Simple ways to protect the planet

Joyce
Meridian Junior College
Singapore

The burning of fossil fuels and deforestation have resulted in high concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being in the atmosphere. This has led to a rise in the Earth's temperature, which is known as global warming. This term is familiar to the world today and one of the most evident threats to the Earth and its people. A speaker from the British Antarctic Survey told a conference hosted by the Met Office that the massive West Antarctic ice sheet may be in danger of disintegrating, and sea levels would rise worldwide by 4.9 metres if it disappears completely. The conference also heard that, as global temperatures rise to three degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels over the next seventy years, the threats facing us multiply rapidly. Famine from the destruction of crops and a loss of land and homes from floods because of a rise in sea levels are all predicted to happen. The threat of such devastation should be a wake-up call for every human being today.

There are many ways we can protect the planet. I suggest starting in our homes. One small-scale and easy way to help protect the planet is to stop taking baths and have showers instead. A soak in the tub uses seventy-five litres of water, but a quick shower needs just thirty litres. By using a water-saving showerhead, available from most do-it-yourself stores for about fifty dollars, the average household will cut bills by three hundred and seventy five dollars a year and, most importantly, reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by one hundred and thirteen kilograms. Also, try to avoid leaving television sets or DVD players on stand-by as by doing so, these household appliances are still using eighty five percent of the energy it would if fully switched on. In the United Kingdom, for example, domestic appliances are responsible for twelve percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficient light bulbs are inexpensive and last twelve times longer than traditional ones. These energy saving light bulbs produce fifty kilograms less carbon dioxide during their lifetime. If everyone replaced two of their light bulbs with energy-efficient models, they would save on the cost of electricity and free up enough energy to power all the street lights in the United Kingdom and also cut emissions that could fill London's Royal Albert Hall six thousand times. Another simple task is to avoid using hot water in your washing machine unless your clothes are especially dirty. Emissions will be cut by two hundred and twenty five kilograms a year. Such simple daily tasks can become significant if everyone did their part to help cut down on the wastage of electricity and water.

Choose to leave your car at home and use public transport instead. Motorists who drive one thousand miles a week generate one thousand eight hundred and seventy two kilograms of carbon dioxide a year, but people travelling the same distance on trains and buses create just five hundred and twenty kilograms. We can choose healthier options such as cycling to work and school, or take a walk instead if the distance allows it. Also, eat fruit and vegetables that are in season. As strange as it may sound, food imported by air is a huge contributor to global warming. Kilo for kilo, a kiwi fruit from New Zealand will have 'created' five times its own weight in carbon dioxide emissions by the time it arrives in the United Kingdom.

I feel that people around the world should adopt the mentality of reusing, reducing and recycling. By recycling paper, trees are protected, which is good because they absorb carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis. For every tonne re-used, seventeen trees will be spared. Send e-cards during festive seasons instead of the conventional paper cards, buy products such as toilet papers and notepads made from recycled materials, print and photocopy on both sides of the paper and use plastic storage boxes instead of sandwich bags and plastic wraps. All these small actions will immensely reduce the need for deforestation. With so many ways to help protect the planet, we should not hesitate to start now. By saving the planet, we are also saving our lives. If we do not start protecting the planet now, it will endure dire consequences in the future. Hence, we must protect the planet.

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