SCIENCE INNOVATIONS

1. SCIENCE
INNOVATIONS
A GREEN
INNOVATION

2. 1. Aquaponic Urban Vertical Garden
• URBAN GARDEN. This vertical urban garden uses fish manure as organic
fertilizer for vegetables
• A project from Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija designed by
professor Chito Sace allows you to grow a garden of leafy vegetables within
one square meter of space.
• A submersible pump in a water-filled cylinder lifts the water into hose pipes
running through shelves of vegetables.
• The water being pumped through the entire system is nutrient-rich because
of the freshwater fish swimming in the cylinder. The manure of the fish acts
as organic fertilizer for the vegetables.
After going through all the vegetables, the water streams into a filter made of
gravel (where you can also plant more veggies). Cleansed of bits of soil it picked
up along the way, the water goes back to the cylinder for the process to start all
over again.

4. 2. Watershed Information Portal for the Philippines
• Not everyone knows what a watershed is, much less how important it is to human
communities. Watersheds are ecosystems that, through the hydrological cycle, provide us
with the water for drinking, bathing, cleaning and all its other uses. Watersheds also
happen to be the habitat of amazing flora and fauna.
• For the first time ever, any Filipino can learn about the unique characteristics of the
country's various watersheds just by going online.
• If you visit philwatershed.org, you'll have access to a comprehensive database of all the
empirical observations related to each watershed – everything from what kinds of trees
and animals can be found there to how rainfall can affect the quality of its water.
• The site is a project of leading state universities, the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
• So far, the portal has data on only 3 watersheds but eventually, it hopes to cover all major
watersheds in the country.
• Aside from creating awareness about watersheds, the site can also be used by
government officials and the private sector in order to make good decisions on how to
best manage their watershed.

5. 3. Classy furniture using forest waste
• You don't need to cut down trees to make beautiful furniture and building materials if
you have Naturescast, a wood-like material that is actually made of stuff you usually see
on the forest floor.
• Twigs and other debris that fall from forest trees are ground and then hardened using a
water-based binder. The grainy mixture is hand-pressed into a mold and naturally dried.
What you get is a very sturdy material that appears in a variety of textures and hues.
• Nature's Legacy, the group behind Naturecast, uses it to make lamps, vases, chairs and
even walls and ceilings. Renowned Filipino furniture designer Ito Kish carries some of
their products in his store. The Body Shop has used boxes made from Naturescast as
packaging for some of their products.
Naturescast is 100% biodegradable and made using a non-toxic process.

7. 4. Coconut milk for treating burns
• HEALING TREE. This burn treatment is derived from coconut milk
• The tree of life lives up to its name by being used to heal wounds.
• After realizing how expensive burn treatments can be, Filipino nurse Denver
Chicano invented a treatment using nata de coco. Coconut milk is used to
create a "cellulose" or tissue-paper-like material that is applied to burns and
other skin wounds.
• The coco cellulose, which feels like a strip of coconut meat, adheres to the
skin and has a high water-holding capacity, making it an ideal treatment. It
also has a cooling effect that helps ease the pain of patients.
•

8. • COCONUT TO THE RESCUE. VERMAC was invented by a
Filipino nurse who wanted to develop a more affordable
burn treatment
• The treatment, called VERMAC (Vitro-Engineered Restorative
Micro-cellulose Absorbent Covering), is produced by
XYDERM Corporation Philippines and is now being used in
several doctors' clinics all over the country.
• Aside from providing a cheaper alternative to healing
wounds, coco cellulose is a new way of adding value to
coconut products harvested by Filipino coconut farmers. Its
widespread use can mean more livelihood for them.

10. 5. Wood engineered from coconut fronds
• GIFTS FROM THE COCONUT TREE. This type of engineered wood is made
from coconut fronds which are typically considered agricultural waste
• Coconut farmers have another reason to celebrate. Palwood uses coconut
fronds, typically considered an agricultural waste, to make "wood" that can
be use to make furniture and even houses.
• The Zamboanga del Norte-based company buys coconut fronds from
farmers and grinds them into a mixture which is then applied with a binder
and hardener.
• This type of engineered wood is 70% made of coconut frond and is said to
be even harder than coco lumber (derived from the trunk of the coconut
tree).

11. • Coconut fronds, or palapa in Tagalog, is the leafstalk
of the coconut leaf from which the smaller leaves
(called leaflets) grow.
• An eyesore when it falls to the ground, it is usually
just thrown away by coconut farmers. But with
Palwood, they may now be able to make money out
of it.
• But Palwood is not yet able to mass-produce because
they lack the necessary machinery.