Global warming is a serious problem that has plagued the world for the last 20 years. In India, one of the indications is the Himalayan Glaciers which continues to melt, According to The World Bank “By 2050, from 1.5 billion to 1.7 billion people in South Asia are projected to be vulnerable to water scarcity”.
This warming is caused by a significant increase in carbon dioxide/monoxide levels trapped in the atmosphere, and releasing heat (the greenhouse effect ). As a result, global temperatures rise to levels that are dangerous for life. This ‘greenhouse’ effect makes the earth’s surface temperature rise rapidly, melt glaciers, raise sea levels, cause changes in climate patterns and unpredictable weather changes.
Furthermore, global warming is also responsible for various complex world problems, including:
- Increasing air pollution and air pollutant allergies.
- Increase in communicable and infectious diseases.
- Decrease in food production due to pests and diseases.
- Drought and famine.
- Population displacement due to natural disasters, crop failures, and water shortages.
- Destruction of health infrastructure due to natural disasters.
- Increasing regional conflicts due to fighting over natural resources.
- Direct impact of extreme heat and cold ( heatstroke, hyperthermia).
Although various efforts to reduce the rate of global warming are being intensively carried out by governments in various countries and the United Nations, you personally can play a role too! In fact, if millions of people did this, the positive impact would be enormous.
Then, what are the ways to prevent global warming with small things? Here are some of them!
1. Use Public Transportation or Share a Ride
If you have a coworker or classmate who lives in the same area as you, you can use a carpooling strategy or share a car ride. Of course, to make carpooling effective, you must have a common direction, agreed time, and location point. You only need to ask if they want to ride by determining the agreed fare. This will not only reduce carbon dioxide emissions but also save you money.
From existing data, the amount of savings by adding one passenger is around 2-3 million rupiah per year, if there are more passengers, it will save even more. The money can be saved, for service, oil changes, gas costs, and others. Amazing isn’t it? In addition, you can also maximize the use of public transportation instead of using a private vehicle.
2. Walk or Use a Bicycle
Limit the use of cars and motorbikes only for long distances, for short distances you can walk or use a bicycle. This will limit the increase in carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. In addition, carrying out vehicle services including checking tire pressure regularly will also improve fuel efficiency, thereby reducing carbon emissions.
3. Minimize The Use of Equipment Containing CFC
Minimize the use of deodorants, hairspray, mosquito spray, and others that contain CFCs ( Chlorofluorocarbons ), CFCs released in the atmosphere will contribute to ozone depletion, which in turn has the most damaging effects. CFCs are also commonly used as refrigerants.
You can choose to use deodorant or a CFC-free refrigerator. Also, make sure you replace the AC filter or water heater to save electricity. If your equipment is outdated, replace it with newer energy-efficient equipment.
4. Turn Off Electronic Devices When Not in Use
Turn off lights, fans, air conditioners, computers, TVs, and all electronic devices when not in use. Using LED lights is a smart way to increase energy efficiency. Moreover, the price of LED lights is now affordable, choose one that has a light sensor so that it can turn off automatically.
Some types of electronic devices, such as TVs and computers, have a standby feature that we tend to use. Just so you know, standby mode still consumes up to 40 percent of its energy within 20 hours. Therefore, when the appliance is not in use, it is important to use the on/off button, rather than selecting standby mode.
5. Use Cloth Bags for Shopping
Let’s reduce the amount of waste. You can use reusable cloth bags instead of paper or plastic bags.
Using paper or plastic will add to the waste that requires more energy to recycle. If it’s unavoidable, at least make sure you use recycled plastic bags.
6. Buy Local Products
Many products in supermarkets are imported from very long distances, which requires a lot of energy. In most cases, similar quality and possibly cheaper local products are also available, so choose this product. In this way, it will save energy and also encourage the use of local products.
7. Buy Fresh Vegetables
As much as possible, buy fresh and organic food, not frozen food. Frozen foods require 10 times more energy to produce and store, thus contributing to high carbon dioxide emissions. Thus, it helps remove large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
8. Donate or Sell Used Goods
You can donate or sell anything recyclable, such as aluminum cans, newspapers, recycled plastic, glass, or anything to a recycling center (waste bank) near you. This contributes to reducing the energy required to create new products. Make sure you take the initiative to help the environment and encourage others to do the same.
9. Drying Clothes by Drying
If possible, you can dry them in the sun instead of using a tumble dryer. Many do not realize that a clothes dryer consumes a lot of electrical energy, it can even reach a third of the total household electricity use.
10. Plant a Tree
Let’s try to plant at least one tree every year, maybe a birthday is a good time. One tree can absorb an incredible amount of carbon dioxide during its lifetime. You can also give plants or saplings to your friends or relatives on their birthdays to raise awareness.
These are some ways to prevent global warming starting from the small things we can do. It is high time that we realize the importance of addressing this sensitive issue and take concrete steps to tackle the problem of global warming.
For those who haven’t, let’s try to do the things above as best we can, for the sake of our beloved earth!