Call to Arms Speech by Rony Cabuyadao - Reducing Carbon Footprint

My Call to Reduce Carbon Footprint

by Rony Cabuyadao

 

Good evening, fellow leaders.

Is anyone in this room knows his/her current level of carbon footprint?  If your answer is 'negative', I encourage you to compute for it later tonight.  There are many carbon footprint calculators available on the web for you to choose from.  But, first, what is carbon footprint?  Why is it important to know about it?

Carbon footprint is a measure of the effect we have on the climate in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases we produce, measured in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide or CO2.  It is how much carbon goes into the air because of something done by people (not by nature).  Many of our daily activities generate carbon emissions, which have an impact on the health of the environment.

Oil, gas, and coal are called "fossil fuels" because they came from fossils of ancient plants and animals.  Those plants and animals had carbon in them.  So when we burn oil, gas, and coal, the carbon becomes CO2 and goes into the air as smoke.  This makes pollution.  It also makes the greenhouse effect, which means that CO2 makes the earth warmer, like a greenhouse.  Just as walking on the sand leaves a footprint, burning fuel leaves CO2 in the air, which is the carbon footprint.

Once your size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be planned to reduce it.  There are many suggested ways on how we can reduce our carbon footprint.  Most of those that I will share are taken from the website www.cotap.org.  Actually, most of them are not new to us; we have heard them before.

Now, let us revisit some of them.

·         Alternatives to driving.  When possible, walk or ride your bike in order to avoid carbon emissions.  Carpooling and public transportation reduce CO2 emissions by spreading them out over many riders.  There is no better example than by our very own Prof. Jorge, who despite owning several cars, he is opting to commute and take the public transportation in coming to Clark to attend his classes and do the same in going back home in Rizal.  Prof. Jorge is sacrificing a lot of comfort and convenience, but I do believe that all his efforts are all worth it for his noble cause, and not about the cost.

·         Driving style.  Speeding and unnecessary acceleration reduce mileage by up to 33%, waste gas and money, and increase your carbon footprint.

·         Tire inflation.  Properly inflated tires improve your gas mileage by up to 3%.

·         Avoid traffic.  Being stuck in traffic wastes gas and unnecessarily creates CO2.   You may use traffic apps and go a different way or leave early to avoid the rush hour.

·     Appliances.  Make energy efficiency a primary consideration when choosing a new air conditioning unit, refrigerator or any appliance.

·         Unplug.  Unplug appliances when they are not in use.  Simply switching-off is not enough, as appliances still consume energy even if they are on their switch-off mode.

·         Lighting.  Turn off the lights that are not in use.  Replace incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient ones.

·         Thermostat.  Don't set it too high or low.

·         Eat locally-produced and organic food.  Transporting food requires petroleum-based fuels, and many fertilizers are also fossil fuel-based.

·         Cut the beef and dairy.  It takes a lot of resources to raise cows.

·         Water usage.  Lower the amount of energy used to pump and heat water.  You may also shorten your shower time, and fix water leaks.

·         Reuse and recycle.  Buy used products and reselling or recyling items you no longer use.  Proper segregation of plastics and bottles from biodegradable ones are also encouraged.

Dear fellow leaders, I hope that you will keep an open mind and take the challenge to sacrifice a little bit of comfort in order to reduce your carbon footprint for a noble cause.  Let us do our own share to help reduce the effects of our carbon footprints to climate change, and protect Mother Earth.  Think of the broom of sticks or walis tingting.  A single stick seems weak and useless; but, collectively, they are strong and useful.  A single or a couple of individuals in this room can make just a little BIT of difference; but, if we do it collectively as ONE Class - we can make a BIGGER difference.  Hopefully, that will be replicated in our homes, offices and communities.  And, hoping further, that the cycle would be repeated a million-fold…  Thank you.