Yes, chef! WWF-Philippines’ new home cooking series puts sustainability into practice in our own kitchens

Wazzup Pilipinas!

In an effort to promote sustainable food consumption and production, as well as fundraise for its partner communities, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines is set to launch its latest online initiative this August 16 entitled Kawali-Kasan: A Sustainable Home Cooking Series.

With home-based activities like cooking and baking becoming a popular hobby during the quarantine period, the series will feature the country’s top celebrity chefs and cooking personalities, who will share their delicious, nutritious, and eco-friendly recipes for the audience to try.

Kate Dychangco-Anzani, who is among the first batch of chefs and personalities to share their cooking expertise, highlighted the importance of practicing sustainability in the food industry, sharing her experience as a successful restaurateur for the Anzani Restaurant Group. 

“The pandemic has changed how we see the world. We are in the food industry - and to go back to basics, especially supporting those who support us is a reality. The farmer community supports our industry. The core of restaurants and the very foundation of a restaurant is fresh ingredients and produce,” said Anzani. “Supporting local is the most visible solution moving forward. And you live by example. Hopefully those around you and the people that surround you get influenced by the life you live. Everything starts at home - you need to live the walk.”

Also joining the first wave of the series is reality TV chef JR Royol who shared the same sentiments about the significance of personally observing sustainable habits in one’s everyday life.

“It is actually a privilege to be part of this great initiative. Being a chef, it's a natural response to an opportunity to have a positive impact in any way we can. Sharing my skills to raise funds and awareness is the least that I can do. Realistically speaking, we should start (living sustainably) in our homes and workplace since these are the areas that we can change in real time by consciously adapting to environment-friendly best practices,” the MasterChef Pinoy Edition winner quips.

He also encouraged people to immediately shift to a more sustainable lifestyle to help #ChangeTheEnding for the environment.

“We should act now! We can and we have the courage to summon necessary strength to positively impact our surroundings. We start with the simplest and mundane things. It doesn’t have to be grand gestures—just consistent, conscious practices for conservation and preservation to be established.”

Kawali-Kasan: A Sustainable Home Cooking Series is set to run until October 2020. Visit WWF-Philippines’ official social media pages for further announcements for the succeeding line-ups and to know more about how you can help those in the forefront of environmental conservation.

Amid community lockdown, the postman still delivers

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Knowing how essential mails and packages are, Bert, a postal worker assigned at the Manila Central Post Office says that inspite of the danger of being infected with the virus they are doing their best to move the mail to the satisfaction of the mailing public.

Amid the much stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), minimal workforce was allowed to work on-site in gov’t agencies including PHLPost to ensure continuous delivery of services while observing community quarantine guidelines.

“Wala pong transportasyon, malinis ang kalsada, at parang ghost town ang paligid habang ginagawa namin ang aming delivery”, the Postman said in Filipino. (There are no public transportation, streets are empty, and the places look like a ghost town during our delivery).

The Postman along with their ever reliable motorcycles would be perfect to provide relief in delivering mails to pensioners, e-commerce parcels and sss calamity loan checks in the metropolis.

With very limited air and sea conveyance, the post office encounters difficulty in bringing the mails in and out of the country. That is why there were delays in the delivery of mails, vital supplies and important documents.

According to the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost), their workers are on the frontlines of the coronavirus. They are essential in keeping the public afloat during these extraordinary times of a lockdown.

“We are asking the public to bear with us during these difficult situations”, says Assistant Postmaster General for Operations Joel Zamudio.

"Now more than ever, we are careful to avoid possible health problems among our employees. We are regularly sanitizing the mails and disinfecting our facilities for the safety of our clients, following the health and safety protocols of the government”, he added.

We are also fixing the old annex building at the iconic Manila Central Post Office to house the new medical and quarantine facility for our workers in Metro Manila", Postmaster General Joel Otarra said.

Post Offices in the country are open daily (Monday to Friday) to accept and deliver mails and packages, postal id capturing and Bayad Center payment facility.

PHLPost has partnered with Bayad Center for the public to conveniently transact the payment of utilities especially to those who cannot leave their homes due to the lockdown. The postman may pick up their payments with corresponding acknowledgement receipts after which a return receipt will be delivered to clients after transactions.

PHLPost is now focusing on the supply chain and the last-mile delivery of essential services as well as the provision of basic postal and financial services.

With many unable to leave their homes, the friendly postman may be the most important guy to turn to, risking their lives to ensure that essential services reach their doorsteps.

How to Revive Yellow Dying Sod

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The last thing you want is to notice yellow patches of sod on your lawn, especially when your neighbor has a beautiful expanse of green, lush grass. Yellow sod can be quite unsightly, not to mention, an indication of a much bigger problem.

The good news is, not all cases are severe. If you can identify the specific cause, it will be pretty easy to restore the grass’s greenness. In this article, we’ll explore ways to revive yellow dying sod.

Keep your lawn free from dog urine.
If you have a dog(s), it could be why your sod is yellowing. Here’s the deal, the dog’s urine contains a high amount of nitrogen, which causes grass to turn yellow or brown. So if your pup tends to pee around your yard, he’s the cause of your sod-turning yellow.

Luckily, this is something you can prevent. Simply install a fence around your lawn to avoid accessibility. In case your sod has already yellowed, increase watering to these spots. Doing so helps to dilute the urine, hence revive the dying sod.


Reduce the frequency of watering

Yellow patches could be a sign that your sod is getting excessive amounts of water.

Now, when you first install the grass, it will require substantial amounts of water. However, the frequency of watering should decrease overtime to prevent yellowing.

For the first seven to ten days, experts recommend watering up to three times every day. Each watering session should last anywhere from five to ten minutes. The idea is to add enough water so that it soaks the first couple of inches of soil.

But during the second week, you can reduce the frequency of watering to one time every day. This time, you only need to soak about a quarter-inch of the soil. In the third week, water every other day for the next seven to ten days. By the fourth week, you can reduce the frequency to once or twice each week. This is because the roots are fully established by this time.


Hold off on fertilization.

A grand mistake that homeowners make is to apply fertilizer on their newly-installed sod. They fail to realize that the pre-grown grass is usually enriched with fertilizer, just a short while before it’s harvested and sold. This fertilizer is meant to nourish it up to the point when its root system develops.

If you apply fertilizer too early, the result is that the sod will begin turning yellow or brown. Even if you opt for slow-release fertilizers, these will still be too strong for your sod. It means they’ll have the same yellowing effect as any other fertilizer. To prevent this, avoid adding any fertilizer until your sod has lasted about a month or two. By this time, it will be able to absorb and utilize the fertilizers efficiently.

Choose the right time for sod delivery.
Even though most people neglect this aspect, timing the delivery of your sod is crucial. If you have it installed on a windy, sunny, or scorching day; it’s likely to turn yellow. Luckily, this kind of yellowing is temporary, and your sod will regain its green color soon after.

But to avoid this altogether, be sure to choose a calm, cold, and cloudy day for your sod delivery and installation.


Get rid of pests

Another way to revive yellow dying sod is to ensure that bugs are not attacking it. Numerous pests can wreak havoc on grass, ranging from armyworms to cutworms and grubs (beetle larvae).

If you don’t have any experience with lawn pests, consider hiring a professional to exterminate them. But if you want to be more hands-on, you can seek help from your local agriculture extension agency. Ask them to give you details about common pests in the area and guide you to eliminate the bugs on your sod.


The Bottom Line

If you’ve started noticing yellow patches on your sod, there are several remedies you can try.

For homeowners who keep dogs, the first thing you need to do is observe your pet and establish whether they pee on your yard. If they do, you can install a fence to prevent accessibility. For the yellow patches, increase the frequency of watering to dilute the nitrogen content.

Eliminating pets, reducing the frequency of watering after the one-month mark and holding off on fertilization, are other ways to revive yellow, dying sod.