Robinsons Galleria’s sustainability mural: A love letter to the environment

With global temperatures rising, plant and animal geographic ranges shifting and extreme weather events happening, it is now more crucial than ever for everyone to do something about climate change.

Robinsons Galleria is taking a small yet significant step in raising awareness about environmental sustainability—and it is doing it with the support of like-minded institutions and individuals. In your next visit to the mall, you can now see a 1,000-square meter image mural made by popular artist Happy Navarro prominently exhibited at the exterior walls along Poveda Street.

A mall mural for the environment

Navarro’s mural features several design elements that cohesively convey Robinsons Malls’ campaign about caring for the environment. “The centerpiece is an image of a woman, which represents Mother Nature. Plants and flowers surround her to reinforce this metaphoric vehicle in the artwork,” shares Arlene G. Magtibay, SVP and General Manager of Robinsons Malls.

On one side of the mural is an inscription that spells out the three significant Rs of sustainability: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Magtibay adds that it serves as a constant reminder for everyone to produce less waste which is a primordial consideration in managing our growing pollution problem.

The rest of the art piece contains illustrations of birds, trees, whales, dolphins, and corals representing the country’s rich flora and fauna that are worth saving. There’s also a vivid figure of a biker which symbolically puts at the forefront the many benefits of cycling. As a staunch purveyor of biking, Robinsons Malls believes that biking doesn’t only reduce air pollution but also promotes a healthy and active lifestyle. It is for this reason that all malls nationwide have parking spaces dedicated to the biking community with provisions for repair kits that customers can freely use anytime.

All these visual elements are drawn with Navarro’s signature happy colors, which also makes it more engaging, eye-catching, and even Instagram-worthy. The painting, after all, is facing a nearby school which serves to remind our youth about the importance of caring for and protecting the environment.

The artist behind the mural

Navarro describes himself as a visual artist, musician, a poet “of sorts,” a proud family man. He is a contemporary watercolor artist who loves to explore and experiment with various media for his works. “It is my privilege to work on this meaningful mural for Robinsons Malls. This is a great campaign for the environment, and I am truly honored to be part of it,” Navarro shared.

Navarro also previously worked with Robinsons Malls for surf-inspired murals at Robinsons Place La Union, which opened in September 2021. He was also part of a group exhibition titled “Kulay Kapaligiran,” hosted by Robinsons Galleria in July 2019.

Going above and beyond in sustainability

For its focus area on environmental sustainability, Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) has committed to creating low-carbon and resilient spaces, promoting access to research and investments in clean energy, promoting responsible production and sustainable management, and implementing the UN Framework on Climate Change.

Robinsons Malls leads the country in the installation of its own solar panels to replace power sourced from the grid with green and renewable energy. It holds the record for the world’s largest rooftop solar power installation through Robinsons Starmills, which has a 2.88-megawatt roof-based solar power plant responsible for cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 2,400 MT every year. To date, 24 Robinsons Malls are harnessing solar power with a total capacity of over 30 megawatts nationwide. This impressive feat allows Robinsons Malls to generate 129 million kilowatt-hours of clean energy and eliminate over 91,000 MT of carbon dioxide from the environment.

Aside from clean energy sources, Robinsons Malls optimizes energy consumption and resources within its malls to ensure that day-to-day operations do not harm the environment. To maximize natural daytime lighting, most Robinsons malls are fitted with skylights, clerestory windows, and LED lights that significantly decrease energy consumption. Robinsons malls are also equipped with rainwater collection system or wastewater treatment and recycling plant. Recycled wastewater is used for flushing toilets and gardening, reducing sewage discharge to public sewers.

In partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a systematic solid waste segregation system is also being implemented to reduce harmful plastic waste and upcycling of residual plastics into various products. This is on top of other community recycling efforts that includes Weekend Recycling Market and Trash-to-Cash programs.

“Aside from our wide-reaching initiatives as a Group, we also ensure to bring earth-friendly and relevant programs to our malls that will help educate our customers about sustainability and inspire them to do their share,” adds Magtibay.

Caring for the environment is everyone’s concern. Robinsons Malls will continue to do its part in amplifying awareness, implementing sustainable and high-impact environment programs, and partnering with like-minded institutions to encourage more people to take action.

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Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Robinsons Malls.