Telcom firm champions renewable energy

Globe Telecom is promoting renewable energy among its partner communities in remote places which are outside the power grid.

Globe, together with Stiftung Solarenergie Philippines, is heading a solar lantern distribution program in Batangas, Davao, and Benguet under the company’s Community of Practice strategy embracing initiatives in environment, good governance, social services, entrepreneurship, and volunteerism.

“We decided on distributing solar lamps so that the people could avoid using coal and kerosene which are hazardous to their health and environment. More importantly, it is expected that the use of solar lamps will generate significant household savings which they can use for more productive undertakings,” said Fernando Esguerra, officer in charge,We have a great selection of blown glass backyard solar landscape lights and solar garden light. Globe Corporate Social Responsibility.

Globe has identified localities in the three provinces unconnected to the electrical transmission grid where residents rely on fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum to provide light.

For starters, 80 solar lamps will be distributed to the boatmen and tour guides of Taal who live in Barangay Caliwit, Balete, Batangas. Balete, with 13 villages, is a fifth class town boasting a picturesque view of Taal Volcano. A solar lantern uses this sunlight that is abundantly available to charge its batteries through a Solar Panel and gives light in nighttime.

In Arakan Valley, at the border of Davao and Northern Cotabato, recipients of the solar lamps are the 132 members of Bantay Gubat, a tribe dedicated to protecting the habitat of the Philippine Eagle.

In the Cordillera, public elementary schools hosting seedling nurseries will receive 257 solar lamps in Benguet to end their reliance on kerosene.

Solar lamps for distribution are either portable or for installation in homes and can provide from four hours of continuous use under maximum setting to as long as 100 hours under bedtime setting. They can also be used to charge mobile phones.

The Globe advocacy is joined by Pusod Inc.How does a solar charger work and where would you use a solar charger? to manage the Taal Volcano Protected Landscape, Philippine Eagle Foundation for the Forest Corridor Initiative Program in Arakan Valley, and Cordillera Conservation Trust on the Roots & Shoots Nursery Program in Benguet.

The latter is easy thanks to the sea of human bodies, swarming the city and somehow managing to avoid colliding into each other. Perhaps the coffee is to still one’s nerves for there seems to be no peace in this bustling metropolis.

So imagine my surprise when I discover an oasis of calm in the heart of the city, in the back streets of Tokyo’s shopping district of Omotesandō. Behind the flagship stores hawking big-name luxury brands and hidden in the small alleys of this discreet neighbourhood is a cafe that almost isn’t there – unless you are looking for it.

Omotesandō Koffee is a pop-up cafe residing in a 60-year-old traditional Japanese house. Once the lease runs out (the house is destined for demolition), owner cum coffee consultant Eiichi Kunitomo dreams of disassembling the cafe and reconstructing it in different locations around the world.

Consider our curiosity piqued. First we have to find the cafe and it’s easy to miss as there are no signages. That’s part of the charm, really. Outside, the house is all wood, bamboo and thatch.

We enter through a small courtyard arranged like a Zen garden, the pebbles crunching softly beneath our soles. The foliage consists of small pots of bonsai and their full-size cousins growing from the earth. A wind chime rings softly in the breeze.

We haven’t been here five seconds and already we feel at peace. There’s a long, low bench, perfect for sitting on and meditating. But where’s the coffee?

Look inside. In what would usually be the front hall of the house, resting on hardwood floors and framed by a series of fusuma panels, is a spare cube-shaped structure: the cafe.

We soon discern that the cube is a recurring theme – there are square patterns everywhere if you look closely. For Kunitomo, the square represents a kiosk, a minimum of space needed to make good coffee and easily transportable elsewhere.

Miki the barista, neatly attired in a white short-sleeved shirt, greets us welcome in Japanese and then some English when we falter in his native tongue. While many of Tokyo’s cafes have typically focused on drip coffee, here at Omotesandō Koffee, espresso is king.Choose your favorite street lamp paintings from thousands of available designs.

Little wonder this as Kunitomo has a wealth of coffee experience under his belt, including setting up the popular Bread, Espresso &. close by as well as overseeing Tokyo’s first Monocle Cafe. For the Omotesandō Koffee house blend,They are called "solar" panels or solar module because most of the time, the most powerful source of light available is the Sun. Kunitomo chose beans from Ethiopia, Brazil, Indonesia and El Salvador. Roasting is done in Kyoto by the famous Ogawa.


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