Because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, four beauties who advocate the worthy cause of preserving the environment and protecting Mother Earth via a global beauty event called "Miss Earth."

It's true that we all admire beauty queens, but when you add to the responsibility of advocating for the environment, that equates to the beautiful woman that upholds the title of "Miss Earth." As the children are our future, Jennifer Neves, who represented us as Miss Earth Guam 2008, made it her mission to educate island students about the importance of leading a "greener lifestyle."

"I spoke in different schools to talk about the 3 R's of reduce, reuse and recycle, to make sure that they implement that into their homes. If we can get the children now and they go into their homes, they really are a part of our future," she said.

Neves also plans to create a Guam chapter for the local Miss Earth Foundation, and to write a "Think Green" inspired children's book with the goal of making it part of Guam's curriculum.

As a 3rd grade teacher at Finegayan Elementary School, newly crowned, Miss Earth Guam 2009 plans to take her role as our "Think Green" ambassador seriously, which is why Maria Luisa Santos will dedicate her time to imparting as much "green wisdom" onto our youth.

"Tomorrow's future is really shaped by what we teach our children today. Through this pageant I know that it has opened yet another door for me to make a difference and be a positive role model for those around me," she said.

While representing the Philippines as Miss Earth 2008, Karla Paula Henry says her "think green" message is that "we all have a responsibility to do right by Mother Earth." "A wise person once told me that man has become the problem, but man can also become the solution so my main message is take a minute or two, reflect, see what you can do differently and shift to the green lifestyle," she said.

Being crowned in the Philippines as Miss Earth 2006 changed Catherine Untalan's life so much, that she became the foundation's executive director. Now in its 9th year of advocating for the environment, Untalan is excited that Guam has realized the foundation's significance. Significance of which has led to their success of publishing this environmental education book, that is now part of her country's curriculum.

"I encourage all the people here in Guam, you have a beautiful island, you have nice waters. You wouldn't want to wake up one day with no more water to swim in because they're all dirty or the air is too polluted to breathe. So we have to take care of our own environment and the environment will take care of us," she said.

Suffice it to say we look forward to supporting Maria Luisa Santos in her role as Miss Earth Guam 2009 as the KUAM CareForce gives her a hearty green thumbs-up.