Three simple steps

“Save energy by switching off and unplugging all electrical appliances when you leave your resort room;

“Reduce waste by bringing your own bag when you go out, and say no to plastic bags, straws and sachets;

 “Walk more, to enjoy the beach and lessen air pollution.”




These are three simple steps that Greenpeace is asking holiday-goers bound for the resort island of Boracay (or any other destination, for that matter) to take when they go to the island for a vacation.

Local Boracay-based groups, including Boracay Foundation Inc., and Boracay Yuppies, have thrown their support behind the “Save the Climate, Save Boracay” campaign. In addition, Seair will be announcing the three simple steps on their flights starting tomorrow (Holy Monday) to April 12, Easter Sunday, Holy Week being the height of the busiest season on the island. Resorts as well as the local boat cooperative will be displaying project posters telling tourists what they can do to help protect the island’s fragile environment.

Meanwhile, local TV cable stations Paradise Cable and Kalibo Cable will be airing videos of Richard Gutierrez and Angel Aquino enjoining visitors to help make Boracay a greener destination.

According to Greenpeace press materials, “Save the Climate, Save Boracay” is the first project of its kind in the Philippines. It was launched last June during the “Quit Coal, Save the Climate” Philippine tour of the Greenpeace ship M.Y. Rainbow Warrior.

In a manifesto signed by all the stakeholders of Boracay’s tourism industry, the signatories promised to include energy efficiency measures and the promotion of renewable energy use as part of the environmental
management plans for the island.


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In particular, the manifesto mentions the need for energy efficient measures in the construction or expansion of establishments, the provision of regular energy audits, “skillshares” and workshops for establishments to ensure the continuation and replication of successful practices in the areas of energy and water conservation, as well as ecological waste management. To carry out these measures, Greenpeace has been conducting forums and dialogues with the island’s resorts and tourism organizations since the project’s inception.

Aside from tapping tourism organizations, the project also counts on the support of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Tourism, the local government of Malay, Aklan, Task Force Boracay, Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Boracay (PCCI-Boracay), and the Boracay Association of Resorts, Restaurants & Independent Allies (BARRIA). The initiative is made possible through a grant from the Foundation for the Philippine Environment.

What drew my attention to the project was the “three simple steps” suggested by Greenpeace. They are indeed simple, easy to follow and eminently doable. Greenpeace doesn’t require tourists to go out of their way and engage in “special” activities to help clean up or protect Boracay’s environment. All Greenpeace asks is for visitors to think about their activities while on the island, and leave as small a “footprint” as possible while they go about enjoying themselves.


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I think the “three simple steps” are wonderfully workable in other vacation destinations as well, be they beach resorts, mountain hideaways or any quiet, hidden spot far from the hustle of the city.

In beaches and wooded areas, I would suggest that vacationers use extra reusable bags to carry their trash as well, so that they leave the beach or clear it as they found it, bringing their disposables to population centers where they could be disposed of properly, recycled or reduced to compost.

I could never understand how beach-goers, for one, could descend on a pristine stretch of beach and have no compunctions about littering their surroundings with food wrappers and discards, fruit peels and seafood shells, empty bottles (which pose a danger to those coming after them), empty soda cans, and soiled disposable diapers (I swear I saw some during one visit).

The detritus speaks not only of the deplorable sanitary habits of the vacationers, but also of their utter disrespect for nature and bad manners — who do they expect will clean up after them?

In fact, I would suggest that local government officials of beach locales hand every group an extra trash bag to take with them and then require each group to deposit these trash bags with the local trash authority for proper disposal.


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Sadly, leisure-seekers often arrive at their destinations expecting they could leave all civilized behavior behind.

There’s an expectation that they can leave behind all the politically-correct, environmentally-sound practices they adopt in the everyday world, now that they have resort personnel or hotel staffers to follow their bidding.

But as the Greenpeace project in Boracay shows, even while in “paradise,” people are still expected to care about their surroundings. In fact, it is precisely because you’re in paradise, enjoying an environment of beauty and serenity that you should take extra pains to preserve that environment and work for its protection and sustainability.

 And as the “three simple steps” show, such measures don’t even have to be heroic or superhuman. It’s a simple matter of turning off appliances when you don’t need them, carrying a reusable bag around to cut down on the need for plastic (and avoid littering), and walking around and using your own energy as much as possible.

Perhaps the coming Holy Week will provide all of us enough time and leisure to reflect on just what is expected of us when it comes to doing our share to save Mother Earth.


 Save  Mother Earth, Act now its not too late... Time to bring back the cleanliness, Save our environment...