Kwento Ni Toto: Saving the Planet

Sunday, November 5, 2023

SM Foundation's 2nd Rainwater Harvesting System Expands Sustainability

Toto 9:55:00 AM

Rainwater harvesting means collecting and saving rainwater for later. It's a good way to save water and not depend too much on regular water sources. Many old civilizations used it, and today, smart groups use it for eco-friendly water management.

SM Foundation, Inc., a part of the SM group focused on doing good for the community, has started using rainwater harvesting in two health centers they fixed up. They did this in Brgy. Irawan Birthing Facility in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, and San Fernando, Cebu Primary Health Care Facility.

Health workers in San Fernando, Cebu Primary Healthcare Facility water the locally sourced plants using the water from the rainwater harvesting system

SMFI’s Health and Medical Programs proactively implemented this innovation to help sustain the health of the local community while preserving the environment.

Ready in times of emergency

Dr. Alfredo P. Manugas VI, Municipal Health Officer and Health Department Head of San Fernando, Cebu Primary Health Care Facility, said that while water is crucial to their operations, water supply is not always available in their municipality, even their center.

“The rainwater harvesting system is essential in our health facility because the water supply in our municipality is not available 24/7,” he said. “We are now provided a source of water in times of emergency or any interruption of water supply. Our staff and visitors can use rainwater for cleaning, flushing the toilet bowls, and watering the plants.”

SMFI Health and Medical Programs senior project manager Albert Uy runs through how the system functions.

SMFI ensures that the facility is convenient and manageable to maximize its purpose. It operates without electricity, increasing its sustainability. To harvest water for non-potable use, it collects rainwater from the roof and gutter. The water is filtered through vinyl-coated mesh filters to ensure its quality before being stored in the 800-liter storage tank.

To guide users for safe recycled water use, all faucets connected to the facility have visible labels. Alongside this innovation, SMFI also used air-cleaning paints, LED lighting fixtures and appliances, and locally sourced plants to create a clean and comfortable environment for patients and health workers.

These green innovations exemplify the SM group’s commitment to the environment and community health within the broader context of the SM Green Movement. With the social good impact of the two rainwater harvesting systems, SMFI targets to replicate this initiative in other health centers in its pipeline, further improving water security in the face of challenges.

Health workers use the rainwater harvesting system for their outdoor cleaning needs

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Saving the Planet in Style with Samsung Lifestyle TV Lineup ‘Eco-Packaging'

Saving the Planet in Style with Samsung Lifestyle TV Lineup ‘Eco-Packaging’

Toto 6:51:00 PM

Our lifestyle is the reason why we are experiencing so many things today, so lifestyle is also the answer for us to help our Mother Earth to heal and to be saved. Climate change is true and not just something to be ignored. We all need to work together for the change. And knowing one of the electronic companies, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., just recently announced its better way of giving Mother Earth a breather. They introduce its new eco-friendly packaging across its Lifestyle TV product portfolio in efforts to reduce the environmental footprint.

Samsung’s new ‘eco-packaging’ made from eco-friendly corrugated cardboard will be applied to The Serif, The Frame, and The Sero, allowing customers easier recycling as well as upcycling of the cardboard boxes for creative reuse.

Samsung has applied a dot matrix design on each side of its eco-friendly corrugated cardboard boxes, allowing customers to cut the boxes more easily and assemble them into various other uses, such as small end tables or houses for pets.

Included within the packaging is a manual to guide customers on how to make household items out of the cardboard boxes, which can be accessed by scanning the QR code on the box.

Owners of The Serif who tend to put shelves and furniture around the TV can build cat houses, magazine racks and even shelves from the cardboard boxes to store household items and electronic devices, including the remote control.

Earlier this year, Samsung had already won CES 2020 Innovation Awards for its eco-packaging concept for promoting the efficient use of resources.

As part of the rollout of the new eco-packaging, Samsung and Dezeen, a British lifestyle magazine, will hold a global design competition starting April 6th, where the two companies will award the most unique and practical designs and will apply the designs into its eco-packaging manual.

"Consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that shares similar fundamentals and values as they do, and with our eco-packaging, we believe that we can provide our customers with a new experience that considers the environment as an important way to express themselves," said Kangwook Chun, Executive Vice President and Head of Product Strategy Team of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics.

For more information on the design competition, please visit Dezeen’s website at www.dezeen.com and Samsung TV Instagram (@samsungtv).