Globe encourages its customers to further support sustainable living and contribute to reversing environmental damage through two eco-friendly subscriber identification module (SIM) options –  the eSIM and Eco-SIM.

With its very small size, the effect of SIM cards on the environment may seem insignificant.  However, their combined weight represents an estimated 20,000 tons of plastic and other polymers consumed each year.

The situation prompted Globe to look for alternatives that meet its ambition to cut electronic and plastic waste and reduce carbon footprint.  The company is at the forefront of environmental sustainability, enabling programs that support climate action.

The eSIM is a digital SIM embedded in certain mobile phone models. Globe was the first company to offer it in 2018 as an alternative to traditional SIM cards.

Apart from being environment-friendly, the e-SIM technology allows for additional innovative capabilities such as the ability to manage multiple profiles using different mobile numbers on just one device and effortlessly switch lines for any purpose that fits their lifestyle.

Plus, e-SIM now allows for gadgets beyond the mobile phone like smartwatches to be connected under one mobile number. This revolutionary technology was recently made available to the Apple Watch cellular. As such, Globe postpaid iPhone users are now able to go out and stay connected even without having their iPhone on-hand.

To avail of a Globe eSIM, Postpaid customers can simply request at any Globe Store nationwide.

On the other hand, the new Eco-SIM card is made from 100% recycled materials using refrigerator interiors, the first-of-its-kind to be commercially launched in Asia. Developed by Thales, a global leader in advanced technologies, the card was introduced to Globe postpaid mobile subscribers beginning the fourth quarter of 2021.

“Being eco-conscious doesn’t mean sacrificing on progress. As with the eco SIM and e-SIM technologies, Globe postpaid customers are able to enjoy the latest technological advancements in telecommunications and lessening their carbon footprint at the same time,” said Coco Domingo, Vice President for Postpaid and International Business. 

Globe became the first Philippine company listed by the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi) committed to setting science-based targets and net-zero emissions by 2050.  This is in line with the Paris agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, as well as the UN-backed Race to Zero global campaign rallying non-state actors to help halve global emissions by 2030 and deliver a zero-carbon world by 2050.

Globe strongly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly UN SDG No. 12, which highlights the roles of responsible consumption and production patterns as crucial steps toward building a circular economy. Globe is committed to upholding the United Nations Global Compact principles and contributing to 10 UN SDGs.

To know more about Globe, visit www.globe.com.ph.

What if every Filipino, no matter where they’re based in the country, can be a “force for good” simply by sticking to routine—like, say, enjoying their morning cup of coffee?

Davao-based Coffee for Peace (CFP) proves this can be the case as its CEO and co-founder Felicitas “Joji” B. Pantoja confirms that they are a growing community of farmers and business owners practicing and advocating inclusive development principles in the coffee industry. Social entrepreneurship is their business approach to achieve justice and harmony in society and environment.

“As a reputable processor for good beans and an experienced roastery, CFP means business continuity for business owners but equally: support for farming communities. CFP even gives buyers the option to create their own brand under a MOA where 10% of very kilo sold goes back to farmers,” says J. Pantoja. 

Where does the customer from Luzon or Visayas ordering through the online shop fit into the peace building in Mindanao? “CFP by design allocates 25% of its net profit for its Peace and Reconciliation Teams, composed of volunteers from conflict-affected areas and international volunteers. They are trained in inter-faith dialogue, cross-cultural comms, trauma healing, relief and medical operations,” says J. Pantoja.

Because at the heart of CFP’s operations is training farmers on coffee processing to develop skills to produce high-quality coffee beans.​ CFP provides knowledge on the market for farmers to understand what consumers want in coffee, and the value of what they do for awareness on  fairer trade pricing. “We want farmers to be confident about the business side of farming, understand their market, correctly price and inspire the next generation to be farmpreneurs too,” says J. Pantoja.

Once the training is complete, CFP offers to partner communities post-harvest services at cost such as: coffee pulping, coffee dehulling, and coffee drying. Coffee for Peace also offers to partner-farmers and those who buy from them shared services such as: toll roasting, packaging, label design, and photography. The training result is a higher quality coffee product produced by a community in the Philippines.

Nurturing grassroots ‘farmerpreneurs’

At the Philippine Coffee Quality Competition, the top five awards went to Specialty Arabica coffee farmers from Davao del Sur. For jury member Byron Pantoja, CFP VP for operations, this indicates “farmers taking ownership of their craft as producers of some of the best coffee in the Philippines. We need to give more farmers the freedom, knowledge, and opportunity to innovate their coffee processes based on the demands of the market and the limitations of their land. That sense of ownership over what they do is what’s going to make them the best.”

Nurturing community ‘farmerpreneurs’ and realizing the country’s potential for premium to specialty coffee go hand in hand. J. Pantoja says, “Only 25% of the country’s 111M population is served by Filipino coffee farmers. Local cafes are challenged in sourcing good beans. We partner with DTI on bridging gaps such as training, equipment and drying space but getting to a scale that boosts our national reputation as a good coffee producer will take time. From 2,000 kilos at start, we are now at 32,000 kilos and encouraged to continue.”

Coffee for Peace has trained close to 880 farming families from different parts of our country, representing 13 tribes, including some Muslim areas. “Our model is to create our own competitors by giving them the secrets to making good coffee. We want to groom ‘farmerpreneurs’ who are also skilled in coffee tasting, financial management and conflict resolution. We want barista interns to dream of having their own coffee kiosks. For every kilo of coffee, one can make 140 cups of 6 ounces, and a barista in Davao nets 5K a day with his own coffee cart. The same can be done anywhere in the Philippines. Imagine if every region’s farmers had their own pop-up café or coffee cart, neighborhoods will also be educated to buy local,” says J. Pantoja.

“Premium specialty coffee from the Philippines” requires a mindset change that’s supported by the fact that local coffee has scored 80% special quality standard, points out Pantoja. A member of the National Coffee Council, she spoke about the need to streamline various resources from government policy and services and link these to smallholder farmers. “We want every island to join the national movement within the coffee industry to raise the level of coffee quality. Grassroots farmers also mean less carbon footprint for supplying the coffee locals want. We’ve gone to uplands to help a micro-lot owner assess the possibility of coffee farming. We’ve also linked roasters, who used to order coffee from us, straight to the farming community.”

Coffee and PH culture

Coffee is innate in the Filipino culture. “When we visit high-conflict communities, coffee served from a palayok is good quality. When I brought a sample to Canada where I used to live, the roasters said there was potential for premium quality to specialty. But we can only produce limited quantities. Opening opportunities for our farmers drove me to collaborate—inspire baristas to educate customers, get roasters to work with traders who source from farmer,” said J. Pantoja.

Operating for 13 years now, Coffee of Peace started with peacebuilding work. “Coffee is the vehicle but the ‘product’ is peace. In our peacebuilding work in Maguindanao, Basilan, and Sulu, we saw that coffee makes Moslem and Christians sit together and dialogue to settle conflict. In our environmental work, we saw that Arabica trees are included in our national greening program. Giving life back to forests also give locals a new, sustainable means of livelihood. I tell farmers: ‘You don’t have to go to the city, the buyers will come to see protected forest.’ We also advise farmers to get to know their customers, then the process follows,” said J. Pantoja.

As a case, Korean buyers came to Davao looking for fine Robusta. Local farmers have since expanded to Robusta. Explains B. Pantoja, “While specialty Arabica has fruity flavors like blueberries and strawberry, fine Robusta has a super smooth, full-bodied chocolatey taste like black tea.”

This distinction in tastes can be a strength of the Philippines as a group of islands since, explains J. Pantoja, we can’t compete with the land mass and harvest volumes of Vietnam, Brazil or Colombia, and we can’t produce for large coffee chains. “Instead, our edge is premium specialty coffee, with micro-lot orders of 1 to 2 tons that are of a quality and fetch a good price. Each island can produce a different taste profile depending on soil and fauna of that area. Arabica alone has 3,500 subvarieties, while Robusta has 2,400 subvarieties. The higher, the elevation, the sweeter the coffee.” The growing community of coffee champions and curiosity of millennials can only drive excitement over developing Philippine variants that are also ‘Just’ coffee of the social-justice kind.

For more information, visit www.coffeeforpeace.com and peacebuilderscommunity.org. Follow Coffee for Peace at www.facebook.com/coffeeforpeace.

Teleperformance Philippines renews its commitment to the planet as it pledges to do monthly switch-offs in all 22 of its business sites nationwide this 2021. 

The pledge was announced at its recent “Let’s Change the World” Citizen of the World (COTW) Meet-up, which shared updates on current advocacy projects of Teleperformance. The townhall, also held in celebration of Earth Hour, included special guest World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines Ambassador Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski. 

The WWF Philippines Climate Change Solutions Steward and the first female Earth Hour Ambassador, Cojuangco-Jaworski shared practical ways for Teleperformance employees and their friends and family to contribute to sustainability and climate change solutions for a cleaner and greener planet.

“Ultimately, it’s the things we do when nobody’s watching that matters the most. It’s about what we do as individuals, which was what we do in our own homes, what is our lifestyle and what are our habits. The biggest problem is the carbon footprint we leave on this earth,” shared Cojuangco-Jaworski.

Among some of the tips Cojuangco-Jaworski shared was reiterating the importance of the three R’s – to reduce buying what you don’t need, to look at what we can reuse and to recycle when we do our daily tasks. Another topic she touched on was plastic waste, hence, the importance of reducing consumption of single-use plastics, which could be ingested by animals, and then by people.

Teleperformance is committed to creating a positive impact on our local communities around the world through Citizen of the World, a charitable initiative to help the world’s most vulnerable infants and children meet basic survival needs and ultimately reach their individual potential. This effort is joined by the Citizen of the Planet program, a global corporate initiative implemented in 2008 aimed at ensuring that Teleperformance operates in an environmentally friendly and responsible manner.

Going beyond Earth Hour, Teleperformance employees are encouraged not only to volunteer for Citizen of the World activities but can also contribute by donating pre-loved items, purchasing items in the COTW store, donating part of their monthly salary, and participating in the monthly Earth Hour pledged by Teleperformance Philippines in all their sites across the country. 

“As we work to help bring awareness around environmental sustainability and, in addition to this commemoration this month, we at Teleperformance also commit to have an Earth Hour every single month. So for one hour every single month, we will switch off our lights for the rest of this year. We hope this will help continue to bring awareness as this is such an important goal for humanity and the community,” shared Jeffrey Johnson, Senior Vice President for Human Capital Resource Management and Citizen of the World Foundation President. 

Among the other projects accomplished by Citizen of the World were donations of food packs and PPEs to frontliners of the Philippine General Hospital, Vicente Sotto Medical Center and Southern Philippines Medical Center. Bringing to life its commitment to children and education, Citizen of the World also gave medical and financial aid to 100 children and their families through Kythe Foundation, awarding of 2,000 school supplies to various elementary schools in Metro Manila and the provinces. 

The elderly in need were also not forgotten as Citizen of the World donated 1,200 grocery packs to White Cross, Mary Mother of Mercy Home for the Elderly and the Abandoned and Good Samaritan Nursing Home for the Elderly. TP’s Gawad Kalinga village was also supported during the pandemic with a feeding program, donations of disinfectants and face masks and the provision of cash allowances.  

To help the country in its fight against Covid-19, the Citizen of the World program also donated 8 e-bikes to the Department of Health and PHP 150,000 worth of medical aid to the Philippine National Red Cross. Altogether, the Citizen of the World Foundation was able to create an impact on the lives of around 28,000 Filipinos. 

For more information on Teleperformance Philippines and its Citizen of the World initiatives, visit http://teleperformance.ph/