[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="128" caption="blue planet we must always preserve"][/caption] Nice to post something on Kompasiana.com again. What a scorching day I'm having! The sun's shining brightly and my lips begin to chap. The weather is unpleasantly hot so I decided to hibernate, a.k.a. stay at home instead. Whenever I sweat, I always remember what Al Gore has been always buzzing around the globe, "global warming". Don't say it's a cliche, a hackneyed topic we must discard in each of our chats. I'm not a Green Peace activist, so i'm not doing this for the sake of the organization. Rather, I intend to remind me and anyone who reads this post of the dangerous and prevalent catastrophic impacts the global warming may cause on the entire humanity. I won't preach here like those experts but I'm about to show you how to get actively involved in this war against global warming. You don't have to be a Green Peace fervent enthusiast or staunch supporter to go green and live in a greener way. Make haste, let's take a look at the tips I excerpted from Mr. Gore's campaign below:
- use fluorescent light bulb or any energy saving light: Because regular light bulbs spend more energy. Besides, they spend your money, too!
- drive less: Reduce your frequency of driving motorbikes and any engine-powered means of transportation, mass transit is better. Or hitchhike, ride bikes, walk, or not going anywhere at all (joking! Green life style doesn't necessarily mean less productivity).
- recycle more: Some people find household waste useful and becomes their source of extra income.
- keep your tires inflated: As we can save gasoline and reduce CO2 emission. Less properly inflated tyres will result in more fuel consumption because your tyres are heavier than they should, which makes the machine work harder than it ought to
- use less warm water: Thank God, we're living in Indonesia, where we always feel hot even at night! But even if we have to heat water, try solar energy. Or if that's not possible, use brickets (fire wood is a big NO NO!). And if that's not possible, try not to leave your kettle while heating the water. By leaving (which may lead to forgetting) your kettle unattended, you tend to forget and use up more fuels. As soon as the water boils, switch off the stove.
- avoid packaging: I hate some products which are wrapped in a multi-layered plastic wrapper. Such a perfect way of wasting money and negligence of environmental awaraness.
- adjust thermostat: Once again, thanks to the warm tropical climate we have got here, you don't even have to buy thermostat, though we badly need air conditioners and fans, huge fans! So remember to buy air conditioners consuming less wattage.
- plant tress: the more trees you plant, the better it is for our earth. By trees, I don't mean they have to be huge leafy trees with enormous roots. If there's not enough room for you to plant such a big tree, consider planting shrubs, hedges (instead of that aluminium or wooden fence), or ivy
- turn off electronic devices: It may sound trivial, but is proven to save more electricity, which means we save more money and energy!
- Last but not the least, Spread the word!: Inform as many people as you can about these tips!
Visit another Al Gore's site containing many resources on how to preserve this ailing planet. One more worth noting issue is the government's supposedly (more) active role in empowering its citizens with more knowledge on global warming and endorsing greener life style amongst Indonesians. Considering what I've witnessed so far, green life style is merely a lip service, a series of slogans printed on billboards and banners. And ironically, those billboards and banners create more trash.
