A glimpse at a greener Baguio
Sunrays broke the darkness in my room, and from my usual routine, I wore my snickers to take a jog in the streets. As I stepped out of the door, the breeze greeted me with its freezing touch. I became nostalgic with memories of my childhood- flashbacks of the afternoons when my family used to drive along the empty streets just to open our car windows and smell the scent of the pine trees.
It was time for me to get back home to prepare myself for today’s big event. My Nissan Leaf 7.0 waited for me outside. As I drove around the city, I saw Baguio like the first time I did way back when I was a child. The central business district was filled with towering pine trees. The smog that braced the city before was gone. Once again I felt that sense of wonder! I could say to myself that Baguio has regained its former glory.
As I stepped out of my car, I was greeted by one of my professors before. He told me how the Medical Laboratory Science department is doing. I felt how eager he was to share stories of how our faculty still continues to lead the university in green projects. I thanked him for strongly supporting me in my advocacy years ago. I shook his hand and told him that we can share more stories after my appointment in the university. He walked away, and I felt this warmth inside me- a feeling of satisfaction from having accomplished something significant.
As I stepped into the podium to deliver a speech for this year’s graduating batch, I remembered my own graduation day. The founder of the Cordillera Ecological Center came just to recognize me for my contributions to Baguio’s green movement. I felt on top of the world. My short daydream ended when the spotlights went on. Today, I see the old man sitting in the front row, waiting for his much-awaited turn to be recognized. I have worked with the university to come up with a special award for him for being an important partner and promoter of our projects.
After the speech, I was toured around the campus by my former professor. I felt like a student again! A decade ago I started a project to educate my fellow students on technologies used in agriculture. These included organic farming, aquaponics and farm roofing. Today, I am seeing new technologies which have been developed from the ones I introduced after participating in the SUSI 2012. I have noticed that every roof in the university was tainted green by the plants that flourished on top of them. He also pointed out to me the aquaponics farm that I have built before with the help of my classmates. The barren piece of land that we acquired is now just a smaller piece of a 10-acre jigsaw puzzle. A lot of students were working. Unlike me before, they did not need to exhaustingly juggle their studies and their extra-curricular activities. The university administration found a way to decrease school hours which could then be dedicated instead to other activities. I was in awe. The new technologies introduced into the garden will take me more than a day for me to learn.
Skipping his lectures, I asked him if he wanted to take a snack in the nearby cafeteria. I led the way but it seemed that my old professor had more in store to teach me. I followed him to another path, and while walking, he told me that the cafeteria before closed because it would not give in to the demands of the students to purchase only organic foods. He told me that two years ago they were able to successfully persuade the whole student body to stop buying dangerous inorganic food. The cafeteria naturally went out of business, and the university had to tear it down because they discovered how poorly the facility was maintained by the past management.
It was time for me to go. We exchanged goodbyes and I drove away. I noticed homes near the university with their own aquaponics system and farm roofs. I saw an old woman working on her own backyard system. I stopped by to ask her what she was doing. She told me about the system and how she knew about it from her granddaughter. She went on to tell me of her fear that someday another serious food shortage will happen again in our city.
I arrived home and drank a cup of coffee. I smiled as I waved to my children playing in my own backyard farm.
It was time for me to get back home to prepare myself for today’s big event. My Nissan Leaf 7.0 waited for me outside. As I drove around the city, I saw Baguio like the first time I did way back when I was a child. The central business district was filled with towering pine trees. The smog that braced the city before was gone. Once again I felt that sense of wonder! I could say to myself that Baguio has regained its former glory.
As I stepped out of my car, I was greeted by one of my professors before. He told me how the Medical Laboratory Science department is doing. I felt how eager he was to share stories of how our faculty still continues to lead the university in green projects. I thanked him for strongly supporting me in my advocacy years ago. I shook his hand and told him that we can share more stories after my appointment in the university. He walked away, and I felt this warmth inside me- a feeling of satisfaction from having accomplished something significant.
As I stepped into the podium to deliver a speech for this year’s graduating batch, I remembered my own graduation day. The founder of the Cordillera Ecological Center came just to recognize me for my contributions to Baguio’s green movement. I felt on top of the world. My short daydream ended when the spotlights went on. Today, I see the old man sitting in the front row, waiting for his much-awaited turn to be recognized. I have worked with the university to come up with a special award for him for being an important partner and promoter of our projects.
After the speech, I was toured around the campus by my former professor. I felt like a student again! A decade ago I started a project to educate my fellow students on technologies used in agriculture. These included organic farming, aquaponics and farm roofing. Today, I am seeing new technologies which have been developed from the ones I introduced after participating in the SUSI 2012. I have noticed that every roof in the university was tainted green by the plants that flourished on top of them. He also pointed out to me the aquaponics farm that I have built before with the help of my classmates. The barren piece of land that we acquired is now just a smaller piece of a 10-acre jigsaw puzzle. A lot of students were working. Unlike me before, they did not need to exhaustingly juggle their studies and their extra-curricular activities. The university administration found a way to decrease school hours which could then be dedicated instead to other activities. I was in awe. The new technologies introduced into the garden will take me more than a day for me to learn.
Skipping his lectures, I asked him if he wanted to take a snack in the nearby cafeteria. I led the way but it seemed that my old professor had more in store to teach me. I followed him to another path, and while walking, he told me that the cafeteria before closed because it would not give in to the demands of the students to purchase only organic foods. He told me that two years ago they were able to successfully persuade the whole student body to stop buying dangerous inorganic food. The cafeteria naturally went out of business, and the university had to tear it down because they discovered how poorly the facility was maintained by the past management.
It was time for me to go. We exchanged goodbyes and I drove away. I noticed homes near the university with their own aquaponics system and farm roofs. I saw an old woman working on her own backyard system. I stopped by to ask her what she was doing. She told me about the system and how she knew about it from her granddaughter. She went on to tell me of her fear that someday another serious food shortage will happen again in our city.
I arrived home and drank a cup of coffee. I smiled as I waved to my children playing in my own backyard farm.