my own little ways…

Days from now, we will be celebrating Earth Day (April 22). In my own little ways, I think, I am helping in trying to make this Earth a better place to live in. I call on every body to, just even for a day, leave all their "worldly activities" and focus on our Mother Earth…

The following are just examples of how I think I am helping mitigate environmental destruction. I hope that I could add more to these in the coming days.

• Segregate wastes. The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act requires us to do so. In effect, this is not optional but actually mandatory for every individual.

• Go paperless. A lot of trees are cut down just to produce sheets of paper. As much as possible, if and when it is not really necessary to use papers, I would rather not use them. In this age of information technology, offices could easily go paperless. Printing drafts (if and only if necessary) should be made on used sheets of papers. By the way, I abhor this one tv advertisement with a tv host on it for a health care supplement where the tv host continues to crample papers while talking. What a waste!

• Use mass public transport. Important here is the word "mass", which means that taxi cabs should also be avoided. As much as possible, I take jeepneys or FX taxis (n.b. only the legal ones). Although in most instances travelling on a jeepney is very inconvenient, I just think of the higher end why I am doing it.

• Switch off when not in use. Some of us do not realize it, but we still use electricity when our appliances are on a standby mode. Hence, the best way to save is to unplug these appliances. When it comes to the lights, some, I think, have this habit of leaving the lights on even when not in use. It would be safer and cheaper to include in your habit to make an extra effort of reaching the switch and turning off the lights.

• Make gardening a hobby. When I was younger, I used to have a garden in our backyard in the province. I can vividly remember the sense of fulfillment every time I harvested from my garden. Living in Manila for more than a decade now, I started to try and have my own garden. I just have to be more resourceful and creative because I live three storeys above the ground.

• Walk. When travelling on short distances, I prefer to just walk and avoid using motor vehicles. This not only saves me money but also helps me get fit.