BECQ lines up activities for this year’s EAM

April is Environmental Awareness Month and the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality has lined up a series of activities throughout the month.

This year’s EAM theme is “Eco Friendly from the Mountains to the Sea.” In line with this, BECQ will be offering events that are perfect for families to enjoy together: lab tours, snorkel day, tree giveaway, environmental expo, and an islandwide cleanup. BECQ will also have contests such as recycling competitions/phone book roundups, a boat building contest using recyclables, and a photography contest.

The lab tour will give students insight on how it is to work in a laboratory and gain knowledge on the importance of testing water quality, on top of determining whether beaches are safe to swim in. For more information, contact Dean Palacios or Charito Bautista at (670) 664-8500 or email them at deanpalacios@becq.gov.mp or charitobaustita@becq.gov.mp and sign up today.

Snorkel Day is intended for families to see the ocean environment up close and get a workout for the day. They may bring their snorkel or use one of BECQ’s. For more information, contact Jihan Buniag at (670) 664-8500 or email him at jihanbuniag@becq.gov.mp

BECQ will also host a tree giveaway. BECQ, in partnership with CNMI Forestry and NMC-CREES, will be giving out free native trees and plants. This will promote the reduction of harmful erosion impacts. This event will be held at the Flame Tree Arts Festival grounds, from 9am to 12pm. For more information, contact Tom Pangelinan at BECQ at (670) 664-8500 or email him at tompangelinan@becq.gov.mp.

One of the BECQ’s main events for the month is the Environmental Expo, a two-day event. BECQ invites fourth grade students, educators, and the public to attend. For more information, contact Reina Camacho or Zabrina Shai at BECQ at (670) 664-8500 or email them at reinacamacho@becq.gov.mp or zabrinashai@becq.gov.mp.

The Islandwide Cleanup will take place on April 28, 2016, from 2:30pm to 4:30pm. For more information, contact Jose M. Kaipat at (670) 664-8500 or email him at josekaipat@becq.gov.mp to sign up.

BECQ, in partnership with IT&E, the Public School System, and private schools will have a program that is dedicated to collecting old phone books from Yellow Pages Inc. to promote the reduction of waste. For more information, contact Juan Iguel at (670) 664-8500 or email him at juaniguel@becq.gov.mp.

In the “Build-A-Boat” and race contests, school entries and individual entries are welcome. Participants will build and design unique boats out of recycled materials, then race them to the finish line in the waters off Kilili Beach.

The winner of the “Build-A-Boat” contest may win $400 if they win the overall award for Best Recycled Boat design, or $100 if they get the People’s Choice award.

For the race, participants may win first place, “Sea Star” with a prize of $200, second place, “Sea Urchin” with a prize of $60, or third place, “Sea Cucumber,” with a prize of $40. Participants who don’t place in the top three will still receive consolation prizes.

The competition will be held on Saturday, April 8, and will start at 10:30am. Participants must show up at 9:30am for the boat design contest, followed by the race. For more information, contact Ryan Okano at 664-8500 or email him at oliviatenorio@becq.gov.mp.

BECQ will also host a photography contest called “Know Your Tides”; it will be open to the public. Participants must go out and take a picture of their favorite shore at high tide, low tide, or any tide in between.  Entries must be sent through Facebook, or Instagram with the location and the tide category: high, low, rising or falling.  Participants can use the tag #KnowYourTides to tag BECQ. This contest includes high school, and the general public. Winners will be determined based on first, most likes, second, most artistic, third, highest high tide, and fourth, lowest low tide. For more information, contact Ariele Baker at 664-8500 or via email at arielebaker@becq.gov.mp

The non-profit group Micronesia Islands Nature Alliance will also be hosting Environmental Awareness Month activities.

Every Tuesday, Joeten stores will not distributing plastic bags; instead, consumers will be offered the option to use their own bags, provided boxes, paper bags for 10 cents, or to purchase reusable shopping bags for 99 cents. 

MINA volunteers will be setting up learning stations on Thursdays at the Garapan Street Market throughout April. Bring your old T-shirts and the team will teach you how to transform old T-shirts into reusable bags.  MINA encourages the community to refuse plastic bags at the checkout counter. For more information, contact Jolly Ann Cruz at 233-7333 or email her at minaoutreach@gmail.com.

For additional information contact EAM chair Jonathan I. Arriola or EAM vice chair, Merrill Ayuyu at 664-8500 or email them at jonathanarriola@becq.gov.mp or merrillayuyu@becq.gov.mp. (Kimberly A. Bautista)