When in Manila, commuters, motorists and passers-by can’t help but be amazed at the new Coca-Cola plant billboard along Northbound EDSA-Forbes. Why not? Unlike the usual billboard ads that promote products or services, it actually helps clean the air! The plant billboard, a joint project of Coca-Cola and World Wildlife Fund aims to raise awareness about saving the earth. Isn’t that wonderful? Now we wouldn’t mind seeing this billboard on EDSA for a long time, do we? It’s so good I bet even CBCP would approve of this!
How does this plant billboard help lessen air pollution? According to Botanist Anthony Gao, each plant can absorb up to 13 pounds of carbon dioxide in a year. “This billboard helps alleviate air pollution within its proximate areas as it can absorb a total of 46,800 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, on estimate.” Gao said.
In case you are wondering if those are REAL plants, yes they are! The billboard is actually made up of potted Fukien tea plants. Another interesting fact to note is that the resources are made up of recycled materials! Coca-cola used 3,600 recycled plastic Coke bottles to serve as pot for the plants. The pots were filled by potting mixture made up of organic materials and industrial products. This ensures that the each plant will maintain its stable and lightweight form, making it manageable to grow sideways.
As with any other plants, the Fukien tea plants need to be watered for nourishment. And for that, a drip irrigation system is installed in the billboard. This system conserves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip to the roots of the plants through a series of valves, pipe tubing and emitters. The system is operated on a scheduled basis to distribute water with nutrients to the plants. The pots were holed to support equal water distribution.
It’s refreshing to see something like this on the streets. If possible, I believe EDSA could use more of this. Agree with me?
For now, we still have a long way to go before we eliminate lead-gasoline-powered vehicles in the country. But hopefully the other companies would follow suit and be inspired to come up with sustainable projects like this. Meanwhile, we should be responsible for taking care of our own environment. When in Manila (or any other part of the world for that matter), we don’t have to wait to be stricken with another calamity or to participate in a major eco-preservation campaign before acting. As early as now, practicing good habits such as proper waste disposal and 3Rs (reducing,recycling, and reusing) would really make a big difference in saving the earth.
