ALBAY FOLKS CELEBRATE FIRST GREEN CHRISTMAS
[PHOTOS COURTESY OF LEGAZPI WEB SITE: LEFT- GREEN CHRISTMAS TREE INITIATIVE]
LEGAZPI CITY, DECEMBER 13, 2010 (MALAYA) Albay folks will celebrate their first Green Christmas with a 58-foot Christmas tree fashioned from used fuel drums painted green and close to a thousand flickering solar-powered Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights, a testament to Albay's campaign on environment protection.
Declared by the United Nations as its global model for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, Albay launched this year the "Green Christmas Initiative," another innovation in governance under Gov. Joey Salceda.
The Christmas tree, mounted within a miniature Green Christmas Village inside the Albay Astrodome Complex, symbolizes the province's campaign for environment protection, climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR), Salceda said.
Salceda, who was recently named Senior Global CCA and DRR Champion by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), said the Green Christmas Initiative demonstrates Albay's tough commitment to celebrate Christmas without risks, through Walang Paputok-Zero Casualty and Walang Plastikan-Zero Garbage campaigns. The advocacy is backed by a strong public information campaign.
The Green Christmas Tree was switched on recently with Bicol University president Fay Lauraya, Army Brig Gen. Marlu Salazar, PNP provincial director Senior Supt. William Macavinta, PAF-TOG5 Col. Guillermo Molina, Legazpi West Rotary Club's Meds Villanueva, PGA department heads and employees, education officials and students in attendance.
LED Christmas lights are highly favored by environmental advocates because they last longer, use less electricity and reduce risks of fire accidents. The LED lights used are solar-powered and have batteries that recharge in sunlight and automatically turn on at night.
Salceda, last Nov. 15, issued a memorandum to heads of offices at the Capitol, which directed the launching of the "Green Christmas Initiative: Christmas without risks."
Under the Green Christmas Initiative, employees of the Albay provincial government are encouraged to center their celebration on Tree Planting, Beach or River Clean-Up, Resettlement Socials, DRR through games in children's homes or among children of informal settlers, and such similar activities.
The memorandum prohibits Capitol offices from buying Christmas trees and plastic ornaments and decors and instead are encouraged to decorate existing trees at the Park and spruce up ornamental plants" inside offices with "recyclable or biodegradable decorative materials."
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