Cynical talk is cheap

Me and the organizations that I'm a part of do not join and are not supportive of token 'environmental awareness' activities like Earth Run.

I agree with the contradiction of the run’s intention and the outcome that followed. I’ve seen a lot of critical posts based on the picture above. A lot of them blasting hypocrisy and rightfully pointing out the failure. But I’m quite interested in how the case would be if the same standard put on the event stand with the personal ecological footprint of those who made the post.

I’m sure all would fall short and that everyone would be guilty of the same hypocrisy that the event organisers have been founded guilty of.

But having been involve in a number of advocacies. I’ve come to realise that that hypocrisy is the gap between aspiration and action. Perhaps the alternative to hypocrisy isn’t moral purity (since no one manages that), but cynicism.(experience also has it that the cynical ones usually are the most apathetic at social engagement).

It’s not easy living green without going completely off the grid, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do what we can – and accept that sometimes we’ll fail. The key is to be aware of our own contradictions and struggling to be better, while living in the constant tension of the vast space in between the now and not yet of our vision.

A Lenten Earth Day

Earth Day in the Philippines will not be as lively, festive and jubilant this year. The annual commemoration of the day intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment incidentally falls this year on the same day as Good Friday, which is observed primarily by Christians all over the world to remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary.

I would like to believe that celebrating Earth Day at the same time with Good Friday serves as a relevant reminder to us of the value of life and the lives that have been sacrificed to the altar of social and environmental justice. It reminds us of those few who chose to step up to the challenges of our time to live up to our ideals, even if it entails offering their very lives so that the dream of a better world would be fulfilled.
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Earth Day 2010: Love and life

Here's something that I wrote for Earth Day on the Greenpeace Philippines blog

22 April 2010: Earth Day
It is almost midnight.

Earth Day is only minutes away from being over. Another day, has passed and like in so many things that are subject to time, this day now becomes part of my memories and are now recorded as a chapter in my life.

I am more than glad that this remembrance of Earth Day was done with the celebration of the life of a dear person with whom I count myself fortunate to have as a friend .

Perhaps it is safe to say that in as far as speaking about Earth Day and the need to uphold the urgent struggle of safeguarding the environment, the celebration of Earth Day and the work for those in the environmental movement must always be reflected in the context of love for life –and I am not talking here about token sentimentally about Mother Nature, nor am I simply being a bleeding heart for the cute and cuddly animals, nor am I romanticizing my love for the outdoors –far from it!

While it is true that the aforementioned things are part of the things that bear weight in my decision to commit myself to my work with Greenpeace, a larger part of me recognizes the resolute urgency of taking action for the environment lies in the love that can be found in life that is shared in relationships –relationships that can be found in that of parents, grandparents, children, siblings, relatives friends, comrades, kindred spirits and lovers.