Watsons shares how you can do more good for the planet

 

It was the second physical event that I have attended yesterday; I do admit, it was a strange feeling, but overall, I was just happy to see people, especially blogger friends from long ago.

Yesterday, Watsons held an event to talk about the sustainable initiatives of the brand and to help consumers find more ways to incorporate sustainability in their everyday lives.

Watsons has invited three leading figures in the local sustainability and environment protection scene, and ClimatePartner to talk more about how consumers can lessen their carbon footprint and most of all, do it in such a way that it doesn't interfere and intimidate. Because one of the reasons why most people are not that open to sustainable living is the fact that there is this notion that sustainable living is expensive and hard to do. Yes, sustainable living is still a young culture in the Philippines and there are still a lot of barriers to it, but Watsons is leading the way in shaping the industry so that more and more Filipinos will be encouraged to do good for the planet and to make sustainable products a choice when it comes to essentials.

The event was graced by Cat Triviño, an environment warrior and partner for CORA, Rina Lana Sebastian, social and mindful entrepreneur, and  James Walden for ClimatePartner, a global solutions partner that helps consumers track and trace their environmental footprint to help them encourage to live a planet- friendly, healthier, and more sustainable lifestyle.

1. TRACK YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

- For James Walden, one good way to help lessen your environmental footprint is to lessen your carbon footprint. In everything we do, we produce carbon and this is what contributes to global warming, which triggers climate change and all the negative environmental impacts related to it. In order to help reduce these impacts, one must aim for a carbon neutral lifestyle.

The first question is always HOW DO YOU DO IT? ClimatePartner has created a Carbon Footprint calculator that helps people track, trace, and measure their carbon footprint; it's an app that conducts a lifestyle check centered on common activities that yield the most carbon offset so you know which activities to reduce or find an alternative for. ClimatePartner's carbon footprint calculator helps make sustainable living much easier by taking out the guesswork in measuring your personal environmental impact so you can act better on it.

For more information, please visit CLIMATE PARTNER'S WEBSITE.

2. BE THE CHANGE, BUT ACCEPT THAT IT WILL NOT BE PERFECT

- For Rina, an advocate of sustainable living, it's important for a boss like her to be the embodiment of sustainability among her peers and employees. However, it came to a point that she became an extreme sustainability warrior and have pushed people to adopt the lifestyle without considering personal journeys and realities, which affects a person's decision to live sustainably or not; this, in turn, has turned off a lot of her peers and did not contribute to her mission to encourage more people to live more sustainably at all.

Rina sat down and thought hard about her decisions and decided to be more understanding and patient, and most of all, to listen to people when it comes to their thoughts about sustainable living: she made adjustments to her workplace and adopted it to the needs of and based on the opinions of her employees and peers, and in return, people started entertaining the thought of sustainable living. Mission success indeed!

If there's anything that Rina has learned about the experience, it's that sustainability still has a long way to go in the Philippines so those who can must continue educating people about the benefits of sustainable living and that it isn't that hard to do and can actually save you more money in the long run.

3. VOLUNTEER AND TAKE PART IN PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY

- For Cat, one of the best ways to understand, experience, and start an advocacy towards sustainable living and the environment is to volunteer in environment NGOs such as CORA. A lot of us tend to disregard and shrug off environmental problems because we don't necessarily see the real situation on ground and its impact on communities. A new perspective is one of the best ways to spark change that's why Cat wants to encourage people to volunteer and reach out to local NGOs not only to help, but to learn as well on how they can begin a journey towards conservation, protection, and sustainable living.

I always love talks about the environment and I hope more and more brands will create awareness for it like what Watsons have been doing. The biggest impact can come from conglomerates and multinationals such as Watsons because they have the power to shape mindset and purchase behavior so kudos to them for making it their mission to do good for the planet and hopefully, more brands will follow suit.

For more information, visit WATSONS PHILIPPINES on Facebook.