHILIPPINES | Create infographics

Video Production: Cross Country Knowledge Sharing

I actually submitted a different video proposal for my DEVC 207 class. An unexpected turn of events during the past few months (Project Pagsulong, 3 big production projects in the office, unexpected out of town trips, not to mention busy schedules of my intended interviewees for the subject matter) prevented me from focusing on my original proposal on a video about the use of Styrofoam.

I am therefore giving in and submitting a video I created for the office, which I believe still showcases my video-conceptualizing abilities. :-) (I still intend to do my Styro Story once my intended interviewees are available since it is an advocacy that I want to pursue)

Title:                           Cross Country Knowledge Sharing: Paying it Forward

Running Time:         5 minutes, 26 secs

Videomaker:             Marianna Alfa Fernando-Pacua

Date:                         Updated February 20, 2013

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The documentary was created as a contribution to the International Finance Corporation’s pool of videos for the “Smart Lessons” program – a knowledge management portal which enable sharing of lessons learned from implementation of IFC Advisory Services  Programs.

The video talks about the importance of knowledge sharing among countries in East Asia and the Pacific in the implementation of the Sustainable Energy Finance (SEF) program.

SEF Philippines was implemented based on lessons learned from SEF pioneers from Europe, Russia, and China. As one of the first SEF programs in Southeast Asia, the SEF Philippines team is eager to pay it forward and share their story to other markets as well. Their good relationship with one of their partner FIs, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), has made the local bank a staunch ally in promoting SEF. Join the SEF Philippines and Indonesia teams as they take BPI beyond their business and help promote SEF in Indonesia.

Camera:                              

Flip Video HD

Editing software:           

Flip Video and Windows Movie Maker

Footage:                             

Interviews by Marianna Fernando-Pacua

Clips from “The Business of Energy” documentary co-produced by the ABS-CBN News Channel and IFC

Animation from  IFC’s Philippines SEF Program, created by Ideals Creatives