SU adds student-made bamboo photo booth as Christmas decor

Silliman University (SU) continues to demonstrate its commitment to the environment as it puts up another eco-friendly tree this Christmas season. One notable addition to SU’s Christmas decorations this year though, is the bamboo structure facing the Christmas tree.

A group of Architecture students under the tutelage of Ar. Joel Jucom, a faculty member of the College of Engineering and Design, designed the bamboo structure, namely: Lord Ian Tagaro, Louis Niccoli Tijing, Alyanna Marie Palencia, Allibert Tan, Christen Calibo, Deborah Ruth Espiritu, Jan Leo Jardin, Isabelle Quindo and Kent Dubal.

Alumni and External Affairs Office Director Ruben Bokingo said the structure is a photo booth that frames the tree when taking photos from the platforms placed at the structure’s base.

Last year, SU set up its first eco-friendly Christmas tree made of biodegradable, reused, and reusable materials. The tree was wrapped in coco geonet, a net made of coco fiber from coconut husks, sourced from the Bacong Small Coconut Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative.

The coco geonet from last year was reused for this year’s Christmas tree, along with the empty wine bottles donated by Silliman alumni.

Additional decorations on this year’s tree include a floral cloth draped around the tree, and empty pouches of pusô or hanging rice, which are made of woven palm leaves.

Bokingo said the cloth will be reused, while the pusô pouches are biodegradable. The pusô as an added decorative accent, he added, symbolizes love and bountiful harvest.

Topped with a star made of cloth instead of plastic, the SU Christmas tree is lit by the same LED Par lights used last year, which uses less energy than other types of electric lights.

To complement the Christmas tree, SU’s century-old Acacia trees in the East and West Quadrangles are also illuminated by LED Par lights.