THE ONLY PAPER YOU'LL BE GLAD TO WRITE ON by BETTINA ISABELLE BENIDY

Last Saturday, we discovered a promising group of young women claiming to have found the perfect balance between the demand of paper production and its environmental impact on our society. We decided to call them up for an interview to hear a little about their project that could perhaps benefit millions in the future. Here's a few snippets of our time with them:

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“The inspiration behind it all is simple. We dream of a world where every man, woman and child’s education is not limited by their financial capabilities; that together we'll achieve a sustainable society. I believe we just decided to hit two birds with one stone with this project."

The inspiration behind their study is to help achieve a sustainable society and at the same time provide a cheaper, more accessible alternative for paper production to the less fortunate. It’s also encouraging consumers and producers to use products made from common Philippine resources.

What was the inspiration behind this product?

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FROM "PAPER" to PAPER

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"Learning about it is one thing, but taking action is a whole different ballgame."
"In high school, we were always surrounded by lessons and campaigns encouraging the preservation of our environment. However, we noticed that despite the many things we said we could do on our essays and PETAs, they never fully captured the gravity of man's impact on our planet. We knew we had to do more and change the 'can-do's to 'will-do's; what better way than to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters who lack access to proper school supplies?

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pineapples <3

PINEAPPLES AND PANDAN

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are both very common resources in the Philippines. By using these materials, the group aims to tackle the lack of availability and high cost of paper, especially in rural areas. This will win turnbenefit the Philippine society and its economy. Moreover, individuals who lack access to bookstores and financial backing for supplies like paper will benefit the most from their product!!!

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PIN POINT: WHAT ARE THEY REALLY TRYING TO FIND?

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The group's investigative project is to utilize pineapple (A. comosus) peduncle and pandan (P. amaryllifolius) leaves as alternative fiber sources for paper production.

They aim to to identify the optimum proportion of pineapple peduncle to pandan leaves as fiber sources in the production of paper and determine if the experimental paper is comparable to that of the standard manila paper under the following parameters: color, durability, texture, and thickness. Ultimately, to see if the new panda-pineapple paper can perform similar functions (if it is possible to be written on) as a standard manila paper.

PANDAN

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is also known as screw pine

THE VISION FOR THE FUTURE

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the process

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The peduncle, the stalk that supports the fruit, is commonly regarded as a waste product.

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"We wish that our dream of a sustainable world will come true in the near future; where every individual has access to paper in rural areas, particularly where bookstores and malls are not present."

The group believes that this product will increase the availability of paper, a versatile resource, to the less fortunate as this method is less costly and more resourceful. They hope that paper created from fiber sources such as pineapple wastes and pandan can serve as alternatives to wood-sourced paper nationwide.

A SIMILAR PROCESS

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BY BETTINA BENIDY

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