Complacency

Main Entry: com·pla·cen·cy
Pronunciation: \-sən(t)-sē\
Function: noun

1 : self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies
2 : an instance of complacency

On second thought, I need not define anything for anyone. People only need to look around and see the word in wondrous action.

Case #1

Lily always liked the McDonald's beverages. Coke Floats, pineapple juices, milkshakes---she loves them all. She's aware she could drink them without plastic straws, but she goes ahead and uses them anyway. She knows how her lips would look like when it's wrapped around a straw. She needs a boyfriend after all.

Complacency.


Case #2

Mario, the environmentalist, has many eco-bags at home. However, he rarely uses them, partly because his friends once laughed at him for shopping with them, partly because he didn't want to lug them around. In the end, he accumulates more plastic bags than his trash bin could handle.

Complacency.


Case #3

Manang Mila hates mosquitoes. Every afternoon, she burns leaves in an effort to drive them away, instead of investing in repellents.

Complacency.


Complacency will kill us all.

Stars and Skies

Climate change had all Filipinos at its feet last month. There’s nothing else for it, typhoons with voluminous rains smashing the archipelago in record time.

When the planet was healthier, super typhoons were more predictable.

September's catastrophe hammers home a point scientists have been babbling about since time immemorial; climate change is more than melting glaciers and drowning cities. Climate change means coral reefs bleaching, which in turn means a food web in disarray. It means the wipeout of a huge chunk of the world’s flora and fauna, not to mention a certain species called Homo sapien. Death. Destruction. Corrosion...

Climate change does not reckon with any creature, even if it has starred in a box-office movie, nor does it care if it has been decked out in the latest bling.

As a case in point:

Christine Reyes, highly esteemed star of telenovelas and films, at the mercy of the elements.

An unwitting poster girl for a planet in peril.

Climate change really is a lethal equalizer. If the SNN newscasts were to let on, showbiz personalities were not impervious to the Ondoy disaster, notwithstanding their towers of ivory and three-storey mansions. Everyone from Sylvia Sanchez to Gladys Reyes had a story and lived to tell it.

On a brighter note, some rose higher than the floodwaters, way above the average moral high ground. Look at these two:



What they did was really dangerous. And the best thing about it was that they never vaunted their actions to the press, unlike one other well-known actor.

Like I said, an equalizer.

A Glimpse on Bioethanol

by: Janinah Jimmin M. Molina

Bioethanol is a fuel derived from renewable sources of feedstock. It is primarily created through a sugar fermentation process. Energy crops are the main sources of sugar required to create ethanol. Examples of these crops are corn, maize and wheat crops, waste straw, willow and popular trees, sawdust, reed canary grass, cord grasses, jerusalem artichoke, myscanthus and sorghum plants. Since bioethanol is derived from plants, it has enhanced the 'Lifecycle Carbon Dioxide' performance. This for the reason that the plants being utilized as feedstock use carbon dioxide. Thus, burning the fuel produces carbon dioxide which is then balanced by carbon dioxide taken from the air.

Bioethanol is therefore, good for the environment because the carbon dioxide emissions are reduced. An order from the European Union was issued to support the development of biofuel. Provided that the amount of fuel in not above 5 percent by volume, then bioethanol can be combined with petrol. This makes it a convenient, clean, and environmentally sound alternative for fossil fuels.

The proposal of bioethanol as a replacement fuel is not just about cost reduction but how it can also help the environment. According to the University of Surrey, these ‘environmental gains’ are the following:

*Reduction in consumption of fossil fuels

*Greener emissions when burnt in comparison to petrol

*Greener process, less waste and harmful emissions during production

*Less pollution to water, air and land

*Production of useful by-products

*Biodegradable fuel

*Cleaner power generation from CHP replacing electricity from the grid.

Thus, bioethanol is advantageous for the environment.

Coral Triangle

by: Charise G. Bollozos

Six Southeast Asian governments are trying to save the undersea worlds that is threatened to be lost due to changes in the environment and because of human irresponsibility.
They have launched the project Coral Triangle as an initiative to protect coastal reefs.

The countries of Indonesia, Bali, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor adopted a 10 year plan to conserve the ocean. The Coral Triangle aims to address the growing threats to the regions coral reefs and coastal ecosystem.

These countries are mostly archipelagic countries so most of the people who live near the shore depend on the ocean for livelihood. I think it is just right that they do all the necessary things to preserve the ocean. There has been a great deterioration of the coral reefs over the years due to natural causes and of course, destructions made by humans. A lot of the fishermen from these countries still use destructive method of fishing like dynamite fishing and the use of poisonous chemicals. Another factor that has caused the coral reefs to be destroyed is the change in environment like the rise in temperature and change in acidity level, but of course we can still blame ourselves for this because these are all results of global warming.

If coral reefs are destroyed then the fishes will not have any place to live in. As a result people who depend on fishing for a living won’t have any form of livelihood. Having this 10 year coral triangle plan to rehabilitate the ocean is a very good idea. It is just right that we take care of the ocean most especially of we depend on it to be able to live.

Recycled Plastic Bridges

By: Charise G. Bollozos

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers together with Marc Green, President of Axion International collaborated to build a bridge made of recycled plastic bottles and plastic car bumpers.

These bridges are mainly composed of detergent bottles and car bumpers and is said to be strong enough to hold up a 73 ton Abrams tank. The recycled bridge takes only a month to build and is more cost efficient than wooden bridges.

Although building a recycled plastic bridge may sound fun and easy, the whole process is complicated. The process will start by melting the plastic detergent bottles which will then produce polyethylene. Liquid polystyrene and fiber glass from car bumpers should then be mixed with the polyethylene in a hot tank and then the mixture is formed into whatever shape is needed.

The challenge here is that polyethylene and liquid polystyrene is like water and oil. They don’t mix. So to be able to get the mixture a special heating condition is needed and thus will make the plastic very strong, strong enough to hold a tank.

Well, this is something that should also inspire other countries to be more conscious about the environment. Although i'm pretty sure that for developing countries like the Philippines this is just yet a dream though this should serve as our inspiration.

More bridges from recycled plastic should be made. It is like hitting two birds with one stone. We can lessen our use of lumber which of course will benefit us a lot in our fight against deforestation and we will also lessen pollution from plastic which is said to be the number 1 pollutant in our bodies of water. These bridges are also resistant to molds, moisture and termites which means that it requires less maintenance.

Plastiki

By: Charise G. Bollozos


David de Rothschild a British environmentalist wants to deliver a message in a bottle. He has built a 60 foot long boat made out of plastic bottles. The boat will sail from San Francisco to Australia. They named the boat "Plastiki".

The boat is made up of 12 and a half thousand of 2 liter plastic bottles that will act as individual buoyancy chambers. One of their challenges was to find something that is environmentally friendly that will hold all the bottles together. They have come up with water proof glue that is made from cashew nuts and sugar, thus making the whole boat environmentally friendly.

David de Rothschild is also the founder of the group Adventure Ecology. The group’s aim is to influence school children to give more interest to environmental issues. Indeed building this boat will sure catch some attention not just from the school children but even older people. If they will succeed in their journey from San Francisco to Australia then this will prove that building a boat from plastic bottles is a good idea in helping our environment.

This is a very good way of recycling and not to mention e very unique way of sailing that will surely encourage other people to build boats such as Plastiki. This will help in our ever growing problem with plastics. Finally plastics will be able to float in ocean without being considered as trash. I’m really hoping that Plastiki will have a smooth sailing journey so that other people will be inspired to build more boats from plastic bottles.

World Environment Day

by Janinah Jimmin M. Molina

What is World Environment Day?

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.This is commemorated every 5th of June.

This is one way by which the United Nations can raise environmental awareness among people in the society, as well as to gain political attention and action on environmental issues.

The agenda of WED are the following:

1. Give a human face to environmental issues;
2. Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;
3. Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues;
4. Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

This year's WED theme is 'Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change'. It views the need for countries to have a consensus on the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen, later somewhere in December this year. In addition, it will also include battling poverty and forest management and improvements.

Mexico hosted this year’s celebration in the fight against climate change.The country is also a leading partner in UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign. It has spearheaded the pledging and planting of some 25 per cent of the trees under the campaign which is also supported by its president, Felipe Calderon. He said that the WED celebration will further underline Mexico's determination to manage natural resources and deal with the most demanding challenge of the 21st century – climate change.

Let's make everyday a World Environment Day! :)