Worry? What's That?

Do you remember when you were a kid not having a care in the world... or about the planet? It probably never even crossed your mind. Has that now shifted for you because of climate change?

Forest fires, droughts, floods, extreme weather events... everywhere you look there are stories about how climate change is wreaking havoc on our planet and the urgency for us to collectively do something to intervene. But is that even possible?

We're here to help!

When all this messaging bombards us on a daily basis, it just makes us want to climb under the covers and try to ignore the outside world. While this may be our first reaction to the seemingly overwhelming seriousness of the situation, we at Ecologos want to help you move beyond your natural, instinctive reaction and move forward in both positive and practical ways. Our programs will inspire you to be part of the solution and show you that there are many positive solutions happening all around us and so many more opportunities and ways for you to take action too. 

"The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have the facts and solutions. All we have to do is wake up and change."

~ Greta Thunberg ~

Let's work through this together

We are motivated to act by seeing viable solutions and conversely, we are unlikely to act without a clear vision of the way forward.

Our #LaterNoMore: Activating Climate Solutions Now! project is a multi-year campaign that creatively mixes proven tactics into powerful communication tools that clearly showcase existing solutions for the climate challenges that contribute most to the current crisis. Utilizing a highly-engaging edutainment video that showcases the positive solutions to the six main climate challenge areas, we will amplify the message through four distinct outreach platforms.

Your invaluable financial assistance will be the foundation that helps to direct the changes in our collective outlook and responsibility for climate change. Education that inspires is what truly motivates people to affect change.

Expanding Ecologos Programming

Ecologos will inspire change by educating, inspiring, motivating, and empowering, through four impactful communication platforms.

MILENYO: WHEN THE NIGHT CAME EARLY

A Personal Story of Climate Change by Zosimo Gamba
(edited by Water Docs for clarity)

The whole morning was bright and sunny. Sorsogon City in southern Luzon, Philippines was abuzz with the usual city-life activities. Jeepneys plying the streets were overflowing with passengers coming from and going to the outlying towns. The skies were covered with high, off-white clouds; the heat of the sun enveloping the city made my skin clammy. The wind had stopped but I felt the cool air under the single tree in the pocket garden on my way out of my nephew’s boarding house.

The whole morning was bright and sunny. Sorsogon City in southern Luzon, Philippines was abuzz with the usual city-life activities. Jeepneys plying the streets were overflowing with passengers coming from and going to the outlying towns. The skies were covered with high, off-white clouds; the heat of the sun enveloping the city made my skin clammy. The wind had stopped but I felt the cool air under the single tree in the pocket garden on my way out of my nephew’s boarding house.

The jeepney terminal was crowded with passengers. There was a radio blaring nearby, its anchor made everyone frantic—the typhoon was on its way and predicted to make landfall right smack into the city. It was 2:00 in the afternoon when I managed to get a ride—my destination, 45 kilometers away and a 50-minute ride. 10 minutes out of the city, it was calm; the grazing cows in the fields of the Bureau of Animal Industry went about their business; the leaves of the huge acacia trees that lined the fences had become still. Across the road, the little brook fronting an empty building continued its silent flow into the rice paddies nearby. The wind had started to blow gently and then it would pause, like the breath of a sleeping child. Everyone inside the jeepney was silent, their minds perhaps preoccupied with fear, anxious about what was coming.

After 12 miles of travel, we turned at the crossroad where the highway forked into two. The skies were beginning to darken. When the road opened up into a clear portion of the highway a police patrol car flagged us down. A big branch of a lone acacia tree had fallen across the road, closing it off to traffic. In front of us were about five other vehicles being asked to turn around. The wind had stopped now and it had begun to drizzle. After another 15 minutes of travel back into the city, our driver stopped and parked our jeepney under a mango tree and he asked all 12 passengers to come with him. A little farther away from the parked jeepney was his home, small but concrete. The living room could not accommodate us all, so the men were obliged to stand about on the cramped porch. The wind began to blow again and this time it was stronger; the mango trees around the house were making rattling noises. A surge of rain would come with each gust of the wind. The lady of the house generously served us all coffee. We all thought the typhoon had arrived and there was no way that the rain would ever stop, but after about half an hour, the afternoon brightened. The mango trees stood still again and the wind and rain had stopped. Most of us decided to leave the house then and we bid farewell to the lady of the house and the driver—his jeepney would just have to stay put for the day. He was very generous though and did not even collect our fares.

We all started to hike back to the city which was about seven miles away. On the road pedestrians were coming into and out of the direction of the city. Empty vehicles turned around and took as many passengers as they could. A white Ford Fiera stopped in front of our group. It was redesigned into a delivery vehicle so there were no seats anymore, only wooden boxes. Eight of us hopped in and made ourselves comfortable on the boxes. A niece of mine, who happened to be travelling that day and was in the same jeepney I took, was with me. The two of us settled ourselves on the spare tire. The Ford moved slowly… more cars ahead of us were snaking along slowly too. The night had come early and quickly and at 4:00 pm it suddenly became dark. A very strong wind blew and shook the Ford. The ladies screamed. We had stopped, stuck in that space on the highway beside the Bureau of Animal Industry. Our driver sighed and then cursed. With him by the wheel was a young male student who attempted to get out of the car but the driver pulled him back in. We were in front of an empty building and a single tall tree growing beside the highway was a mere 20 yards away from us.

The rains started coming in with the wind and with the power and ferocity of an elephant, both wind and rain attacked and battered us from the left. The Ford was like a hammock in the middle of the road, buffeted by the storm, with the seven of us huddled inside. We had to make sure our weight was evenly balanced. My niece and I were in the middle where the spare tire lay and the two men who were the heaviest stationed themselves on the left, while the three ladies were on the right. The heavy rain was so dense that it suddenly blocked out any available light at all and the sliding PVC windows began to whistle, as though making signals, because they were being pushed so hard by the wind. We all started to get soaked from the rain invading through the windows.

The ladies began to pray aloud and sing praises, to which we all joined in. An explosion of both rain and wind came wailing through our makeshift ark and we felt the Ford tilt to the right. This was followed by another strong surge and another and another. Some may have escaped from their cars and taken shelter in the empty building as I could see some light coming from that direction. In a slight flicker of the light, I saw that the little brook had transformed into a lake. My niece had huddled behind my back and we were both drenched through and so was whatever baggage we had with us. She was asking my forgiveness for whatever she may have done to me, so I asked her to simply join in with the prayers and the singing.

Suddenly, a roaring sound, like rushing water from a dam, overwhelmed our senses and our Ford was pushed even further sideways. I was afraid we would slide into the lake. The PVC windows were tearing and the two men attempted to hold them until they simply gave up. The rain was now freely pummelling us and we were completely flooded inside. Huddling together, shivering and silently praying now as the Ford helplessly swayed in any direction the whims of the angry wind decided to send us. Beside the terrible howling of the wind, we also heard the sound of a breaking tree falling into the water.

We remained in that state for more than five hours—it was a very long afternoon. At around 10:00 pm, we felt that the Ford had become steady once again. We noticed that all around us it was quiet and still with no movement whatsoever. We gingerly came out of the Ford and others started coming out of their vehicles too. The wind would hiss now and then, gently kissing our faces, as though coming back to ask forgiveness and say goodbye.

Then, when dawn was breaking, I left my niece, thanked the driver and the group of strangers (now more like extended family) and walked back toward the city. Ahead of our Ford there were lines of vehicles facing in every direction, some perhaps swerving to avoid the onslaught of the strong winds. I heard cries of children in a bus that had come from Manila. The nose of the bus was almost against the concrete fence, while its tail consumed half of the road. A few inches away was a big trunk of an acacia tree that had fallen sometime during the night. Hydro poles were laid down every 15 meters perhaps, like fallen pencils spread about on the floor, and their power cables strewn everywhere… over the roof of the bus, all about the acacia trees, under the huge tree by the empty building, and even farther into the city, enveloping houses like spiders’ webs.

The Philippine National Red Cross reported that Sorsogon Province was badly hit, with 5,427 houses completely destroyed and another 3,005 damaged. According to PAGASA, Typhoon Milenyo sustained a wind of 230-240 kilometers per hour, though the forecast had only predicted 150-180 kilometers per hour near the centre. Damage to the entire province was initially placed at P2.23 billion.