Global Warming!

Do you read newspapers? Do you surf the internet? Do you listen to radios? Have you heard of calamities around the world? It’s happening everywhere now and then. Fires, floods, drought, earthquakes, various diseases, etc are as a result of global warming.

Impact of global warming:

• Polar freeze (as a result of excessive carbon dioxide emissions)
• Melting glaciers and ice (resulting from illegal oil drilling and thinning ozone layer)
• Unexpected winter storm (resulting from air pollution and climate change)
• Tsunami (undersea earthquake as a result of destruction of coral reefs and mangrove forests)
• Landslide (resulting from heavy rainfall and unstable soil)
• Heatwave and bushfires (resulting from open-fire burning, air pollution, climate change)
• Fish stock worldwide depleted (due to rising sea temperatures, increasing ocean acidity, pollution and overfishing)

Measures to counter global warming and pollution:

• YOU and YOUR ACTIVITIES – it’s all about YOU and YOUR EFFORT!!!
• Say “no” to plastic bags. Bring your own canvas/non woven bag for shopping.
• Use old plastic bags to throw rubbish.
• Say “no” to Styrofoam containers. These take centuries to decompose.
• Bring your own containers/cups for take-aways.
• Plant veggies, fruit trees, green trees, potted plants when/where possible.
• Use solar energy when possible. Buy solar heater. Use sunlight to dry clothes and not dryers.
• On only essential lights and water.
• Use energy-saving bulbs.
• Buy clothes that require less ironing.
• Use fan/air cooler instead of air-con.
• Close the refrigerator door promptly.
• Operate washing machine when full load.
• Off water tape when brushing teeth.
• Use showers and not baths. Husband and wife can shower together.
• Buy refill packs (eg coffee, milo, detergent, etc) when possible.
• Use toilet paper sparingly – 1 square for small businesses and maybe 3-4 squares for the major ones.
• Buy hybrids/electric cars, money permitting.
• Carpooling whenever possible. Use school bus.
• Cultivate good driving habits, eg, off the car air-con on a rainy day if driving alone, put car in free gear when you are near the traffic light getting ready to stop, do not accelerate and brake unnecessary, do not press accelerator unnecessary while car is stationary, pre-plan your shopping trips to avoid various unnecessary trips to the market.
• Be more “walking-minded”, not “car-minded”. Walking saves fuel cost and healthcare costs and reduces carbon emissions and improves carbon-abatement programs.
• Stay in green homes, money permitting.
• Heard of a garden on the roof? Tokyo introduced policies for green roofs to be installed on 20% of all flat surfaces. This saves energy costs, improves insulation, air quality and water management, offers recreational space, a solution to food issues and a garden rooftop on a hospital provides therapy for patients.
• Re-cycle food waste by mixing them and use them as organic compost.
• Collect perishable garbage and ferment them into enzyme solution.
• Use enzyme solution whenever possible in your daily activities.
• Decompose grass and twigs as fertilizer. Collect urine for use as organic fertilizer (provided you can stand the smell).
• Water plants using water collected from washing machine (during the rinsing cycle) and after washing rice, veggies, etc.
• Re-cycle glass bottles, newspapers, magazines, books, papers, tin cans, etc.
• Use discarded/scrap paper as drafts. Go paperless when possible.
• Remember when we eat and shop, we are actually voting whether to go green or not. How you spend money affects the world!
• Educate people around you about global warming and “going green” to preserve the environment

These are but only a few ideas on going green. YOU can come up with countless ideas but you need to look around you and think of possibilities of going green.

Not only are you saving $$$money$$$, you are also saving Mother Earth but you need to put in effort.