“Bracelets For Life” Initiative

We are true environmentalists in the first place. We have participated in many different
activities that are environmentally devoted. We have participated in clean-up drives, in tree planting
projects, and in many information dissemination activities. We acknowledge the effectiveness of the
activities we have participated in the past but we were also able to recognize that it was limited
especially when it comes to sustainability. With this aspect lacking we encouraged ourselves to rack our
brains for ideas that are not only pro-environment but somewhat also sustainable, especially when it
comes to cost because after all we are yet students with very limited resources.

We first encountered the idea of information dissemination, wherein we want to impart to our
recipients the importance of our environment and how we should take part in preserving it, and we plan
to settle in this broad initiative but putting it in a higher notch. This will not only benefit us or for the
next generation but this will also benefit other beings that walks, crawls, swims and flies in our world.

We realized that settling with giving out brochures would be too main-stream and not that exciting, plus
people tend to throw these brochures rather than appreciate the importance of the message that it
delivers. The idea of public forum was also put on the floor but later on quashed because some of the
members in the group were too shy. This situation did not limit us though but rather it pushed us
forward to become more innovative.

We did research while eating at a popular fast food chain in Dumaguete. We saw a lot of people using
drinking straws, we realized also with the help of advocates in Silliman University that these drinking
straws are one-time use plastics and are actually very harmful to the environment, especially to the
marine sanctuaries. We had an idea of distributing bracelets made out of straws as form of information
dissemination. We did more research about our idea which enabled us to improve our concept of the
bracelet.

We are not only making a recycled bracelet but also an eco-friendly one. This does only send the
metaphor of Reusing, Reducing and Recycling (RRR) but it also tells to use products that are not harmful
to the environment.

We are planning to mass produce this recycled and eco-friendly bracelet and distribute it first to our
classmates. With God’s help we are also hoping to extend this initiative to the entirety of Silliman
University and it would be a big leap if this will be extended to the community. Why start with
classmates? This is because we believe that change should always come from us. We had a consensus
among ourselves that when we do this we should also be dedicated to the aims of the initiative and not
only consider it as a classroom project. We want to pass on this change to our classmates who are not
only directly affected by this subject requirement but also because they are dear to us and we care for
them. Starting with humble beginnings in the classroom our group is very hopeful to extend this
initiative in the school and in the community itself.

These bracelets, as little they may seem would create a mindset of being pro-environment. Every time
they look at it or notice it, they are reminded of the importance of Mother Nature and the atrocious acts
humanity committed against her. This bracelet, as little it may seem is very capable of creating a big
change not only in us as embodied subjectivity but as an embodied subjectivity in his or her
environment.

Making of the Bracelets: