the Earth-bound adventures of the Lost and Found

Wonder Woman Sitting Under the Talisay Tree in Paradise She is three or four, sitting on a lounge chair under the shade of a talisay tree. She wears her favorite bright yellow, red and blue bathing suit, just like Wonder Woman’s on TV. The sand beneath her is white. No one else is around. Paradise Island. That’s what they named one of the very first white sand beach resorts in Davao. Or more accurately, on Samal Island. Up until then, I had only seen beaches of volcanic black sand spewed from Mount Apo’s long-ago eruptions. Eager to explore a new beach, my young family—both my parents barely 25, my younger brother less than a year old, and I not even in kindergarten—set out in my grandparents’ orange Opel car all the way to where the airport used to be in Sasa district, to take the five-minute pump boat ride across the channel to Samal. “ Pambot” the boat captain would call his vessel. It was the first of countless times in the years that followed. Paradise Island in the e...

  A chapter my former boss and I wrote has just gotten a refresh, and the whole book is now open access! It's rare that we get to collect new data on something we worked on almost 10 years ago, and it was interesting to revisit our thinking as well, after doing a lot more evaluations. Especially since this was my first evaluation when I was starting out! Unfortunately the intro got deleted from the chapter 😕 So here it is below. Multiple actors and confounding factors Evaluating impact in complex social-ecological systems The objective of impact evaluation is to establish causality between an intervention and observed changes or effects, whether the changes are positive or negative, intended or unintended and direct or indirect. To accomplish this, impact evaluation must at a minimum undertake three tasks: first, determine the extent of change that has taken place since the intervention started; second, establish a causal link between programme or project activities and the obser...

I sit on the expanse of grass, feeling each soft blade under my legs. The sun is lower on the horizon now. Late afternoon light filters through some trees on top of a hill in the distance. I close my eyes and deeply breathe in the fresh air. Two more hours of work left in my day. I cross two traffic lights and walk the three minutes back to my house. You could say I’ve been a wanderer since I was 16. Venturing to Manila for college from my hometown of Davao City, I’ve since moved from city to city and country to country, sometimes not staying longer than a few months in one place. Work finally got me to stay put in Washington DC the last 10 years. Still I fly out several times a year, not just for adventure but also for my job in international development. In 2019, I was away at some other state or country almost every other weekend. Google Maps says I traveled enough miles to go around the world two times. That was to seven countries—starting in Uruguay in March, then Belize, Hondu...

09 de junio 2009 - Huelva, Spain. Blood-red Martian rivers and wildflowers from the desert. Field trip to Spain's largest open pit mine and the biggest pyrite belt in the world.

Description: Cell Phone Waste Collection Pilot Project The Government of the Philippines, through the Board of Investments-Department of Trade and Industry (BOI-DTI), is currently undertaking the €¦’³Study on the Recycling Industry Development in the Philippines€¦’´ with technical assistance from the Government of Japan, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Three pilot projects will be implemented under the Study, one of which is on Cell Phone Waste Collection and Recycling that aims to increase awareness on the proper disposal of cell phone wastes (e.g., cell phone batteries, chargers, cell phone units and accessories) and assess the feasibility of establishing cell phone waste collection in designated areas. Ingredients: The Cell Phone Wastes Collection and Recycling Pilot Project was launched on 14 September 2007 with the support of partners composed of government (DTI, DENR), cell phone manufacturers (Alcatel, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sony ...

Start:      Oct 17, '07 09:00a End:      Oct 18, '07 12:00p Location:      Audio-Visual Room, University of the Philippines in the Visayas Cebu College Greetings! We are organizing two forums on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) next week and we are pleased to invite you and your organization. We are proud to have as speakers those who were directly involved in the just concluded Senate hearings. The schedules are: 1. October 17, 2007 (Wednesday), 9:00am-12noon "JPEPA and its Effects to Agriculture and the Environment" Venue: Audio-Visual Room, University of the Philippines in the Visayas Cebu College Lahug, Cebu City Confirmed speakers: a. Atty. Golda S. Benjamin Coordinator - International Trade, IDEALS b. Atty. Richard Gutierrez Asia Coordinator - Basel Action Network c. Ms. Marnie Dolera Coordinator - Magkaisa Junk JPEPA Coalition *Organized by FDC-Cebu, Universi...

Start:      Sep 14, '07 6:30p Location:      CCP Ramp, Manila Dear Friend, The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) invites you to the launching of ANI 33 (Nature and Environment) on Friday, 14 September 2007 at 6:33 pm at the CCP Ramp. The launch marks the 20th anniversary of the literary journal, one of the longest surviving literary publications in the Philippines today. Contributors and guest artists will read or perform works included in the anthology aimed at focusing anew our attention on the environment which has recently brought about tragic events to thousands of Filipinos. We hope you will join us in making this occasion a memorable one. Sincerely yours, CCP Literary Arts Division ============ i won't be there, so please attend for me and tell me which works of mine are included in the anthology, since they never told me :P PS o, walang ma-le-late ha! 6:33 pm on the dot! hahahaha

Description: Supermarket offers reusable bags By Kate V. Pedroso Inquirer Last updated 04:22am (Mla time) 06/17/2007 http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/talkofthetown/view_article.php?article_id=71730 MANILA, Philippines—The GreenBag, a reusable shopping bag made of durable nonwoven fabric, was introduced to 29 SM supermarkets across the country last week. “It’s a response to a concern in the environment—shopping bags contributing to solid waste,” said Chito Macapagal, vice president for Corporate Development of Unilever Philippines. SM approached Unilever in January, looking for a partner to help it to launch a reusable shopping bag. The result: a 19-by-17-inch bag—approximately the size of two regular shopping bags. It is the first project of the SM Concerned and Responsible Eco-Shoppers program (SM Cares). Ingredients: Made of 100-percent polypropylene, the GreenBag may not be biodegradable, but it is recyclable. Polypropylene, also known as PP or Plastic No. 5, is nontoxic...

Description: i've always loved the look of dried leaves carpeting the ground. reminds me of the forest, and it comes with that earthy smell, too. wonder why people always insist on sweeping them up (and burning them--grr!) when they can spend their time better tidying up inside the house. Don’t burn grass, just ‘recycle’ it By KATHERINE ANDRANEDA The Philippine Star, 24 June 2007 Grass does not have to go up in smoke. In fact, a broad network of environment organizations is encouraging garden keepers to forget their usual practice of bagging or burning grass trimmings after mowing their backyard, urging them to just leave the cut grass on the lawn and let nature take its course. The Ecological Waste Coalition has launched an information drive on “grasscycling,” believing that the simple act of leaving grass trimmings on the lawn after mowing would contribute to a healthier environment. Manny Calonzo, secretary of EcoWaste, said grasscycling is an easy application of nature’s system...

Description: BUILDING A “GREEN HOUSE" by Gigie Cruz (an abrdiged, featurized version of this was published on the front page of Inquirer ) Greening our houses A recently released report by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change) shows unequivocal proof that the earth is indeed getting hotter. Climate patterns have extremely changed as a consequence of rising carbon dioxide due to the burning of fossil fuels. Government and non-government organizations are aggressively promoting alternatives to address what is considered to be one of the major environmental dilemmas of our time. However, climate change should be addressed along with pollution in air, water and ground. Greening begins at home One of the things that we can do, in response to the changing temperatures and the warming of the planet, is to make positive and eco-friendly changes to the spaces that we inhabit. Despite the undeniable consequences of climate change however, green building initiatives have...

These are the salmon trying to go up the river to spawn. But they can't because the river has been deliberately blocked by this green metal fence. Imagine these fish two to three feet long exerting all their energies doing what they were made to do, not knowing that the path of their lives has been changed.

Description: NOTE: The writer is a popular Dabawenyo singer concerned with social issues such as fair trade , and is also an economics professor at the University of the Philippnes in Diliman. My name is Gary Granada, I am a KaalagaD volunteer, and I need 5 seconds of your time to help reduce the use of styrofoam in fast food chains. What was meant to be a nice and simple Saint Francis Day motorcade-march to McDonald’s last 6 October 2006 turned out to be a nightmare. We were rudely treated by McDonald’s, to put it mildly. Weeks before, we already sought a dialogue with them to reiterate our concern for their reluctance to reduce their use of styrofoam, despite their pledge to seriously attend to it during our dialogue in 2002! (Jollibee said the same thing, and while we are not satisfied with their response, at least they made some effort to shift to other packaging and serving materials.) We wrote to them, went to their office, made follow ups, waited for a response. The most we got ...

And this is where the salmon are forced to go because they can't go further upriver-- into crowded holding ponds where they're caught, killed, and milked for their eggs and sperm, which will then be put in basins for fertilization. I mean, sure they're going to die, anyway, right after they spawn. But in the river, they die on their own terms, among the stones. And not until the males have fought valiantly for their mates, and the females have laid their eggs and made sure they've hatched. Not in the hands of a knife-wielding salmon hatchery worker.

Description: THE WASTE TRADING MARKETS! Sept 8 (and every first Friday of the month) Gold Crest Car Park, Ayala Ctr (along Arnaiz Ave. Makati) Sept 22 (and every third Friday of the month) Alabang Town Center (Alabang - Zapote Rd) These Waste Markets aim to make recycling convenient and accessible, especially for those who frequent commercial shopping areas, and also to show that we all CAN make recycling a habit! Ingredients: Trade scrap paper for new (office/ mimeo) paper! Trade used ink cartridges for new! Sell your electronic waste (junk computers) and old /broken appliances! Sell your used lead acid batteries! Redeem the following for cash: PET plastic bottles and other plastics, aluminum/tin cans, scrap glass. Drop off points also provided for junk cellphones, cellphone batteries, styrofoam... Directions: Please help spread the word and forward this announcement to friends, family and colleagues. For more information, contact Nancy Pilien, Philippine Business for the Environment ...

so we finally arrived in new york last night, at about 8pm. while waiting for conching to come out from being interviewed about her finacee visa, i sat on the baggage carousel checking for a signal. there were two, but neither was good for surfing. my mother's place has a good connection in one room, so i checked and answered my mail early this morning before we left for connecticut because i was afraid i'd be offline the whole time i'd be here. but wonder of wonders! got home at around midnight tonight after playing progressive rummy with my aunts and cousin and brother, and when i turned my laptop on---11 Mbps from an unknown source! here, in the middle of nowhere! really need to be working, though. the silence here is deafening (the house is right beside the thames river), so i had planned on finishing up some articles i owe before going back to busy new york and going on my other trips. but with ths connection here...uh oh. PS imagine my glee upon discovering that ...

the greenie patch by Jeneen R. Garcia to be published September 2006     Last time we talked about how RECYCLING can help prevent garbage from piling up in landfills. With chemicals and machines, recycling turns old stuff into something brand new.   Today, let’s find out Mother Nature’s own recipe for recycling organic wastes into fertilizer. You’ll discover it’s something each of us can do. Are you ready?   INGREDIENTS Brown Stuff (dry waste-- twigs, dead leaves, paper, sawdust, eggshells) Green Stuff (wet, fresh waste-- grass clippings, tea bags, fruit and vegetable scraps) Soil Water Air   INSTRUCTIONS 1) Dig a hole in the ground or get a large container. This will be your compost bin. 2) Put a layer of brown stuff (about six inches). Brown stuff are rich in carbon. 3) Put a layer of green stuff (a little less than the brown stuff). Green stuff are rich in nitrogen. 4) Sprinkle each layer with water. Put a thin layer of soil. Mix everything together to let in...