Green living never looked this good

Starfish | 03/31/2009 12:35 AM

By Marcia Czarina Corazon Medina
Ayala Young Leaders 2006; Ateneo de Manila University

As I held the interesting material made from twigs and dry bark, the first clarification I got was: Nature’s Legacy is the company, and Naturecast is that material. But the difference somehow seemed marginal for me, because at that moment, I was enamored with the products – furniture, jewelry, and shoes – displayed in their exhibit. And they’re right. Green living never looked this good…

And looking good to Nature’s Legacy meant doing good. And I found out, the company’s story has been a process of falling in love, and staying in love.

Falling In Love

Husband and wife, Pete and Cathy Delantar, established Nature’s Legacy in 1996. Their partnership is made successful by Pete’s attention to detail in their pioneering of product development, combined with Cathy’s innovative ideas. Cathy, now Nature’s Legacy’s Vice President for Administration, shares that when they were starting, she never thought that the success of Naturescast would be as it is today; “I just had the passion to do things, and I wanted to do something good.” And as a couple, the Delantars set their stand firm: the clean and green principle is part of their company’s culture.

Cathy fell in love once more – this time, to the mountains of Compostela in Cebu, where the factories of Nature’s Legacy are now located. “Yung simoy ng hangin, nakakawala ng pagod. Kakaiba ang aura. I just fell in love with the place.”

But the community didn’t immediately meet their arrival with gusto. Cathy says they had to contend with the community’s impression that the company would take advantage of the people and the resources. “At that time, we knew we had to prove that we are different [from what the community thinks of us]. We set up a foundation for them, provided housing, and explained that these things are without strings attached,” she said. The company also helped in community organizing and provided means for the community to establish other means of livelihood through farming.

And true enough, the perception changed. The community was also soon in love with Nature’s Legacy and its stance to protect and develop nature.

Staying In Love

The relationship of nature-company-community involved a great sense of social responsibility.

The process of making Naturescast (and the furniture and jewelry) involves zero waste for the environment. Nature’s Legacy takes pride in the fact that no tree has ever been cut in the production process. The community members would pick up fallen twigs, dried leaves, and branches, as well as other indigenous materials such as limestone and the local Mactan stone, and create the products mostly with their hands. Even the ‘special glue’ that holds the raw materials together is also made of eco-friendly components.

While the furniture products have been in the market for many years, the accessories are new members of the company’s product line. Marie Sol Delantar-Gonzalvo, OIC for Corporate Affairs, explained that when Naturescast material is made into furniture, there are left-overs that they thought should not be just thrown away. Thus, those left-overs were developed into necklaces, bracelets, and even shoes.

And because the contribution of the community is crucial, Nature’s Legacy continues to provide opportunity for the members of the community through the Nature’s Legacy Foundation. Sol said that, aside from the community organizing started when the company moved in the area, the foundation has scholarship programs for the children of the employees and the community. Those children are now studying in the University of San Carlos in Cebu. There is also the Summer School Internship Program which covers values education and performing arts. And most importantly, rooted in the core value of the company, Nature’s Legacy employs young people even those who have not finished their education.

Garnering Laurels

The collaboration of Nature’s Legacy and the community has earned its rewards. In 2004, Naturescast was launched in Frankfurt Germany, and a year after, Nature’s Legacy won the “Most Creative Exhibitor Award” in the 6th Annual Environmentally Preferable and Recycled Product Trade Show in Ontario, California. And in the succeeding years, Nature’s Legacy also received nation-wide and international awards and distinctions for its innovative and eco-friendly products, and for its contributions to the local community. In 2007, Nature’s Legacy Foundation won the “Child-Friendly Organization Award” from the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines, International Labor Organization, and Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

But perhaps the greatest laurel Nature’s Legacy has garnered is to be able to uphold the principle which it stood for from the very beginning. The company has shown that modern technologies need not compromise the environment and local communities for gain. Nature’s Legacy is an excellent example of how collaborative efforts of a company and the community could produce world-class, eco-friendly, and undeniably beautiful items.

In this time and age, when the clamor to protect nature is reaching its loudest call, Nature’s Legacy holds the Filipino flag high and says, “We did it.”

And they will continue to do so.

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First published as one of the Cover Stories in Starfish Magazine Back to Basics, Volume 3 Issue 4 & Special Issue (February 2009).

Starfish Magazine is the First Youth Empowerment Magazine in the country, organized and managed by the Ayala Young Leaders Alumni. For more information, log on to www.starfishmagazine.com, or www.ayalayoungleaders.ph. You can forward your inquiries to starfishmagazine@gmail.com or (02)752-1065.