1st Green Festival to mark Earth Day in Cebu

Cebu City will be celebrating this year’s Earth Day with practical solutions to problems besetting the planet.

The 1st Green Festival on April 21 and 22 “will bundle a set of events and workshops that provide practical sustainable solutions to address personal and community needs,” said Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC) spokesman and event head Joel Lee.

There will be a “Bike and Board Green Lungs Tour” on the 21st.

“The ride is designed for the family. The route is downwards at first. We assure you that no one will be left behind as we will have marshalls during the ride,” said Jay Garganera of Tindak Bisdak Cebu Folding Bike Society.

The ride will start and end at West Gorordo Hotel in Gorordo Ave., Lahug. Along the way, riders will stop at areas with tree patches including Cebu Business Park, Redemptorist Church, UP Cebu Campus, Eco Tech Dep Ed and Camp Lapu-lapu which boasts a 50 hectare green patch.

“It is not just for biking and family bonding, but also to make them want to help save the environment,” Garganera added.

Lee said patches of trees are important as these serve as the urban center’s green lungs. Without trees, pollution from cars will not be absorbed, making the air people breath harmful to health.

Participants will also be asked to sign a petition asking the city government for bike lanes and “green lungs” or green spaces and patches in the city.

Lee said they have already secured a permit for the bike and board ride from the Cebu City Integrated Traffic Operations Management (Citom).

There will be a film showing and raffling of prizes after the ride.

On April 22, there will be a series of workshops in the afternoon. Topics include: Natural Farming Techniques, Container/Vertical Gardening, Paper Briquette and Rocket Stove, Vegetarian Food Preparations, Recycled Crafting and a Green Film Showing.

These activities are open for everyone interested and will be held at the West Gorordo Hotel starting at 1pm.

“We want people to be aware of these simple and practical ways for them to be able to start a green, healthy and sustainable lifestyle,” said Lee.

Weaved together, the Green Earth Day Festival are practical and inter-related solutions to environment problems like climate change, pollution and consumerism.

“We are optimistic that as more like minded people get together to promote a greener lifestyle, the momentum toward the critical change called for by nature and our times will become unstoppable.

In the Philippines, former president Corazon Aquino issued on April 16, 1990 Proclamation No. 553 making Earth Day an official celebration in the Philippines every April 22.

Proclamation 1482 issued on April 10, 2008 also declared the month of April as the Philippines’ Earth Month with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as the main convenor.

According to the Earth Day Network, April 22 “marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.