Origins (ELC Beauty, Inc) Plant 540 Indigenous PH Forest Trees to Reforest Our Longest Mountain Range
24 April 2019, Siniloan, Laguna. “Discover Origins – Powered By Nature. Proven By Science”. That was Origins tagline, trademarked in 2009, demonstrating their commitment, drive and passion to deliver exactly that.
So, naturally, we (at FEED) were very excited to explore a partnership with a leading skin care product focused on harnessing “the power of plants to create high performance skincare. And in the process revolutionized the beauty business with our return to Nature and commitment to the environment. We created the first cosmetic container recycling program in the industry.”
FEED still abides by Philippine Presidential Decree 1153: REQUIRING THE PLANTING OF ONE TREE EVERY MONTH FOR FIVE CONSECUTIVE YEARS BY EVERY CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES, even though PD 1153 was repealed by Executive Order No. 287 (Elmination of Forced Labor). The most recent “replacement” of PD1153 is REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10176 – AN ACT REVIVING THE OBSERVANCE OF ARBOR DAY BY AUTHORIZING THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS THE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CELEBRATING THE DAY FOR TREE PLANTING AS AN ANNUAL EVENT, whereby “All able-bodied citizens of the Philippines, who are at least twelve (12) years of age, shall be required to plant one (1) tree every year.”
“Our 51 volunteers planted 540 native Philippine forest trees so enthusiastically, we did not want to leave the site. But by 11:00 AM, the heat got to us and hunger pangs set in, we could no longer stay in the life of a forest guard with the noon day heat arriving, thirsting and hungry for energy. We trekked back and had native binalot adobo rice, mindful of the efforts of our forest guardians.” -Kamyll Angeli Blanco, ELC Beauty, Inc.
Check out the article by Philippine magazine Preview here:
Use any GPS (Global Positioning System) software / application to input the latitude and longitude coordinates to be able to remotely see the location of your trees planted. Some examples include:
On March 22, 2018, (World Water Day), United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that tree-planting contributes to mitigating climate change impact.
“The health of our planet is essential to our own health and well-being, and to our future, and trees are an essential part of it,” said the UN chief at a tree-planting ceremony on the occasion of the International Day of Forests, hosted by the Netherlands in its capacity as President of the Security Council.
“I welcome the Dutch presidency’s focus on tackling the root causes of conflict, including climate change, which has very serious implications for peace and security in all regions,” he said at the event that was held at the UN headquarters.
“Trees and forests play an essential role in mitigating the impact of climate change. Planting trees is one of the most important things we can do to contribute to the health of the planet,” he added.
“Forests are the lungs of our planet, drawing in carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen. And trees improve our lives both on a grand scale and at the local level. Strategic planting of trees can help save the energy used for heating in winter and for air conditioning in summer, both very necessary in New York,” said the Secretary-General.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Dec. 21, 2012, which declared that March 21 of each year is to be observed as theInternational Day of Forests. The resolution encourages all member states to organize activities relating to all types of forests.
According to the Philippine Star in March 2019, “The country’s biodiversity is considered one of the richest in the world. But it is also among the most threatened.
The Philippines is losing approximately 47,000 hectares of forest cover every year, according to the data provided by the Forest Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
In 2003, the country’s forests comprised 7.2 million hectares. But in 2010, forest cover went down by 4.6 percent or about 6.8 million hectares.
The country is down to less than 24 percent of the original forest cover in the 1900s.
Open forest or all lands with tree cover of canopy density between 10 percent and 40 percent account for more than half (4.6 million hectares) of total forest cover. Closed forests, or those with tree canopy coverage of 60 to 100 percent, contributed 28.28 percent (1.9 million hectares) to the country’s forest cover.
The remaining 4.5 percent or 310,593 hectares are mangrove forests.
Palawan, the largest province in the Philippines in terms of land area, has the biggest forest cover in the country.
The latest IPCC report does not mince words about the state of our planet: we must act now to achieve global change at a scale that has “no documented historical precedent” in order to avoid the climate catastrophe that would result from a 2 degree C rise in average global temperature. Climate change already disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable people including poor rural communities that depend on the land for their livelihoods and coastal communities throughout the tropics. Indeed, we have already seen the stark asymmetry of suffering resulting from extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires and more.
So far, advocates and politicians have tended to focus on reducing fossil fuel consumption through technology and/or policy, such as a steep carbon tax, as climate solutions. These proposals are, of course, essential to reducing manmade carbon emissions—71 percent of which are generated by just 100 fossil fuel companies. For this reason, fossil-fuel–related emissions reductions rightly figure heavily in the national climate commitments of the 181 nations that signed the global Paris Agreement.
Yet the international focus on fossil fuels has overshadowed the most powerful and cost-efficient carbon-capture technology the world has yet seen: forests. Recent scientific research confirms that forests and other “natural climate solutions” are absolutely essential in mitigating climate change, thanks to their carbon sequestering and storage capabilities. In fact, natural climate solutions can help us achieve 37 percent of our climate target, even though they currently receive only 2.5 percent of public climate financing.
Forests’ power to store carbon dioxide through the simple process of tree growth is staggering: one tree can store an average of about 48 pounds of carbon dioxide in one year. Recent research shows intact forests are capable of storing the equivalent of the carbon dioxide emissions of entire countries such as Peru and Colombia.
For this reason, policy makers and business leaders must create and enforce ambitious policies and incentives to prevent deforestation, foster reforestation of degraded land, and support the sustainable management of standing forests in the fight against climate change. Protecting the world’s forests ensures they can continue to provide essential functions aside from climate stability, including producing oxygen, filtering water and supporting biodiversity. Not only do all the world’s people depend on forests to provide clean air, clean water, oxygen, and medicines, but 1.6 billion people rely on them directly for their livelihoods.
Unfortunately, we are fighting a crisis of deforestation, much of it driven by conversion to agricultural lands to produce a handful of resource-intensive commodities, despite zero-deforestation commitments from companies and governments. With increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, insufficient emissions reductions and continued high rates of deforestation, urgent action is needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Now is the time to increase investment in and attention to forest protection and restoration. In doing so, we will also address a number of other pressing global issues. For example, increasing tree cover can help address the problem of food security in many areas. Trees can enhance farm productivity and provide farmers with another source of revenue through the sale of fruits, nuts or timber—all while storing carbon dioxide. It is estimated that increased investment in the multi-strata agroforestry area could help sequester up to 9.28 gigatons of carbon dioxide, while saving a net $709.8 billion by 2050. In production landscapes where large-scale tree cover increases are difficult, agroforestry serves as an attractive compromise.
And in less-developed, rural areas—especially in the tropics—community-based sustainable forest management programs can provide pathways out of poverty. In the Petén region of Guatemala, for instance, community-managed forests have boasted a near-zero deforestation rate over the past 14 years, as compared to 12 percent in nearby protected areas and buffer zones. These communities have built low-impact, sustainable forest-based businesses that have bolstered the economy of the region enough to fund the creation of local schools and health services. Their success is especially poignant in a region otherwise besieged by deforestation; outside the community-managed zones, deforestation rates increase by 20x.
Finally, landscape restoration promises an unparalleled return on investment, in terms of ecosystem services and carbon sequestered and stored. Landscape restoration could potentially sequester up to 1.7 gigatons of carbon dioxide every year, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Reforestation projects can also intersect neatly and positively with human systems—restored forests provide a renewed resource base and new economic opportunities for communities.”
Our products are mindfully formulated with the highest-quality plant, earth & sea-based ingredients, non-toxic-to-skin alternatives & advanced science. We formulate without parabens, phthalates, propylene glycol, formaldehyde, SLS, mineral oil, petrolatum, paraffin, DEA, polyethylene beads & animal ingredients (except cruelty free honey & beeswax). And we use manufacturing processes that help reduce our impact on the environment & plant trees worldwide—because it’s our nature to do good.
Check out the video journey by Clueless Commuter who planted with us last 24th of June 2017 to get a good idea of how FEED plantings go: https://youtu.be/KROn4rjVqBg
So, naturally, we (at FEED) were very excited to explore a partnership with a leading skin care product focused on harnessing “the power of plants to create high performance skincare. And in the process revolutionized the beauty business with our return to Nature and commitment to the environment. We created the first cosmetic container recycling program in the industry.”“Our 51 volunteers planted 540 native Philippine forest trees so enthusiastically, we did not want to leave the site. But by 11:00 AM, the heat got to us and hunger pangs set in, we could no longer stay in the life of a forest guard with the noon day heat arriving, thirsting and hungry for energy. We trekked back and had native binalot adobo rice, mindful of the efforts of our forest guardians.” -Kamyll Angeli Blanco, ELC Beauty, Inc.
Deforestation Worldwide
“Forests are the lungs of our planet, drawing in carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen. And trees improve our lives both on a grand scale and at the local level. Strategic planting of trees can help save the energy used for heating in winter and for air conditioning in summer, both very necessary in New York,” said the Secretary-General.
According to the Philippine Star in March 2019, “The country’s biodiversity is considered one of the richest in the world. But it is also among the most threatened. 
Check out their amazing journey timeline here at “History – Origins of Origins”: https://www.origins.com/our-history