By Ramon Faustino M. Sales, Jr., PhD*
President, Caring for our Environment – Manitoba (CEM) Inc.
The Caring for our Environment – Manitoba (CEM) Inc., a non-profit organization, recently held two events aimed at raising environmental awareness among the leaders and members of the Filipino community.
CEM’s mission is to promote awareness and understanding of environment and sustainability issues within the Filipino community and the broader society to enable people to make the right choices.
CEM participated in the 2-day Annual Manitoba Filipino Street Festival (MFSF) Samu’t Saring Saya! 2019 held last June 8-9 at the Maples Community Centre/Sports Multiplex and grounds.
In partnership with the Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA), CEM set up a booth side-by-side with the Recycle Everywhere (RE) Smart Team at the event site. The booths were among the most popular venue with long queues of people taking turns to get free recyclable bin bags which can be used for picnics and large gatherings and “Do and Don’t” magnets. CEM members and volunteers talked about the importance of waste recycling at home, in schools and in the community. They also invited people to sign up for CEM events.
Last May 25, 2019, CEM, in partnership with CBCRA and Green Action Centre, launched a half-day workshop to increase the knowledge and awareness of the leaders and members of the Filipino community on waste recycling, reduction and composting. It was attended by around 50 leaders and members of various Filipino-Canadian community organizations.
The event marked CEM’s advance celebration of the World Environment Day which took place on June 5.
