Sunday, November 04, 2007

Belo launches environmental campaign

During the company’s outing last summer, Belo doctors, managers and employees helped clear the shore of Club Morocco in Subic from garbage and other waste materials.

It was a recent trip to Baguio City that prompted Dr. Vicki Belo to be proactive for the environment. She remembered that she and her family would open the windows of their vehicles when they get near the top of Baguio to breathe and enjoy the clean cool air of the city. But on her recent trip, she was aghast and surprised that the air was warmer than before and it wasn’t as fresh.

"It was a different feeling and I didn’t like it," lamented Vicki. "I guess it was one of the effects of Global Warming so I told myself I should do my share of helping the environment."

So with her Belo Medical Group, she has launched the "Belo Goes Green" campaign. She now joins the growing list of companies and organizations worldwide which aims to conserve, preserve and protect the environment.

The first medical clinic to launch an environmental crusade, Dr. Vicki Belo urges all its employees and patients to do their respective parts and efforts on ecological protection and help decrease the severity of the climate change threat.

Even her daughter, Crystal who heads the product line Belo Essentials, is moving towards a more eco-friendly products and company.

"We’re studying the possibility of a re-filling station for our lotions, etcetera likened to what Body Shop has done. Or we might try to put stickers on our plastic bottles on how to properly dispose the containers. We might even try to repurchase them and recycle these plastic containers," she shared.

Of course this is in line with her mother’s thrust to make reduction, reusing and recycling be part of the daily practices in all Belo clinics. Integrating environmental sustainability in its daily operations, Belo makes use of its important assets to create a positive impact for its corporate imaging, branding campaign and marketing efforts.

Teaming up with noted cosmetic surgeon in the "Belo Goes Green" campaign is former Environment Secretary Elisea "Bebet" Gozun for a multi-pronged environmental awareness to start in all Belo clinics.

"It’s important to be environmentally conscious and it has to start from where you work or where you live," Dr. Belo said. "We want to inspire our patients and the public to be better at protecting the environment."

Secretary Gozun was awarded last April by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as one of the seven "Champions of the Earth," with former US Vice President Al Gore. She will orient all Belo employees to raise awareness on the environmental issue and motivate them to become responsible stalwarts of the environment.

"Belo Goes Green" is anchored on its objective to provide a better quality of life by adopting a strong advocacy on ecological protection. The campaign was launched with the distribution of marketing collaterals such as mugs, umbrellas, pins, T–shirts, bags, badges and buttons which give tips to preserve Mother Earth. The items to promote the environmental campaign use natural or organic fibers and bio-degradable materials for reusing and recycling.

Starting with energy conservation, Belo cuts costs on electrical consumption by turning off lights, air-conditioning units and computers in all offices of support departments during lunch hour. Waste segregation is also practiced, carefully observing that hazardous chemical wastes in the clinics do not pose threat to the environment.

Employees recycle papers, envelopes, old magazines, and newspapers. Belo uses detergents which are eco-labeled brands for safe waste water. Light bulbs in the clinics and offices are flurescent to reduce energy consumption. Company vehicles of Belo likewise use unleaded gasoline.

From disposable to reusable, the clinic recently came out with "Belo Goes Green" mugs in place of plastic cups, for use by employees and patients in all branches. The mugs are also on sale and profit will be donated to support greening efforts of planting tress.

During the company’s outing last summer, Belo doctors, managers and employees helped clear the shore of Club Morocco in Subic from garbage and other waste materials.

Loyal Belo patients receive regular environmental tips through text messages and email to make them more aware about the "Belo Goes Green" campaign.

Belo also screened Al Gore’s celebrated and award-winning film about climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth," in all its branches to keep the employees abreast of global conservation. Another movie they screened last Oct. 26 at My Cinema, Greenbelt 3 in Makati City was Leonardo Di Caprio’s documentary on global warming entitled "Eleventh Hour."

Moreover, for its future efforts on its green campaign, Belo will partner with other companies to advocate activities on environmental protection and propagate its efforts from recycling to saving energy. Crispina Belen - Manila Bulletin

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