Several readers focused on energy sources and our continuing dependence of foreign oil. Baguioboy suggests a widespread Waste Energy project. “I process used cooking oil or waste vegetable oil into biodiesel. This biodiesel is used by the Baguio City public
transport office for their member jeeps and cabs. I can only produce 500 liters a day as used cooking oil is expensive here.
“I have been asking the Department of Health to categorically declare that the re-use of used cooking oil for cooking or as extender for animal feeds is hazardous to us who eat the food prepared with it.
“Restaurants and fast-food chains can either give us their used oil or sell it at a low price. This way we can make more biodiesel and more vehicles can avail of it at a price lower than petroleum. It’s already a big help in reducing cancer-causing particulate matters and hydrocarbons. If we can make more biodiesel than the required allotment for public transport, we can begin to use it for cooking our food at home.”
Cacs says, “Build lots of dams. Freshwater, not oil, will become the most precious commodity in the future. Let’s make the most of our typhoons. Let’s turn our country into the Saudi Arabia of freshwater.”
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Edit ThisSolar Panels Four years ago, I attended a Teacher Training Program for Elementary Science Teachers held in Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City in the Philippines. It was sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology to upgrade the Science knowledge of Public School Teachers.
I was one of the lucky teachers who were chosen to attend the training for 90 hours. It was also supported by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports plus what we studied was given credits by Xavier University. We had field trips and the most memorable one for me was our visit to PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANT. This is the picture of PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANT which has a 1MWp polycrystalline silicon-based PV plant located in Cagayan de Oro City. It was so amazing to see all these solar panels which make our daily activities easy to live. Our class had a deeper understanding about solar energy especially when we had the chance to view the place and its purpose. That training gave us more knowledge about energy and how to make durable energy explained to kids.
Knowing some of the simple facts on how to install a solar panel to catch more sunlight is also important. Solar panels should point to the South because it reaches the Earth under an angle. Solar panels gets more light on a tilted roof as what the picture above looks like in position. The production of solar cells costs energy and it keeps on producing. As we went back to our respective classes, we shared about our visit to the power plant. We explain how we got the electricity from the wall sockets. Teaching the students about the solar energy was more interesting after we had the training. If you want to know more about solar enery, just visit the Website provided here. Read her complete blog here
http://www.amynobillos.com/
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Edit ThisLook at the dial above: the greenest gadget brands are the ones on the far right. Why is that so? Who says so?
Did you know thatGreenpeace has been rating electronics firms since August 2006? I saw some ratings in the Enterprise and Gen G magazines this year, but didn’t read completely through. I should have prior to making a new celphone and laptop purchases.
Greenpeace’s ratings have been effective as the electronics companies have been more conscious of their green transformation. Who wouldn’t want to top this ratings game, especially now that being “green” is considered as a positive company trait? It is”cool” to be “green” and thus, that is “good” for marketing. This article comes from an excellent blog on Green Pinoy which everyone should read here and the rest of this article as well.
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The following is a short overview of renewable energy as utilized in the Philippines:
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Wind is particularly popular in the Ilocos region due to the wind regime in the area. Northwind operates a 33MW wind farm in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte. The rule of thumb cost per MW at the moment is $2.5 million dollars per megawatt. Based on studies conducted by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Department of Energy, the country has vast renewable energy potential, including 76,000 MW of wind capacity.
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According to a newspaper report, three companies were awarded four wind energy service contracts: Energy Development Corp. for its planned 86-MW wind farm in Burgos, Ilocos Norte; Northern Luzon UPC Asia Corp. for its 50-MW wind project in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte; and PetroEnergy Resources Corp., which bagged two contracts for a 30-MW project in Sual, Pangasinan and a 30-MW project in Nabas, Aklan. Energy Logics Philippines Inc.’s pre-commercial contract for a 120-MW wind farm in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, was converted to a wind energy service contract.
Cagayan de Oro utility CEPALCO has a 1MW solar plant that they plan to upgrade to 14MW. Silicon-based solar photovoltaics are being manufactured in the Philippines by US companies SunPower and Solaria, although their local manufacturing presence has not really resulted in an increased availability of solar photovoltaics locally; most of these parts are exported and any need for solar cells still requires importation into the Philippines.
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Solar thermal, while attractive in desert type areas, has not attracted much attention in the Philippines due to sometimes diffuse and cloudy skies.
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Geothermal continues to be a traditional renewable energy resource in areas like Albay province. Currently, the Aboitiz group operates a 458MW combined geothermal facility in Tiwi and Makban, bought at roughly less than $1M per megawatt. Steam is currently supplied by Chevron Geothermal Philippines Holdings, Inc.
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Cogeneration is popular for large factories and heat producing environments. Large companies such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble and others have been employing it for some time.
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Another non-RE resource that has attracted significant attention, is biofuels, particularly with the mandate to add 10% ethanol to gasoline (E10) will be in force by 2011 from the current 5%. This has been enabled in part by the presence of mixed use engines, particularly from Ford, that allow higher ethanol blends of up to 80%. Recently, the Philippine government renewed ties with Brazil to strengthen cooperation in biofuels. Significant land has been devoted to the planting of biofuels. In non-agricultural areas, a plant imported from India, jathropa, has attracted significant attention here. However, jathropa can only be planted in non-agricultural areas, as the plant, particularly the seeds where the oil is derived, is poisonous. In addition, the Department of Energy, while still evaluating jathropa, is mainly focused at the moment on using Coco Methyl Ester (CME) as the biofuel blend for diesel.
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One issue that has been brought up is the standards for these biofuel additives, as car companies and oil companies have expressed concern about damage to engines if the quality of supplied biofuels is not properly addressed. To help verify this, an engine testing center has been set up at UP Diliman, with a grant from an automotive company, precisely to test these types of concerns.
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-More exotic sources like algae are still in the experimental evaluation stage. The Ateneo de Manila University as well as private companies like Alsons Aquaculture are conducting early studies in this area.
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The Biofuels Act of 2006 mandates that diesel be blended with biodiesel at 2% starting Feb. 2009, while gasoline be blended with ethanol at 10%. The projection is that by 2011, the demand will be at 594 million liters of biofuel while by 2015, it will reach 721 million liters. The current capacity, as reported in BusinessWorld last month was only 39 million liters combined. It is estimated that the demand for sugarcane will be at 10.3 million tons, for sweet sorghum at 14.4 million tons, and for cassava at four million tons. Estimated land required is 243,000 hectares, to meet the demand.
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Edit ThisA housing design prescribed by architects for post-Katrina New Orleans might suit flood prone areas in the Philippines
MANILA – After Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Southwestern coast of the United States in 2006, celebrity Brad Pitt and his Make It Right (MIR) Foundation set about building environmentally-friendly and sustainable housing for affected families in New Orleans.
Formed by Pitt after he saw the devastation to New Orleans’s Lower 9th Ward, the MIR aims to build over 150 houses within 14 blocks using “green” design principles pitched by architectural firms all over the world.
This is supposed to fulfill the promise Pitt made residents in the area: that he would help them build a stronger and safer neighborhood. (Take a virtual tour of storm-resistant MIR homes
here [12].)
Floating House
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| The Make It Right Foundation’s “Floating House.” It can rise up 12 feet on 2 guideposts like a raft. Photo fromwww.makeitrightnola.org [13]. |
According to the
MIR website [13], each house the foundation will build will incorporate storm-resistant features like escape hatches on the rooftops, hurricane window fabric that protect interiors against the entry of water, and raised elevation, among others.
The houses will also use mostly eco-friendly materials.
One house that stood out among the rest, however, was a “floating house” that Pitt unveiled in early October.
The house, designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects, can break away from its moorings and rise up to 12 feet on 2 guideposts – much like an anchored raft.
Though it will separate from its plumbing and electrical lines when it floats up, Mayne said in an interview with NPR.org that the house can provide enough battery power for 3 days so the family can survive until help comes.
It is buoyant because of its chassis made of polystyrene foam (not considered eco-friendly) and glass-reinforced concrete.
Morphosis Architects has not revealed how much the house costs, but various internet reports say building cost is low.
The house has not been tested in real flood conditions, but only in extensive computer simulations. “I mean, hopefully it never gets used. But when it gets used, it’s important,” Mayne said in a statement.
Disaster-ready housing
Can floating houses like these be feasible in the Philippine setting? Definitely, says Architect Jason Buensalido of Buensalido+Architects.
Founded in 2005, the firm is known for its contemporary designs and eco-friendly projects.
In fact, Buensalido’s firm was about to draw a similar plan for a “Float House” when Brad Pitt’s floating house was introduced in local newspapers and online news sites.
“It’s just as simple as designing a raft. It’s just as simple as putting a house on a raft. So you know, it’s really possible,” Buensalido said in a phone interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.
Buensalido said they are looking for partner organizations who are open to building floating houses, like Gawad Kalinga and My Shelter Foundation (which works with disaster management networks). They are even considering pitching the idea to President Arroyo herself.
As a guide to their design, Buensalido cited existing floating houses in areas of the Netherlands like Maasbommel near the Meuse river, where floating houses are already a norm. These houses are anchored on vertical columns, so the houses basically move up and down.
The floating houses are built with hollow concrete cubes underneath for buoyancy, while electricity and water are pumped through flexible pipes. Each house costs about $310,000 (about P14.4 million).
As early as 2007, a Dutch company called Dura Vermeer built 37 such houses that can rise up to 13 feet. Buensalido, however, said RP’s floating houses can go higher to suit local conditions.
In Provident village, the village in Marikina City which was worst hit by floods brought on by Ondoy, waters reportedly rose as high as 30 feet.
“The question really is how to make it (a floating house) affordable to make. But we want to really make it possible,” Buensalido said, adding that pre-fabricating materials and potential mass production could bring the building costs down.
“It’s also a matter of material selection. They don’t have to be ultra-expensive. It really boils down to economy because it has to answer to immediate needs. It might not be reachable to common people, so you have to make it cost-effective in the way we produce it,” he said.
House on stilts
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| Buensalido’s ‘Pinakamagandang Bahay sa Balat ng Lupa’ entry. The house has a second skin, like a sleeve, which can be customized according to the budget and aesthetic preferences of the buyer. The skin acts like a natural cooling system. Photo from METRO Home Magazine. |
Disaster-resistant housing need not be as expensive as floating houses in the Netherlands, as an award-winning design by Buensalido and Associates proves.
Buensalido had come up with an eco-friendly and sustainable house design that won this year’s “Pinakamagandang Bahay sa Balat ng Lupa” contest, launched by the University of the Philippines College of Architecture and Lafarge Cement Services, Inc.
Contest rules required that the house had to cost at least P750,000 (the median cost for a Pag-Ibig Housing loan), fit a family of 5, and it had to be flood and typhoon-resistant.
Buensalido’s firm designed a customizable modular house, inspired by the traditional ‘bahay-kubo’, that “actually sits on stilts.”
“The whole house is really on the second floor. On the ground floor, there’s nothing but empty space, like a veranda. It’s consistent with the idea of a bahay kubo which is an elevated house and the rest of the lot is used for social gathering. By raising the house, you’re essentially safe in terms of floods and disasters,” he told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.
Eco-beam frames that support piles of sandbags inside the walls add to the house’s flood-resistance, Buensalido said.
The house can go up several stories, depending on how high an area’s flood waters can rise.
Indigenous ideas
The design of the stilt house incorporates a rainwater-harvesting system where a series of valve spouts on the roof direct rainwater either to an underground cistern or an ordinary steel drum.
If budget allows, the cistern can be fitted to a high-tech filtration system that can produce water for drinking or bathing. Drums, meanwhile, can collect water for plants and backyard vegetables.
This could ensure that a family has adequate stocks of water and food when floods or typhoons come. Buensalido said that architects can learn a lot from indigenous housing that were built to respond to their natural climate.
Tribes like the Badjao, for example, have learned to live with rising tides by building stilted houses and house boats.
“If you look at old architecture, like the bahay kubo and houses in Banawe, they all respond to the climate. They’re site-specific and that’s how architecture should be,” he said.
Buensalido describes indigenous housing as “perfect for the Philippines” because they are well-ventilated and do not require artificial cooling, they make full use of natural lighting and do not use as much energy, and they are usually made of sustainable material like bamboo, coconut, nipa, or ‘anahao.’
Buensalido said that modern houses need not look exactly like a ‘bahay kubo’, but can incorporate eco-friendly design principles.
Good urban planning
While low-cost floating or disaster-resistant houses could help people cope with oncoming disasters like typhoons, Buensalido said much of disaster prevention has to do with good urban planning.
“In the first place, urban planners should check the 100-year flood history of an area. And in the first place, they shouldn’t build on a site that is flood-prone. In the macro-scale, the reason why we have this problem is because Manila isn’t planned well,” he said.
Buensalido said the recent storms- Ondoy and Pepeng – served as an “eye-opener” for architects and developers, as well as the government.
“It should really be the government. All these urban planning – the government has the power to approve these things at the end of the day. But the government does not have the budget to prevent these things. Architects can only do a certain amount of work to help people respond to disasters,” he said. Read the original posting here
http://abs-cbnnews.com/print/75123
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Edit ThisThe recently held GTZ symposium on renewable energy held last October 8 at the Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street was an interesting example of how investors and the public are now interacting with our new Renewable Energy Act. The passage of the 2008 Renewable Energy Act of the Philippines has paved the way for an increase in investments in the renewable energy sector. One of the areas that have benefited is the wind energy sector. It is estimated that the Philippines theoretically has around 76,000 MW in wind energy capacity, based on studies conducted by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Philippines Department of Energy.
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It was reported in the Inquirer.net that the Department of Energy last September awarded three companies four new wind energy service contracts—Energy Development Corp. (PSE: EDC) for its planned 86-MW wind farm in Burgos, Ilocos Norte; UPC Asia Corp. for its 50-MW wind project in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte; and PetroEnergy Resources Corp., which bagged two contracts for a 30-MW project in Sual, Pangasinan and a 30-MW project in Nabas, Aklan. Also, Energy Logics Philippines Inc.’s pre-commercial contract for a 120-MW wind farm in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, was converted to a wind energy service contract.
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Several joint ventures between local businessmen and foreign companies and investors have also been announced in the local dailies, among those that have been reported include the Alterenergy Partners joint venture with Eurus Energy Japan and Korea East West Power Co. to identify projects in the 30 to 40 MW range; and the French wind turbine manufacturer Vergnet Group, said to be looking for joint venture partners.
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The rule of thumb given is that each megawatt of capacity costs around USD $2m to 2.5m dollars. At present, aside from small isolated micro-wind installations in remote communities, the largest one at present is the 33MW wind farm in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte run by the Northwind Power Corporation, which contributes only 0.21% of the total electricity generated in the country, that is when the wind is blowing.
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The 7,100 islands of the Philippines make it difficult to make electricity available in many areas, particularly those that are isolated from the main electric grid. Most large islands with large populations, such as Luzon, Panay, Cebu, Mindanao, and others have their own generation, distribution and utility companies to service their areas.
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-However, smaller islands with sparse populations or mountainous areas are a particular challenge. In these cases, sometimes the only practical solution is to use renewable energy power sources (e.g. wind, solar, biomass) or diesel powered generators.
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Because wind, like solar, is an intermittent energy source, there has to be a means of storage to compensate for times when it is not generating power. In isolated off-grid areas, for smaller wind systems, this normally means a battery. In countries like the U.S., in the Texas Panhandle for example, T. Boone Pickens’s backup of choice is a natural gas turbine. But for the Philippine setting, the typical approach much like in most countries is to simply connect these large wind systems to the electric grid, and to simply sell power to the grid when it is generating. Anyway, just like in the U.S., the Philippines operates a spot market for electricity. In the case of renewable energy, a special spot market for renewable energy has been developed by the Philippine government to guarantee that there will be buyers for producers of renewable energy electricity.
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One concern of some investors is the limit on foreign ownership. It is defined in the Philippine constitution that in certain key industries/sectors, foreign ownership is to be a minority, with a slight majority going to a Philippine partner. For some investors, it is not an issue, but for some it is. As former Energy Secretary and now Alterenergy Partners CEO Vince Perez mentioned during the GTZ symposium, at the moment the only choice is to look for a trusted Philippine partner to work with.
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Another concern is in the way the public may perceive the Feed-in-Tariff, which is a key subsidy mechanism to attract investors to invest in renewable energy in the Philippines. During the Ramos administration, the government suddenly had to build power plants to meet a large capacity shortfall, and to do this, they had to entice investors with a ‘take or pay’ scheme meaning that even if the power was not being used, electricity utilities and therefore consumers had to shoulder part, if not all, of the cost of the unused generated power. There was such a big public outcry, especially in this country where the ‘cheapest power possible’ mentality rules, that it will sometimes if not always be difficult to pass measures that subsidize for example, renewable energy. Just like the personal computer and the semiconductor industry, renewable energy requires a steady market in order for private sector technologists to be attracted to constantly improve it. Unfortunately, the appetite for renewable energy seems to be correlated with the price of oil. If oil is cheap, the appetite for renewable energy disappears and vice versa. The Feed-in-Tariff hopes to counteract this tendency.
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Personally, most people would like to see renewable energy succeed in the Philippines. The severe flooding brought about by typhoon Ondoy has brought home more awareness of the need for low carbon energy sources. Supporters of renewable energy hope that electricity consumers will actually step up to the plate and pay a little extra for renewable energy through the feed-in-tariff, in order to increase the returns for the companies and investors that go into this sector, already saddled by high upfront capital expense costs for wind (currently $2.5m per MW) and solar (currently $2/watt for silicon based photovoltaics and $1/watt for less efficient thin film based photovoltaics) and the threat of cheap oil. Besides, electricity consumers in the Philippines already pay a foreign currency adjustment charge for imported oil used in power generation. There is no reason why they should not accept a feed-in-tariff adder, given that they will no longer need to pay the foreign currency charge for that portion of the electricity bill.
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SEOUL—Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Co. separately started selling solar-powered phones Wednesday, a big step in a budding trend of cellphone makers seeking to tap growing consumer interest in eco-friendly products.Samsung
Samsung’s Blue Earth
Samsung rolled out a touch-screen model, dubbed Blue Earth, with a shell made from recycled plastic water bottles and a solar panel on the back. LG’s model, called the GD510 Pop, also has a touch screen but its solar panel is an optional add-on.
Consumer demand for solar-based phones is hard to gauge, but makers are planning to market them as good for the environment as well as a way to hedge against running out of battery power.
Both the Samsung and LG phones have features that promote walking, such as software that measures distance traveled, and allow customers to calculate how much they can reduce carbon dioxide emissions with physical activities that replace driving.
“It is premature to say whether they will be successful, but overall it’s the right direction because people are increasingly interested in saving energy,” says Park Sung-min, a telecom industry analyst at Kyobo Securities in Seoul.
Samsung is aiming the Blue Earth model at premium customers, with pricing around $300. The phone, which can also be charged with a traditional plug-in cord, is initially available in Sweden; Samsung said it will quickly roll it out elsewhere in Europe and Asia.
LG
LG’s Pop
![[SUNPHONE]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-ER045_SUNPHO_DV_20091014140228.jpg)
LGLG said the Pop phone will also initially be sold in Europe and be priced around $300 with the optional solar panel about $50. The companies said decisions are pending about U.S. sales.
Samsung said the Blue Earth phone can accept enough charge under an hour of normal sunlight to allow for 10 minutes of talk. LG said the Pop model permits about 13 minutes of talk after being charged for an hour under normal sunlight. The companies said the phones will also charge under artificial light, but more slowly.
Nokia Corp., the world’s largest cellphone maker by units and revenue, introduced a solar-based cellphone in 1997 but it didn’t continue in the company’s regular lineup. The company earlier this year demonstrated a concept phone that runs entirely on solar power.
Samsung, the second-largest maker, in June introduced its first solar-based phone, a bar-shaped model with a normal keypad and solar cells on the back. That phone, called Solar Guru in some markets and Crest Solar in others, was aimed chiefly at developing countries and sells for as little as $60. But Samsung also offers it in some wealthy European countries like France.
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Edit ThisMANILA, Philippines–A major mall chain in Metro Manila will be showing “green” films to students for free to show how they can care for the environment.
In response to the serious effects of climate change, particularly the unprecedented flooding in the metropolis caused by Tropical Storm “Ondoy,” SM Supermalls has launched the SM Green Film Festival that will showcase award-winning documentaries and international films on the environment.
Liza Silerio, SM vice president for operations, said the films will be open to the public, especially students.
“By showing these films, we aim to show everyone the beauty of our planet, to teach the value of conserving our shared resources, and to plan and practice environmental efforts toward a sustainable future,” Silerio said.
She added that with the cooperation of the Department of Education’s Adopt-a-School program, public and private high school students have been invited to attend selected screenings in SM malls near their schools.
The films will be shown Thursday at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City and on Oct. 21 and 22 at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
Silerio said the film showing was made possible with the support of various embassies.
She added that the movie, “Home,” was especially lent for the occasion by the French Embassy. Home, a travel notebook that shows how human beings have seriously disrupted the Earth’s fragile life balance, has been touted as one of the films to watch out for this year.
“We believe that these documentaries and films will open our eyes to what is really happening to our environment and to our planet in general,” Silerio stressed.
To further foster the students’ participation in the project, Silerio said they are encouraged to bring old or used mobile phones, chargers and accessories to be dropped off at special Nokia recycling bins at the cinema venue.
“This endeavor will teach our youth that toxic waste such as cell phones should be disposed of properly,” Silerio said.
For SM Megamall, the following films will be shown: “An Inconvenient Truth,” Home, “11th Hour,” “Planet Earth (From Pole to Pole),” and “Ligtas Likas.”
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Edit ThisKeeping It Green
Once you’ve arrived at your travel destination, there are many ways to further mitigate your impact on the land and local community, says Abby Ray, a spokesperson for the Rainforest Alliance. Her suggestions:
For additional green destination suggestions, visit Eco-Index Sustainable Tourism, WholeTravel.com, and RezHub.com(see the resource box). No matter where you decide to take your next vacation, being green away from home is more important—and easier—than ever. “Travelers want to discover the world’s most unique experiences,” says Davie, “and green travel is the best way to make sure those experiences are still there for future generations.”
Resources for Choosing Your Destination
Eco-Index Sustainable Tourism, developed by the Rainforest Alliance, lists businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean deemed environmentally and socially friendly by environmental organizations and/or ecotourism certification programs.
RezHub.com provides links to environmentally friendly hotels; activities; hybrid rental cars; and flights, via carbon offsets. Many airlines offer passengers an opportunity to make their flights “carbon-neutral” by selling—usually for around a few dollars per 1,000 miles flown—carbon offsets to pay for planting trees and other programs to compensate for the damage their flying does to the ozone.
WholeTravel.com includes a range of sustainable travel opportunities including destinations, accommodations, and activities.
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