EDC’S GEOSKWELA 2021: Negros Beyond Sustainability encourages regenerative practices among the Negrense youth

First Gen-owned Energy Development Corporation (EDC) is bringing back Geoskwela to Negros Island to continue inspiring the youth to be good stewards of the environment.

This year’s theme GeoSkwela 2021: Negros Beyond Sustainability will recognize the region’s budding content creators through a vlogging competition on encouraging young Negrenses to join the movement towards cleaner energy sources and ultimately, a better world.

The theme likewise emphasizes the importance of becoming regenerative by striving to do more good for the planet and society, which is what EDC’s revitalized mission to forget collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future is all about.

Living a regenerative lifestyle

The webinar and awarding ceremony kicked off with Miguel Lorenzo De Vera, head of EDC’s New Business and Technologies, delivering the welcome remarks for over a hundred attendees from various schools in Negros Island.

“This year’s theme is very timely because we have learned that it is no longer enough to just strive for sustainability that merely seeks to do less harm. It’s not enough that we use less plastic straws, consume less meat, or use less coal power.  Our planet needs us to do more good, like planting more Philippine native trees,  using more eco-friendly products, buying local, and shifting to 100% renewable energy,” said de Vera.

For EDC, being sustainable means doing  less harm on our planet while being regenerative means restoring it and making it better. The company believes that inspiring our youth to move forward and go beyond sustainability for a livable planet and a better tomorrow must start today. The most recent report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirmed the “widespread, rapid, and intensifying impacts of climate change, which was mainly influenced by human activity.”

We have a very narrow window of opportunity left to limit our global temperature to 1.5 degrees for the Earth to continue being a livable planet.

Geoskwela 2021 invited two speakers to the virtual webinar and awarding ceremony to share their own regenerative journeys.

Jamico Jamlang talked about the early beginnings and inspiration behind his social enterprises, The Bamboo Company and zero waste retail store Balay Qubo, and how a social entrepreneur can help alleviate the issues of climate change, poverty, and plastic pollution.

Visual storyteller, National Geographic Explorer, and Youth Engaged in Wetlands co-founder Gab Mejia discussed how to influence other people to live the regenerative way through photography.

Winners

The winners in the GeoSkwela 2021: Negros Beyond Sustainability vlogging contest were based on the EDC judges’ evaluation (80%) and Facebook votes (20%) from EDC’s Geo 24/7 page.

Grand prize winner April Joy Locsin received a cash prize of P20,000 for her vlog entitled Nature’s Tripper, which covered topics on urban gardening, organic vegetable planting guides, recycling, and and the natural wonders of Negros Occidental.

Second place winner Hans Cortes, who vlogged about his passions: cycling and reducing air pollution, received a cash prize of P10,000.

Rounding up the list is Mariane Joy Balotaolo at 3rd place, who bagged P7,000 cash for sharing how her experience during Typhoon Sendong turned her into an eco warrior.

The People Choice Award and the prize of P3,000 worth of GCash were given to Mariane Joy Bolotaolo for having the most number of Facebook votes.

Norreen Bautista, head of EDC’s Corporate Social Responsibility Department in Negros Island, expressed her awe for speakers Jamlang and Mejia as well as the contest vloggers’ efforts to be eco-warriors at a young age. She likewise emphasized that this role is not limited to them.

“We should first start with ourselves. Think of what you can do, how you can actually lower your own carbon footprint bit by bit to set a good example to the people around you. As Mahatma Gandhi has said “be the change you want to see in the world,” said Bautista.

Like and follow GEO 24/7 (https://www.facebook.com/geo247PH) to get more details on GeoSkwela 2021: Negros Beyond Sustainability and find out more about EDC’s brand of clean and reliable renewable energy.

EDC, through its Geo 24/7 campaign, is the country’s premier renewable energy company and one of the world’s largest geothermal producers. Its 222.5-megawatt facility in Valencia has been providing an uninterrupted source of clean, renewable geothermal power to Negros Island, Luzon, and Visayas regions.