(this photo taken from UNEP website....Fast Melting Glaciers....scary yeh!!)
In conjunction with World Environment Day 2007, Star paper has came out with quite a number of articles on how & what the M'sian Citizens can help to make our home a better place to live in. Among these write up, i found this page with the title "I pledge to..." quite interesting to blog it out.
I Pledge To...
1) Run My air conditioning at a temperature no lower than 24deg Celsius - Using Air-conditioning Units at lower temperatures significantly increases its power consumption and may even shorten its operating lifespan.
2) Ride a bicycle or walk to the neighbourhood grocery store instead of driving - Starting the car consumes fuel and constant on/off cycles will shorten its useful life. Do I really need to drive to the store 500m away to buy a tin of condensed milk, considering the amount of calories it contains?
3) Use rechargeable batteries wherever possible - Both rechargeable and regular batteries contain toxic chemicals that are damaging to the environment. Rechargeable will reduce the need to dispose of batteries.
4) Car pool or take public transport - Taxis not included, of course. For obvious reasons, one more car off the road reduces emissions, the use of fossil fuels, and is easier on your wallet as well.
5) Make my children aware of environmental issues and get them involved in green habits - Education is the basis of all conservation/ environmental issues. The earlier your children are aware of it, the earlier they can adopt green habits.
6) Donate to a local environmental or conservation group or volunteer services to them - Many such local organisations are charitable and are run by volunteers. Every little bit will help, even the spare change in your pocket.
7) Use reusable utensils and not disposable ones - All you have to do is bring along your own container next time you "ta pau" food. Or decline the bamboo chopsticks or plastic fork and spoon.
8) Sort out my garbage, and make sure recyclable materials are taken to a recycling centre - Just about any plastic, metal, glass or paper material can be recycled.
9) Buy environmentally-friendly products or from a manufacturer who has environmental concerns in mind - there is a plethora of manufacturers today to strive to make their products greener, aided in no small part by regional environmental regulations - the European Union is a good example. Reading the labels is the most obvious step, as they will usually trumpet the fact.
10) Go on to the Internet and find out more about environment issues - the Internet is the best ready resource that is readily available to most. A search of the terms 'environment', 'conservation', 'green earth' is a good, but far from exhaustive start.
11) Do full loads of laundry and not half loads - Wait until there is sufficient dirty laundry to fill up your washing machine. It that means washing your underwear with three-day-old socks, so be it.
12) Buy organically-grown vegetables next time i shop for groceries - Organic vegetables are grown naturally, without the use of any artificial and chemical-based fertilisers and pesticides.
13) Use energy-saving light bulbs wherever possible - incandescent light bulbs have been around, well, since Thomas Edison invented the first practical version in 1879 - and the basic design hasn't changed much, if at all, since then. Modern energy saving bulbs not only last longer but are far more efficient, saving money in the long run, initial costs included.
14) Collect rainwater and use it to water your plants - think about it - plants have been thriving on rainwater even before the human race first appeared on the earth, so is there any need to use treated water?
15) Decide what i want from the refrigerator before I open the door and not leave it open for extended periods - Every time the refrigerator door is opened, cold air escapes and energy is consumed to bring internal temperatures to original levels. So some thought is needed before you open it. Maybe you could even doublethink that midnight snack for your own health concerns.
16) Decline the use of plastic bags for things that I can carry by hand or use my own bag - Ask yourself : do you really need a plastic bag when buying a packet of chewing gum? bring along your own bag for more purchases.
17) Air-or sun-dry clothes and not use a dryer - Water evaporates - that is a basic fact of nature. Electric clothes dryers consume copious amounts of energy so make use of the abundant sun and hot weather that we have in Malaysia.
18) Plant a tree today, any tree, plant, shrub - or bush, even - Every plant life form transforms carbon dioxide into life-supporting oxygen by day. So plant one today!
19) reduce my water and electricity bill by 20% - There are many ways to do this - taking a shower instead of using the bathtub, reducing the use of electrical appliances, or simply making the most efficient use of utilities. But don't skimp by not flushing the toilet, please.
20) Print on or use both sides of a sheet of paper - Printing on or using both sides will reduce consumption by half. The rule does not apply to toilet paper.
21) Your very own pledge - if none of the above is to your liking, come up with your very own pledge and tell us about it.
These ideas always came out on the newspapers and medias whenever there's occasion like "World Environment Day" or "Consumer's Day" and such....but often we aware & does it with "penuh semangat" for awhile before we forgotten about it.Even myself often neglected the importance of keeping these rules..Perhaps, is time for us to put more effort onto it.
PS : Most European Countries, United States and Japan are doing their best on Saving the earth...can we M'sian do so???
I Pledge To...
1) Run My air conditioning at a temperature no lower than 24deg Celsius - Using Air-conditioning Units at lower temperatures significantly increases its power consumption and may even shorten its operating lifespan.
2) Ride a bicycle or walk to the neighbourhood grocery store instead of driving - Starting the car consumes fuel and constant on/off cycles will shorten its useful life. Do I really need to drive to the store 500m away to buy a tin of condensed milk, considering the amount of calories it contains?
3) Use rechargeable batteries wherever possible - Both rechargeable and regular batteries contain toxic chemicals that are damaging to the environment. Rechargeable will reduce the need to dispose of batteries.
4) Car pool or take public transport - Taxis not included, of course. For obvious reasons, one more car off the road reduces emissions, the use of fossil fuels, and is easier on your wallet as well.
5) Make my children aware of environmental issues and get them involved in green habits - Education is the basis of all conservation/ environmental issues. The earlier your children are aware of it, the earlier they can adopt green habits.
6) Donate to a local environmental or conservation group or volunteer services to them - Many such local organisations are charitable and are run by volunteers. Every little bit will help, even the spare change in your pocket.
7) Use reusable utensils and not disposable ones - All you have to do is bring along your own container next time you "ta pau" food. Or decline the bamboo chopsticks or plastic fork and spoon.
8) Sort out my garbage, and make sure recyclable materials are taken to a recycling centre - Just about any plastic, metal, glass or paper material can be recycled.
9) Buy environmentally-friendly products or from a manufacturer who has environmental concerns in mind - there is a plethora of manufacturers today to strive to make their products greener, aided in no small part by regional environmental regulations - the European Union is a good example. Reading the labels is the most obvious step, as they will usually trumpet the fact.
10) Go on to the Internet and find out more about environment issues - the Internet is the best ready resource that is readily available to most. A search of the terms 'environment', 'conservation', 'green earth' is a good, but far from exhaustive start.
11) Do full loads of laundry and not half loads - Wait until there is sufficient dirty laundry to fill up your washing machine. It that means washing your underwear with three-day-old socks, so be it.
12) Buy organically-grown vegetables next time i shop for groceries - Organic vegetables are grown naturally, without the use of any artificial and chemical-based fertilisers and pesticides.
13) Use energy-saving light bulbs wherever possible - incandescent light bulbs have been around, well, since Thomas Edison invented the first practical version in 1879 - and the basic design hasn't changed much, if at all, since then. Modern energy saving bulbs not only last longer but are far more efficient, saving money in the long run, initial costs included.
14) Collect rainwater and use it to water your plants - think about it - plants have been thriving on rainwater even before the human race first appeared on the earth, so is there any need to use treated water?
15) Decide what i want from the refrigerator before I open the door and not leave it open for extended periods - Every time the refrigerator door is opened, cold air escapes and energy is consumed to bring internal temperatures to original levels. So some thought is needed before you open it. Maybe you could even doublethink that midnight snack for your own health concerns.
16) Decline the use of plastic bags for things that I can carry by hand or use my own bag - Ask yourself : do you really need a plastic bag when buying a packet of chewing gum? bring along your own bag for more purchases.
17) Air-or sun-dry clothes and not use a dryer - Water evaporates - that is a basic fact of nature. Electric clothes dryers consume copious amounts of energy so make use of the abundant sun and hot weather that we have in Malaysia.
18) Plant a tree today, any tree, plant, shrub - or bush, even - Every plant life form transforms carbon dioxide into life-supporting oxygen by day. So plant one today!
19) reduce my water and electricity bill by 20% - There are many ways to do this - taking a shower instead of using the bathtub, reducing the use of electrical appliances, or simply making the most efficient use of utilities. But don't skimp by not flushing the toilet, please.
20) Print on or use both sides of a sheet of paper - Printing on or using both sides will reduce consumption by half. The rule does not apply to toilet paper.
21) Your very own pledge - if none of the above is to your liking, come up with your very own pledge and tell us about it.
These ideas always came out on the newspapers and medias whenever there's occasion like "World Environment Day" or "Consumer's Day" and such....but often we aware & does it with "penuh semangat" for awhile before we forgotten about it.Even myself often neglected the importance of keeping these rules..Perhaps, is time for us to put more effort onto it.
PS : Most European Countries, United States and Japan are doing their best on Saving the earth...can we M'sian do so???
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