A lantern of plastic bottles and caps. PHOTOS BY DINO BALABO
MALOLOS CITY—Christmas lanterns made from recycled materials and glowing shoelaces marked the opening day of the week-long anniversary celebrations of the Bulacan State University here on Monday.
The annual event left the whole university campus of at least 35,000 students festive. Some classes were suspended, while students joined a number of daily activities that included rock bands, sale of gadgets, cook-outs by food technology students, and the annual oblation run by members of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity.
One of the biggest crowd drawers was the parade by students of the College of Social Science and Philosophy
(CSSP) on Monday night with Christmas lanterns made from recyclable materials like empty water bottles, colored paper and other materials.
Dr. Marwin Dela Cruz, CSSP dean, said the use of recyclable materials in Christmas decorations is part of their pro-environment advocacy. As the founding director of the university’s Sentro ng Edukasyon para sa Ekonomiya at Kalikasan (SEEK), Dela Cruz stressed the need for environment protection.
Founded in 2011, SEEK is the ecology arm of the university. “We would like to show our students the many applications of recycling,” he said noting that students patiently gathered empty water bottles for weeks.
Dela Cruz also said that the use of recyclable materials also conforms with the call of Dr. Mariano De Jesus, president of BulSU, for austerity measures for the 109th founding anniversary. He said that De Jesus’s call is in line with the calamities that ravaged Bulacan and other parts of the country in the past months.
As this developed, glowing shoe laces worn by students here also drew cheers during the awarding ceremonies for the annual lantern parade of the CSSP. Students said that each glowing shoelace bought from Divisoria for P85 is powered by a small battery.
