Sharing the ECHOstore mindset

Green Growth: The Hague in Spring

Travel makes us only realize how similar we all are as human beings, playing under the trappings of cultures so diverse as our personalities. Yet, underneath our diversity, one humanity’s heart carries issues that our Planet faces today. And so I travelled halfway across the world to meet the beginning of Spring at The Hague in the Netherlands. Timely as it was, for I was there for a purpose so like Spring: where green growth begins as flowers profusely make their presence felt, despite the nippy wind making windmills dance. 

Be More Zen

One way to think of zen is this: a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind. Zen is a way of being. It also is a state of mind. - Urban Dictionary 

"Complete and absolute peace" is another way to define Zen. 

Life is short. We should not be wasting it on getting angry and getting upset. I always tell people that, when I retell a story about being upset, blood rushes to my head. Why do I allow myself to get angry or stressed? It is precious time that is wasted on nothing productive. I pray so hard to stay calm and "zen-like" as much as I can.

From Seed to Stove, from Farm to Cup

There is a growing trend for restaurants that serve from “farm to fork” or from “farm to plate,” which means the establishment can trace the source of its ingredients, which most practically should come from local or nearby sources.

We Are What We Eat

Everything in our world today is so interconnected. Not only do we see this in how television and the Internet that connects our minds and consciousness, but also in the way we live our lives, the food we eat, the choice of consumer products we purchase. We see a food ad—we want to try it, no matter that the food item itself is loaded with fat, sugar, salt or, worst, unhealthy binders or preservatives.

Grow Your Own Veggies

Yes, you can grow your own vegetables and herbs right in your patio or city garden! A friend now grows patola, upo, and ampalaya (bitter gourd) on his trellis right in his terrace. Another friend is growing her own herbs like mint, tarragon, and basil for pesto right in her condominium patio.

Want to Know Your Past Life?

When past lives are mentioned, people either look up in interest or send a gaze of disbelief and skepticism. Such mixed reactions are valid in that schools of thought run in direct oppositions or even counter to each other. The Church clearly states “no way,” as Church Fathers of old have junked the belief in reincarnation that gives the validity to past lives. Reincarnation was suppressed by the clergy at the fifth ecumenical council, held in Constantinople in 553 AD. The reason for this would have been the spiritual immaturity of the Christians, who could not grasp the doctrine at that time, or the desire of the clergy to manipulate the masses. Religion after all, served a political purpose during that time.

Sustainable Coffees

With the popularity of coffee shops over the last decade, it has been a challenge looking for shops who sincerely want to help save the Philippine coffee industry. As a business set up for instant profit just like instant coffee, coffee shops find it difficult to look for honest-to-goodness sources of local coffee so that, while they make it a profitable business, they still help prop up the fledgling Philippine coffee retail landscape. Fortunately the Philippine Coffee Board has reached out to small coffee farmers around the archipelago, and now they have enough coffee supply to serve the needs of local coffee shop chains. One of these chains truly serving Philippine coffee is Le Bistro Sustainable Coffees. Located at the gateways of the country, in particular at NAIA Terminals 2 and Terminal 3, Le Bistro dictates that its suppliers source their coffee supply from local farms.

Jungle Jim, Environmental Enforcer

On a recent trip I took to Palawan, Atty. Bobby Chan—an alternative lawyer—showed us a rather strange collection. There were chainsaws, fish and dolphin spears, homemade shotguns, commercial fishing nets, knives, and hacks. 200 of these items were under lock and key. His collection is a testimony to this courageous advocacy for protecting the rainforests, mangroves, and fishing reserves of Palawan.

Natural is the New High

My business partner, Jeannie, and I were invited by the USDA Midwest Exporters Association to attend the Natural Products Expo West 2010 show in Anaheim, California last March. The show hosted over 50,000 delegates and attendees, and there were over 3,000 stands or booth displays of every natural product, supplement, organic food, and other related supplies.

Mother Nature Designs Local Fare

We must take it from Mother Nature. She designed a lot of fruits and vegetables to tell us what they are good for. I read in a blog that tomatoes are good for the heart. The tip is how the tomato was designed—four chambers to resemble the heart. Walnuts are good for the brain, because it resembles the way the brain is—2 spheres, wavy, curly and odd-shaped. If walnuts are good for the brain, peanuts can be good for the brain too (not to say it’s for pea-brains!). And all nuts are actually good brain food.

Row Your Boat

A lot of songs and nursery rhymes often have deeper meanings than they are letting on. One of my favorite ones, which I repeat in my yoga classes, is that of Row, row, row your boat. Let me break down and explain some wonderful nuggets of truth and wisdom in this simple nursery song. These are by no means my original thoughts, but rather, something I have picked up along the way and live my life by.

Postscript on Little Steps Forward

Going green does not have to be boring. Going green is simply being thoughtful. How will I leave this world much better than when I found it?

The earth, sea, and sky are givens, and all we need to do is to be careful—that we do not waste resources as we go about our normal schedules.

We can fly, but we need to plant trees to offset our carbon footprint.

Green Design for Stores, Products, and Menus

I have been challenged with building and designing small retail spaces for over 15 years now. Small retail shops have to be efficiently planned to maximize the steep rental fees in the metro. Nowadays, there is yet another consideration. Planning spaces while putting electricity and water consumption in consideration is a must as with what you can do with the latest technology in lighting, ventilation and other power-consuming or power-saving options.

Let me share with you a few simple tips I try to incorporate in green store design. Use natural light whenever possible. Use ceiling fans to lessen the load on air conditioning. Use compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) that will illuminate like halogens. I have done most of these initiatives since two years ago, and I continue to discover new products that are green and sustainable.

Technique for Living

“Everything I believe in is gone, and that which I thought would never happen to me has happened… I don’t know what to do. I am all over the place and I can’t find my center.” This was a lament of a yoga student who I know to be a successful and integrated person. “Keep to your practice. This too, shall pass. Breathe in and take each moment, each emotion that arises. Just stay with your practice,” is all I could tell her, sharing with her my own personal techniques or having gone through my own bouts of crises in the past. No matter the inner emotional turmoil or the outward situational crisis that has unbalanced me in the past, I kept steady with my practice: prayer, yoga, and meditation. My practice became my strengthening foundation where I tried to hold on to my inner rudder as I went through the dark, unchartered waters of my turbulent emotions and my troubled mind.

Life throws us lemons all the time, some more bitter and sour than others. Suddenly we find ourselves at a point where all beliefs are challenged to be looked at. This happens to all of us in the course of life. Things we never expect to come our way suddenly do. This is when our pain and suffering begin.

Asian Food is Slow Food

I recently watched a documentary entitled Food, Inc. while having lunch 35,000 feet up in the sky. Well, you can bet I did not finish my meal. When it started to describe the E. coli scare on beef and spinach, I was about to start eating my vegetables which was—you guessed right—spinach! The film was not exactly the best movie to watch while having my seafood and spinach course. It reminded me of a book I recently read entitled Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck. And now I am reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan, and it gives me the shivers why all these books and films have suddenly become very relevant. We are what we eat, and the books and the film tell you what to eat and why.

This experience also makes me ponder on Asian food and how lucky we all are for liking Filipino food, or most Asian food. It is difficult to mass-produce Asian food. Imagine tamales (though Mexican in name, our Pinoy version is hardly Mexican in flavor or ingredients) and suman… how do you mass produce food that is best eaten wrapped in banana leaves? Or puso (named after heart as it is shaped like a heart)from Cebu?

Going Healthy Green and
Remaining a Foodie

I am a foodie and I like eating savory dishes. The challenge is to be able to eat deliciously and still be aligned with global warming, climate change, less carbon footprint, and environment-friendly issues. A mouthful? Just think of it this way… ask yourself the question: What should I eat that won’t be harmful to the environment and planet?

Eating healthy should be fun, yummy, and easy. So we will tackle the fun part of eating for sustainability. Let us allow environmentalists to fight for policies and change, while we mere humans do our share by eating healthy.  What does it mean to eat healthy?

Rising Waters

It was the same sinking feeling I was getting in my stomach as I watched the presentation flash images before my eyes. The first time I felt this overwhelming sense of helplessness was as I listened to Al Gore some years back when he came by Manila to start his Asian tour to introduce his film The Inconvenient Truth. That was the first time I saw images of our earth’s steadily decaying and alarming transformations due to global warming. It was so powerful an experience that, though I wanted to write about it, I couldn’t. It was too overwhelming.

Now I was listening to Lory Tan, Vice Chair of the World Wild Life Fund for Nature and Chairman of the Tropical Rainforest Foundation, as guest speaker during the 11th Annual Ayala Malls Merchants Awards. This year’s theme was green (thankfully everyone seems to be waking up to green issues and the urgent need to do something), and I was there (with my business partner Chit Juan) to receive the Green Merchant Award for our small shop ECHOstore Sustainable Lifestyle at Serendra. This was the first time the Ayala was giving this new award category citing merchants with initiatives in educating consumers about the environment and ensuring that even their own store staff are well-informed about the store's green efforts and sustainability.

Greening Starts at Home

Adopting a sustainable lifestyle starts at home, from what habits we can change to what new habits we will develop. Such changes will benefit our purse, our health and, ultimately, the planet.

BEWARE OF PHANTOM LOADS. How many months have we kept the standby lights of our TV, DVD player, and stereo sets on while we are out the whole day? Those little red lights also consume electricity while we are not home. Get a power strip from your favorite hardware or appliance store, and plug all those equipment to the power strip or surge protector. As you leave the house, turn them all OFF. Watch your electric bill do a nosedive.