Miss Earth 2010 winners take their job seriously
This year is turning out to be one of the most memorable for Miss Earth titleholder Nicole Faria of India.
“I don't think I'll forget this. It has been an extraordinary year for me,” the beauty queen told members of the press and she and other Miss Earth 2010 winners were in the country recently.
For one, the stunning beauty from Bangalore loves traveling—and that's what she's been doing ever since she got the title December of last year.
“I've been living out of a suitcase since I've won. I've been traveling. I got to meet a lot of interesting people. People who I've learned from, shared experiences with, grown with. Because of I've met this people, I'm happy with my professional life and my personal life,” Faria said.
But more than the perks of the Miss Earth title, Faria is also enjoying her newfound role as an environmental ambassador and as some sort of hero for people in her hometown.
“For me, right after the pageant, when I went back to India, people were thrilled because this is the first time India won the crown. Everyone said, 'you created history.' And I was like, I have to do something about it. So it was even more of an impact, it was more of a push for me to do more,” she said.
Her main advocacy, she said, is water preservation and beautification in her city.
According to Faria, more than half of the lakes in Bangalore have been damaged. “When I went to study each lake to see what we can do for the lake, it was really messed up. It was disgusting. I didn't even know I belong to a place like that. The animals have been lost,” she said. “So this is something that we're taking very, very serious.”
Faria added that her project has gone international; she and her team are planning to go to San Francisco and Washington DC to jumpstart their water-cleaning campaign beyond India.
Aside from water-preservation, Faria, whose height and looks is reminiscent of 1994 Miss Universe Sushmita Sen's, is engaged in projects on recycling and renewable fashion.
This focus on environmental protection, said Miss Water 2010 Watsoporn Wattanakoon of Thailand, is the main difference of Miss Earth among other beauty pageants. Thailand will be the host country of this year's Miss Earth pageant.
“I think in the past beauty pageants, it's more like just a beauty pageant. But this one, we're concerned about the environmental. And I think we make a difference because we do more on environmental protection,” she said. “To be host, Thailand will be a very great host... In Thailand, we're like a family. I think we're so warm.”
Faria, Wattanakoon, and Miss Air 2010, Viktoria Shchukina of Russia, visited the office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources when they were in the country recently. They also joined SM Supermarket's “I am Plastic Free Campaign,” a cause Miss Earth-Philippines titleholders are engaged in. They also did a coastal clean-up and tree planting activity.
“If we don't help save the Earth, who will?” Faria asked.
