E-shuttles To Drive Araneta Center’s Green Goals Forward

Araneta Center has taken a step further into its environment preservation goals with the launch of the Green & Go Shuttle along with the company’s CSR program for environmental awareness, Oplan Araneta Center. Four environment-friendly shuttles were inaugurated in simple ceremonies in the presence of Quezon City government officials, Bb. Pilipinas beauty queens, and some of the country’s top cagers from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

The Green & Go Shuttle is a battery-powered vehicle that guarantees no environmentally harmful emissions. Unlike fuel-operated vehicles, the shuttle does not release damaging particulates (soot), hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, or various oxides of nitrogen. Not only do these elements contribute to the depletion of the earth’s ozone layer, but also pose health risks to humans.

With a seating capacity of 14 each, the Green & Go Shuttles transport Araneta Center customers between Gateway Mall and Ali Mall for free. Although this free transport service is open to everybody within Araneta Center, it also promises to be beneficial for senior citizens and the disabled who would want to go around the area for recreation purposes. “Like everything else in Araneta Center, the comfort and convenience of our patrons come first,” confirms Rene De la Cruz, COO of the Araneta Group.

The operation of Araneta Center’s Green & Go Shuttles was purposely planned to coincide with the launch of Oplan Araneta Center, which promotes recycling and trash segregation, to reinforce the organization’s commitment to continuously look for ways that would make the premier shopping and entertainment hub more eco-friendly. Along with concern for the environment, the value of discipline, order, and community involvement is also being instilled by Oplan Araneta Center, through garbage segregation and cleanup drives.

Proof of Araneta Center’s commitment to the “greening” of the community can be seen in the design of its latest mall and in the lush vegetation around its many structures. Award-winning Gateway Mall, for example, features a cinema lobby skylight that reduces the need for lighting electricity. The mall also houses the country’s only floating garden inside a mall. Called the Oasis, it has a lush setting that includes a variety of exotic flora and a fishpond, all inside the 4-level, 5,000-sq.ft. structure.

It has also installed “Green Walls” in prominent areas of Gateway Mall and Ali Mall to encourage people to sign up and do their part towards the preservation of the environment.

During the launch, Araneta Center employees turned over to ABS CBN’s Bantay Kalikasan recyclables that they have gathered as a symbol of their commitment to the environmental cause.

These efforts complement the Quezon City government’s eco-awareness campaign that envisions a “Green City.” This campaign involves a green building ordinance which requires all QC buildings to use eco-friendly systems and technologies in the city’s land development projects.

The Green & Go Shuttle, an integral component of Oplan Araneta Center, is a vital part of Araneta Center’s green efforts in collaboration with ABS CBN Foundation’s Bantay Kalikasan, and endorsed by the Quezon City government and the Philippine Basketball Association.