recycle, reduce, reuse...reuse..reuse...reuse

tire swings, tire chicken coops, tire chairs, tire tables, tire baby bassinets....

I never thought there could be so many uses for old tires and it not end up looking like the duck dynasty  crew where your interior decorators.

new coke flavor; Gasoline!...reusing coke bottles for a quick gas stop fill

bags made from recycled juice boxes and coffee

process of turning chip bags into purses

A day trip from Tacloban to the island of Biliran, brought me into a whole new level of green eco-living that easily would win in a resourcefulness competition against the berriest of Berkley hippies. As I motored from one cascading waterfall swimming hole to the next, locals, true to the filipino spirit, would invite me to join them for a stick of adobo or cola as the surround me with the usual inquiries; "where are you from?", "how old are you?", "where is your husband? why are you traveling alone?". They would then inform me "Biliran is the island of 5,000 waterfalls. They say it is paradise". I asked one local girl sheltering from the sun; "they say it is paradise....what do you think?" Her response was an easy "of course!!!"

The Filipino people are one that have experienced decade after decade of trial and tribulation from annual (more like quarterly) natural disasters to dictatorships and invasions. Yet despite these attacks from mother nature and humanity, the Filipino spirit never falters...they kareoke and dance their way through trauma with that plastered on hospitably agreeable smile and offering of food.  I think it is this attitude of "shit happens...so lets videokey" that keeps them so resourceful, resilient, and able to make everything beautiful.

man with his coconut...the fruit of 100 uses

In Manila, plastic bags have been progressively banned, and if found strolling down the street with one in tow you'll get slapped a hefty fine.  A little bit stronger of a repercussion than the feeling of guilt I receive from my Whole Foods clerk when forgetting my re-usable bag in the car and realizeing I can't cradle all my organic veggies in my arms so have to result to buying a bag for $1.50 and being the sole destroyer of the environmental world.

Old tires disguised as yard furniture, fiesta streamers zigzagging the streets made of plastic bags, fashionista clutches crafted from chip bag wrappers, old fishing nets cradling infants as a hammock, newspapers rolled into cones and used as trash bin bags...the creative reuse of trash is impeccable! And rightly so. Every year, during the rainy season, the first floor of buildings transform into swimming pools...in part due to the rapid development Manila experienced as it raced to become the worlds most populated city in the world, and in part to the amount of plastic bags that are left in the streets clogging the gutters causing instantaneous flooding with any amount of rain. To be resourceful is to survive. To recycle is to maintain hope that the beauty of the Philippines is worth being saved and can be saved.

recycled candle wax from the santo nino cathedral
nothing goes to waste, especially not prayers

As Benigno (Ninoy) S. Aquino Jr, the exiled lieutenant governor of Luzon, said upon his return to the Philippines despite dictator Marcos's threats on his life...."The Philippines are worth dying for!"  And he did, as soon as his feet touched the tarmac in Manila, he was executed. The Philippines are a beautiful land and people that Ninoy considered worth risking his life for. And the people embody that pride for their country in their daily life, through truly embracing what real recycling, reducing, and reusing looks like.

I am inspired by the Filipino pride in the conservation of their lands natural beauty, and empowered to embody that pride as I return home...always looking for new creative ways to conserve and restore the beauty of the world. follow the #1Bag1World project to learn new ways you can creatively conserve in your homes while supporting the recycling movement around the world!