Coca-Cola Philippines and WWF release a plant billboard

In Metro Manila, billboards are a fairly common sight, but there's something special about a new one that was just put up in Makati City. A plant billboard, the brainchild of Coca-Cola Philippines and WWF Philippines, was unveiled on June 23 and it's a pretty unique one: It features Fukien tea plants, which absorb pollutants, and the plants are arranged around the outline of the Coca-Cola bottle. Each of the plants can absorb 13 pounds of carbon dioxide every year, and the pots are made from recycled bottles of Coca-Cola products.

_{Image by WWF-Philippines / Lory Tan}

Re-Pac

Everyone was understandably thrilled when plastic sandwich bags came out, particularly the ones that you can secure. However, most people just tend to use one bag then toss it out after use, even if it was still fairly clean and the crumbs just had to be shaken out. Washing used plastic sandwich bags has also become a good option, but they do get worn over time and you'd still have to throw them out.

Enter Re-Pac, which offers small, medium, and large reusable bags made of water-resistant fabrics. The creators of Re-Pac found that cotton wasn't a very good option, since it grows mold over time, and so Re-Pac is made with 100% polyester on the outside and a 100% nylon lining. Apart from carrying food, you can pretty much use it for anything, from carrying your travel essentials to using it as a bag organizer. Gamers Daily News also shares that the bags can also be used to store your video game accessories.

Eco Chic Gift Baskets for all

Gift baskets have got to be one of the easiest kinds of presents you can give anyone, plus it's always fun to provide people with a heaping amount of choices. Eco Chic Gift Baskets have given these a nice green twist, however, providing organic and eco-friendly baby gifts, spa products, and organic and even vegan and gluten-free food. And if you want something more than what they offer on their website, you can have your own gift basket customized with the products you want to see in it. Definitely something worth looking into if you're sending out presents for birthdays, special occasions, or the holidays.

At last: garbage segregation in our neighborhood

After what seems like forever, a city ordinance requiring people to dutifully segregate their garbage at home is finally being enforced. In our neighborhood, bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable trash have already been provided, as well as a list of which items fall under those categories. Households who won't comply with the ordinance will be fined. Now I can only hope that it will be seriously enforced and that everyone will do the right thing as well.

Fish is not food...at the moment

Recently here in the Philippines, news broke out about the widespread death of fish in fish farms. No, it's not anything sinister. It's just that fish farms have been operating following greed as a principle. One area is supposed to hold only 30,000 fish, but many operators have been piling in 50,000 to as high as 100,000, leaving the fish with no room to swim and even breathe.

That certainly sounds terrible enough. But apparently, the fish are also being fed feeds that consist mainly of chicken manure. I can't fathom how anyone thinks stuffing a fish farm with too many fish and feeding them chicken manure of all things is a good idea, but hey, maybe it makes sense to the fish farm owners. One thing's for sure, their attempt to turn large profits quickly has blown up in their faces, since nobody's keen on buying fish these days.

I think this situation also calls into question the assertion that fish is a more healthful alternative to meat, since over here, it seems like both fish farm owners and livestock farms think that it's a good plan to feed fish and livestock nothing but rubbish and then make them available for human consumption to people, not thinking that what they put into the animals actually have an effect on them and whoever consumes them as well.

Water Pollution

Here's Jon Stewart's interview with Alex Prud'homme, author of The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century.

The Daily Show - Alex Prud'homme
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You've Got Green Mail

Who knew that the United States Post Office has been green for a while? They offer green stamps, eco-friendly packaging, and have even been using electric vehicles. Check out the website for more details.

Explore your green choices at JP Selects

It's always good to know that there are stores, whether online or in the real world, where you can turn to if you ever need to buy eco-friendlier items, and it's always best to know exactly where they are and even to have all the brands and products you need within easy reach. So we're pretty eager to check out JP Selects, an online marketplace that carries nothing but sustainable products, from jewelry to high-fashion clothing to food to home decor. JP Selects is the brainchild of John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of Paul Mitchell Systems and Patrón Spirits, and Jonathan Kendrick, both co-founders of ROK Global PLC.

The site aims to offer products from various brands known for being avid supporters of the planet, such as The Green Garmento, L'uvalla skincare, and Stewart+Brown. It will also carry brands exclusive to JP Selects, with new brands being introduced every day and being offered at a promotional price for 72 hours.

The site will be fully operational by June 16, but people who sign up before then could win a three-day spa vacation at the Amangiri Eco-Resort in Southern Utah, among other prizes.

The 2011 Odwalla Plant A Tree Program kicks off!

If you want to help make sure the state parks in the U.S. stay green and full of trees, head on over to the 2011 Odwalla Plant A Tree website, where you can click on one of 50 state park systems in which you'd like to have a tree planted. The trees will be planted in fall 2011 and early 2012. Through this program, Odwalla is donating $100,000 worth of trees to state parks this year. The program runs until August 31, 2011, so head over to the start and click away!