Friday, January 14, 2011

Floods That Kill

Map of the Philippines with Sorsogon highlightedImage via Wikipedia
I finished my elementary education in Sorsogon, Sorsogon, a province made famous, aside from its pili sweets, by the number of typhoons that hit it annually.  For a while, I thought storms and typhoons were normal (This was only belied when I came to live in Metro Manila).  The howling wind lulled me to sleep and I knew that classes will be cancelled the following day.  With classes called off for the day, I spent my time counting how many ginuyod banana trees fell this time.  For weeks, we will be having ginuyod for dessert.

Lately, Sorsogon is again on the map.  For the past few weeks, floods have submerged parts of Sorsogon, Albay, Leyte, and Eastern Samar  that put a damper on what could have been a joyous celebration of the coming of another year.  The floods were caused by heavy rainfall that amounts to 30% of the annual rainfall of the country.  When in my youth, storms were really storms, this time storms are followed with heavy inundation.  There are reports of people dying, crops and farms are destroyed.  Life suddenly is in a standstill.

It is not only the Philippines that is on the news lately.  South Australia and the southern part of Brazil are also experiencing flooding.  What is happening to our planet?

People clung to dear life by staying on rooftops.
What causes floods?  According to Net Industries, floods are caused by both natural and man-made factors. Heavy rains cause rivers to swell and automatically the water moves out of the channel and becomes flood.  Nowadays heavy rains are not totally caused by natural factors.  Rains have become more damaging because  of the quantity and frequency.  Pollution from carbon emissions leads to production of clouds that precipitate rains.  More pollution brings more rains.    People exacerbate the situation by building houses very near waterways that pose danger to lives.  Instead of water flowing freely, man-made structures  become obstructions that trigger swelling during storms or heavy rainfall.

The wrath of Ondoy (Ketsana) in September 2009 was a wake up call to all of us that global warming is here to stay if we don't made amends with nature. Expect our summers to be hotter and our rainy seasons to be wetter.

Water everywhere.
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Sunday, January 2, 2011

"Safe Feed for Safe Food"

Starting this year, 2011, this blog site will be featuring companies that are doing green business already.  It is one way of paying tribute to organizations and individuals who have taken the extra mile of combining business with love for the environment.  These companies subscribe to the 3BL or triple bottom line, that is, success is measured not only by profit but by planet and people as well.

Let me start with JA Farms Asia Pacific, Inc., a company engaged in the trading of feed enzymes and all-natural yeast-based products for the creation of safer animal feeds that will provide safer and healthier meat and meat products to consumers.  It supports the promotion of public awareness regarding the  benefits derived from white biotechnology, the modern use of

living organisms to make industrially useful products or processes for the sustainable production of biochemicals,  biomaterials and biofuels from renewable resources, using living cells and/or their enzymes.

It is to mankind's advantage if he uses feeds sourced from renewable resources and free of chemical preservatives in growing its pigs and chickens.  Mankind ends up healthier by eating food free from preservatives and the environment is cleaner because of its minimum waste generation and energy use.



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