DIET-CONSCIOUS EARTH WARRIORS Grade 8 students Juan I帽igo Abacan (left) and Myka Nadine Chua flank Mika Vanhanen, founder and director of the global Environment Online (ENO) and Sophia School principal Ann Abacan, whose 鈥淢eatless Monday鈥� policy in the school became the students鈥� battle cry in the recent World Summit of Students for Climate in Helsinki, Finland.
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Go meatless even just once a week and save the world!
This was the rallying call of Grade 8 student Myka Nadine Chua of Sophia School in Meycauayan, Bulacan, who represented the Philippines and Asia in the World Circular Economy Forum on June 3 in Helsinki, Finland.
Chua, 13, was one of 10 young speakers who joined students from 70 countries and some 2000 economic leaders, policymakers and industry leaders to discuss, among other topics, how a circular economy 鈥� one aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of resources鈥攃an lead to a sustainable future.
In the 鈥淰oice of the Next Generation: 鈥極ur Planet, Our Home鈥欌�� segment of the forum, Chua explained how eating meat causes greenhouse gas emissions.
鈥淭he Philippines is one of the Asian countries that include a lot of meat and animal products in their diet 鈥� Malaysia and the Philippines are two of the many Asian countries that cut down a lot of trees [to make way] for animal agriculture [or the raising of cattle],鈥� Chua noted.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority website, agriculture grew by 0.67 percent in the first quarter of 2019, with production increases noted for livestock, poultry and fisheries.
According to the United Nations, livestock is a major contributor to ocean pollution and the depletion of natural resources such as water and land. Eating meat also compromises food security since grains are fed to livestock.
In the 鈥淟ivestock and Climate Change鈥� article published in World Watch Magazine, livestock and their byproducts were said to account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year, or 51 percent of greenhouse gas emitted worldwide every year. These gases absorb and trap infrared radiation and cause heat to be retained in the earth鈥檚 atmosphere, making the planet warmer.
To cheers from the audience, Chua said: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need to be billionaires, superheroes or political leaders. We just have to be ordinary persons who do ordinary things for extraordinary goals like saving Mother Earth. So let us all be earth warriors.鈥�
Chua鈥檚 speech moved Sophia School principal and dietitican Ann Regoso Abacan, who said she 鈥済ot emotional鈥� because going meatless once a week has been the school鈥檚 advocacy for the past decade.
Sophia School implements a 鈥淢eatless Monday鈥� policy, said Abacan, who was in Finland with Chua.
The practice is based on the three Ks that the school has been promoting 鈥� kalusugan (health), kalikasan (environment) and kapayapaan (peace).
In fact, before flying out to Finland, the school celebrated another 鈥淢eatless Monday鈥� with its partner, Quorn Philippines, to coincide with the April 22 Earth Day celebration with the theme 鈥淕o Meatless for the Animals, Go Meatless for the Environment.鈥�
Other students in the forum spoke of environmental problems in their home countries.
Australia, said Zoe, its student representative, 鈥渢ends to overconsume things鈥� such as clothing, packaged food and electronic devices. 鈥淭his can be seen in the 6 tons of textiles thrown out every 10 minutes, the 118,000 plastic bottles and 700,000 tons of e-waste thrown every year in Australia.鈥�
The young African speaker from Botswana spoke of soil erosion, air and water pollution, drought and floods, while students from Mexico and Ecuador raised the lack of efficient public transportation as a problem that people solved by buying more cars.
Chua and fellow Grade 8 student Juan I帽igo Abacan, also of Sophia School, represented the Philippines as well in the annual World Summit of Students for Climate (WSSC) in Finland from May 28 to June 5. The weeklong summit included discussions and the creation of multimedia projects on such themes as mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and the role of forests in one鈥檚 home country.
The WSSC exhorts all schools in the world to plant trees every year until 2025, with the ultimate goal of neutralizing the 3 million tons of carbon dioxide emitted daily.