‘Start Your Impossible:’ Toyota PH leads coastal cleanup efforts

TOYOTA Motor Philippines (TMP) recently led 1,900 volunteers spread out across 35 locations nationwide for the company’s first staging of the “Start Your Impossible” National Coastal Clean-up and Mangrove Planting weekend.

The activity was held together with TMP’s dealership network and partners from NGOs and LGUs — plus various coastal communities around the Philippines. Volunteers were able to plant 40,000 mangrove propagules and collect 1,200 sacks of waste by the end of the activity.

“With each and every volunteer cleaning up the coasts and planting mangrove seedlings, all spread out across 35 locations nationwide, we are indeed starting our impossible, one place at a time. If we continue doing these small acts for our environment, soon our big vision of building sustainable communities will become possible,” said TMP president Satoru Suzuki during the program’s opening at the Lian Mangrove Park in Batangas.

TMP president Satoru Suzuki

TMP explained the coastal cleanup and mangrove planting activity is part of the Start Your Impossible initiative, Toyota Motor’s global movement that enables and empowers people to move past challenges and defy limits in order to reach their goals and make a difference in society.

In the Philippines, TMP said the movement is inspired by Filipino para athlete champion Ernie Gawilan who — as someone who grew up and who honed his swimming skills in a coastal community in Davao — has been advocating for cleaner oceans. Gawilan, together with fellow para athlete Edwin Villanueva and his team from the Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC), joined the coastal cleanup and mangrove planting activity in Batangas.

With the event, TMP said it is helping Gawilan bring his advocacy all over the country. TMP mobilized its employees and dealership network to conduct cleanups and mangrove planting in the coastal areas of Metro Manila and the provinces, namely Batangas, Bulacan, Rizal, La Union, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Ilocos Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Mindoro, Negros Oriental, Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Bukidnon, Davao, Agusan del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Misamis Oriental, Lanao Del Norte and South Cotabato.

TMP said the coastal cleanup and mangrove planting activity is just one of its Start Your Impossible initiatives. Launched in November 2018 during the Toyota Classics, TMP said it has accomplished numerous projects under Start Your Impossible.

To support the country’s Paralympic athletes, proceeds of the Toyota Classics benefit concert were donated to Filipino para athletes through the PPC for their training requirements, such as sports wheelchairs. TMP also donated a 29-seat Toyota Coaster, which was turned over in January to help the PPC and para athletes’ mobility and transportation requirements.

In May, TMP said it started a 10-day swim clinic that aims to encourage aspiring swimmers aged 6 to 14 to take the first step in their athletic journey and pursue their interest in swimming.

TMP added it is looking forward to more programs and projects, be it in the area of environmental protection, sports and youth development, or overall sustainable mobility to encourage more Filipinos to start their own “impossible.”