Achievers by the dozen: Caring for Earth has its rewards for these college students

A passion to make a difference through an environmental project can get you somewhere, if you’re a college student who heeds the call from Bayer, the global company that makes products for health care, crop science and innovative system solution.

At the very least, it can get you into a weeklong local eco-camp. At best, it can take you to Germany for an all-expense paid study tour, together with students from 18 other countries.

Every year, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bayer chooses 12 Bayer Young Environmental Envoys (BYEE) among college students who have been caring and courageous enough to launch their own environmental projects and implement them with Bayer’s assistance.

Creativity plus

Caring and courage are not the only requirements in this competition, however. Creativity is a big plus. That’s why it is the hardest thing for the panel of judges to pick the top four from among the 12 finalists. It is only after a robust discussion that the judges manage to select the quartet to send to Germany, where the Bayer Group’s headquarters are located, to see firsthand “how environmental protection is practiced by the people, government and industry in one of the leading countries with regards to technology and environmental awareness.”

The top-rated four this year are Jezreel Ezer Archival of the University of Cebu-Banilad Campus, Marylour Avila of the University of Iloilo-Phinma Education Network (UI-PEN), Joy Ruiz Escollar of the University of Iloilo-Phinma Education Network and Michael Garlan of Western Visayas College of Science & Technology.

The other BYEE are John Michael Matibag of De La Salle University-Lipa, John Albert Gonzales of the University of the Philippines-Manila, Julie Ann Palma of West Visayas State University, Kimberly Mae Dominic Lao of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Glenn Mark Galiza of Mariano Marcos State University, Michael Miatari of Far Eastern University, John Vincent Pagadde of St. Paul University-Tuguegarao and Emmanuel Prena of Bicol University.

The 2012 BYEE finalists were awarded at recent ceremonies held at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City, before an audience composed of Bayer executives, environmentalists, the media and past BYEE winners.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that in this day and age, the highest form of national security is ecological security,” said the evening’s guest of honor, Secretary Neric Acosta of the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA).

Ecological security implies environmental protection and sustainability, two goals that Bayer has increasingly espoused in its youth education program. The BYEE is the centerpiece of the company’s partnership for youth with UNEP for 12 years now.

The don’t-dirty-the-earth dozen attended a six-day eco-camp at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City a week before the awarding ceremony. They also spent some green time in the towns of San Manuel, Alaminos and Bolinao in Pangasinan, under the direction of Ateneo de Manila University’s Environmental Science Department, the BYEE eco-camp partner.

Leading light

One of the top four, Escollar will not only go on a study-tour of Germany, she will also represent the country to the global competition of the best BYEE projects among the participating countries. That means a chance to earn the Bayer Young Environmental Leaders award and receive financial support to implement her project on a wider scale.

What greening has Escollar done to deserve the honor of representing the country? She created instructional materials that she called the SIM (Support Instructional Materials) Eco-Kits. She used the kits for her environmental awareness campaign among preschool children of selected barangays in Iloilo City. The colorful, child-friendly kits are made of old bottles, potato chips tubes, tetra packs and scrap mirrors. She likewise provided day care center workers a manual on how to use the kits.

“It is my wish that someday, any 5-year-old kid will know and care to remind us to throw our trash in the proper bin, or even plant a tree,” said the elementary education major at the University of Iloilo-Phinma Education Network. To get closer toward making her wish come true, she conducted teacher training and even managed to teach some local government unit officers about the environment.

Garlan, for his part, led the campaign to control the population of the coral pest called Crown of Thorns sea star and save the remaining reef in Guimaras. He raised additional funds for his cause and gave the fishing folk in the area a livelihood program by converting the sea stars into fertilizer. A student of Secondary Education in Biological Science at Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (WVCST), he is a member of the WVCST Environmental Club.

Archival led the campus-wide environmental campaign, “Green Switch,” which resulted in reduced plastic bottle use at the University of Cebu-Banilad, where he is a business administration student. He campaigned to make every Wednesday a “no plastic bottle” day on campus. An Ayala Young Learder awardee, he is the team leader of the Seeds of Hope project and president of the Mangrove Planting and Coastal Cleanup at Olango Island.

Avila created what she called “green dream boards” as a positive and innovative tool to assess the dreams of the children in disaster-stricken communities in Iloilo City. A business administration major also at the University of Iloilo-Phinma Education Network, she is the president of the Eco-Youth Society of UI-PEN.

Mostly Visayas

The Germany-bound four are all enrolled at universities in the Visayas.  Another finalist is also a West Visayas State University student. The rest come from schools in the NCR, Northern Luzon, Calabarzon and Southern Luzon.

Where are the Mindanao students?  The last time a student from a Mindanao school—Bukidnon State University—made it to the finals was in 2009. The last time a student from a Mindanao school made it to the top four was in 2006 and that student, from Sultan Kudarat State University, was actually the year’s top winner.

School support

“We have observed that key to participation of the students is the support of school officials or the office of the student affairs,” says Reynaldo Cutanda, Bayer corporate communication manager.

In most cases, students and student organizations need to be encouraged to participate in the program, he observed.

“While we send the campaign materials to the schools,” says Cutanda, “it would make an impact if the materials were posted at conspicuous locations on campus.”

So there, schools everywhere in the country can empower their students and make sure they don’t miss out on a wonderful opportunity.

As 2011 top winner Mary Jade Gabanes put it in her passing-the-baton speech at the 2012 BYEE awards: “My entire BYEE experience touched me in ways I never thought possible.” She won the young leader award in Germany last year.

“My first eco-camp. My first international travel. My first live football game. My first chocolate factory. My first frost breath. First international award. First television and broadsheet feature. For all these, I will always be grateful to the BYEE team,” she said.