Adopt green lifestyle to save planet

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Fossil fuels are a major contributor to global warming.

Fossil fuels are a major contributor to global warming.

YOU could use more LED or florescent bulbs and recycle everything — from soda cans and apple sauce containers to shampoo bottles.

You could make compost out of things you would have just thrown out. And you could help your community plant a garden and ride your bicycle to school.

You could help your family stay green by taking time-limited showers and baths, and the water that sometimes leaks from your tap, you could use to water your garden.

Make choices and take action to live a ‘green life’ to improve the environment right around us, and the health of the whole world.

Some describe going green as a new way of thinking about the world we live in, and a way to live a healthy life.

The voice of the people and governments to go green is getting louder and louder all over the globe because people know they only have one planet to live on but will not be able to do so much longer if they keep trashing their home with air, land, and water pollution, and wasting energy and resources.

The Malaysian government too has shown its commitment to promoting and increasing understanding, exposure and appreciation of green living, resulting in the setting up a Green Foundation called YaHijau under Budget 2014.

Set up under the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, the Jelajah YaHijau programme was officially launched in Sabah on March 2, 2014.

Jelajah YaHijau in Sarawak, however, was only launched on Jan 30 with Santubong as its first destination, followed by Tapah (Feb 20) and Sebauh (March 5), while the latest programme was held in Tarat on May 1.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr James Dawos Mamit, when launching one of the series here, noted, “As far as green living is concerned, the people must understand the choices they make would affect not just themselves but also everybody everywhere.”

Besides, the choices they make will affect not just today, but also the future. Thus, saving the environment or the planet, is actually about saving ourselves.

This is because everyone needs clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, a safe and healthy place to live and safe and healthy food to eat.

Recycling is one of the ways to go green.

Recycling is one of the ways to go green.

Dawos, who is an environmental scientist, said green habits should begin at home, nourished in schools and then grown in the community.

For example, he added, families could take positive measures to control or minimise unnecessary wastage in energy and water resources even if they are enjoying the lowest tariff.

Dawos told thesundaypost that people everywhere must take care of their water resources and not dirty their rivers and poison the land with garbage.

He said generally the people in Sarawak still enjoy clean water and fertile land but if members of the community keep polluting the rivers and land, they would have to bear with dirty water and less fertile land to plant crops.

Dawos noted that overuse of electricity or energy could affect the global climate.

This is especially so if the human community continues to consume more fossil fuels to generate more energy.

This will inevitably increase the emissions of carbon dioxide, hastening the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and causing irreversible climate change.

Reports have suggested combustion of fossil fuels such as coal is the primary source of these emissions.

Positive actions such as planting trees may help to absorb some of the carbon emissions but it may only have a minimal effect so long as the central problem of fossil-fuel consumption is left unchecked.

Reports have also said industrial activities in advanced countries require so much energy that this has contributed to the increase in the concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG).

Advanced countries in the world, including the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East, are alleged to have emitted 36 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The top carbon dioxide emitters, according to reports, are China at 28 per cent or nine billion tons, the US (16 per cent or six billion tons), Europe (12 per cent), Russia (7 per cent) and India (5 per cent).

Malaysia only emits 0.6 per cent but its forests absorb all the carbon dioxide, without which trees cannot grow.

According to reports, Malaysia has 18 million ha of forests capable of absorbing 90 billion tons of carbon dioxide. One hectare of the forest can absorb 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

To protect the climate while there is still time, Dawos believes the whole human community, especially those in advanced countries, must embrace a fundamental transformation in their energy behaviour.

He said the activities organised by YaHijau are aimed towards that goal whereby it would try to cultivate the culture of green living by giving exposure, education, understanding and awareness of green living to youths.

Choose to use energy saving bulbs.

Choose to use energy saving bulbs.

To begin with, he said, everybody should start going green in their daily living by taking actions such as reducing damage to the environment, reducing electricity usage and cutting down on water wastage.

Green living or going green is already a phrase being popularly bandied about these days. But what does going green mean? In essence, many have simply referred it to using various everyday methods to help save the world and the environment.

Many people consider green living or going green to be an actual lifestyle. For them, it means basing your actions on working to save the environment and the world.

From the smallest details to the most sweeping aspects of

life, saving the world by implementing a green lifestyle is something more and more people are aiming to do.

Living a green lifestyle can begin in small and easy to manage ways. Recycling is one of them. But there’s a lot more to do it than just recycling plastic or throwing your trash into different bins.

Recycling the amount of waste you generate and reducing the amount of trash that goes to the landfill should be developed as an important part of any green lifestyle.

Conserving water is, of course, another very critical measure in green living. About 50 per cent of all household water usage is wasted. It goes down the drain while people wait for it to warm up or it evaporates more quickly than it needs to.

In an era when fresh water supply is diminishing due to pollution and drought, it’s important to conserve all water in the best possible way while people also need to learn to put greywater to use via recycling practices.

It is vital to raise children to be healthy and aware of the environment as part of green living.

Parents can act as role models with their actions towards green living and talk about the choices they make.

Things also must be done in an interesting and interactive manner as everything — from healthy living to good relationships — is included in ways to go green with the children.

Another way to go green, considered by some people as a very effective method at trying to save the world and all of its resources, is to purchase more local, organic and chemical-free products.

It is believed most of our meals come from thousands of miles away. Some of the food that ends up on our plates has travelled around the world to reach us with too much of it being already unhealthy or no longer deserving to be called food to begin with.

As we practise ways to go green, we may also need discussions to familiarise ourselves with the reasons to go green or why green living matters.

It is also important for us to be open and honest about our choices to others without having to make any judgement if we are to educate them on the matter.

The biggest influence we can have on others is through our actions and attitude. What is needed is to just let our example be an inspiration. We also need to keep the lines of communication open so that friends or family also look for ways to go green.

As most of us now live within a very disconnected culture, over-scheduled and rushed, we should try to make time to care for ourselves, find enjoyment in our lives and make talking and laughing with loved ones and our neighbours a priority.

Every one of us must be a part of the community, rediscovering the wonders of the world together by enjoying nature walks, planting trees, organising neighbourhood clean-ups and so on — all are ways to go green.

Going green should be an overall life philosophy, and needs to be employed in even the most mundane details of our life with success.

In fact, if enough people begin to adopt green habits, our state, country and planet will surely stand a far better chance.

Make compost out of things you would have just thrown out.

Make compost out of things you would have just thrown out.

Take steps to cut down on water wastage.

Take steps to cut down on water wastage.