Article: Steps to a cleaner world

Tuesday May 5, 2009

Stories by TAN CHENG LI

Our modern, energy-guzzling lifestyle has adversely affected the climate. We need to look into damage control and take up The Carbon Footprint Challenge.

LET'S get real. Turning off your lights for 60 minutes during Earth Hour means nothing. Not when Malaysians collectively spewed 177 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2004, a figure which thrusted us to No.26 among the world's top 30 emitters.

That gesture of switching off, as the event organisers had repeatedly stressed, is merely the first step towards clearing our carbon-conscience. But has that event made you think about your energy-intensive way of life, as it was meant to? Have you been diligently turning off lights in empty rooms? Have you stopped leaving your television and computer on standby mode? Have you refrained from buying another handbag this month?

If you haven't been doing any of those – which are among the easiest things one can do to help save the climate – then it is time to do so. We suggest that you join us in The Carbon Footprint Challenge – Reduce It! and take tangible steps to address climate change.

The carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases (measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) we each emit annually from just living – sheltering ourselves, equipping our homes, commuting, eating, shopping.

And my, do we have big feet. Statistics from the Human Development Report 2007/2008 say each Malaysian averages a carbon footprint of 7.5 tonnes in 2004. Sure, it seems puny considering that an American's is 20.6 tonnes, but our feet are still six times larger than an Indian's and twice that of a Chinese's.

Though many Malaysians attest to be worried about a warming world, this concern is hardly reflected in their use of energy. Figures from Pusat Tenaga Malaysia show the nation's electricity usage climbed 34% between 2000 and 2005 to 80,705gWh. For the same period, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from our use of energy (for electricity and transportation) grew by 46% to 186.8 million tonnes.

And we all have read about – and also seen – what those heat-trapping gases can do to our planet: scorching days, melting ice, expanding oceans, floods, diseases, failed crops, species extinction.

By now, we hope you're convinced why we all need to take up The Carbon Footprint Challenge. In this voluntary and self-monitoring exercise, all you need to do is measure your carbon footprint, then take little steps to shrink it. You'll be tracking your carbon emissions over the months, just like you would count calories when you're on a slimming diet. Yes, you can call it a low-carbon diet.

There are many things you can do to shed those kilowatts. The fastest and least expensive way is simply to not waste energy since everything that is powered by fossil fuels have a carbon cost.

Reducing your energy use is not all that difficult. Take it from Joanne Lim, who started making a few changes in her life, such as unplugging the TV at night and turning on the fan instead of the air-conditioner. Her efforts have saved the planet an estimated 146kg of carbon emissions.

Follow the tips we've provided (in the table on P3 and those on P4) and chances are that by the end of the year, you would have substantially shrank your footprint.

Our consumer lifestyle exacts a heavy toll on the planet. To produce, distribute and dispose of all our purchases exhaust loads of energy.

Target areas

Knowing where energy is used up will help you focus your efforts. A study by the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia (Cetdem) found that the urban Malaysian household uses 7,000kWh of electricity annually. And that power is mostly exhausted by the refrigerator, air-conditioner and water-heater.

"If you tackle these three main energy users, you would have solved 70% of your electricity consumption," says executive director Gurmit Singh.

Lighting, although taking up only 10% of a household's electricity bill, should not be ignored since turning off unused lights and switching to energy-saving lights are among the easiest things to do.

Research by environmental consultant C.K. Tang showed that Malaysians could shave 60% off their energy usage by switching to energy-efficient electrical equipment and keeping homes cool through insulation and glazed windows.

"The potential to save is quite high. It is a matter of getting yourself educated and demanding for energy-efficient technology," says the director of IEN Consultants.

But if we continue living the way we do, he adds, the annual energy exhausted by households will more than double to over 58,700gWh by 2020 – that's 40 million tonnes of CO2 spewed into the atmosphere. And that's not counting emissions by industrial and commercial sectors.

If you find calculating your carbon footprint too much hassle, Dr Stellios Plainiotis says an easier way would be to just keep track of your monthly electricity and petrol bills – and make sure that the figures decline and not go up.

Scrutinising these bills is just the beginning of a low-carbon lifestyle, says Plainiotis, also a consultant at IEN. "Once you start looking at them, you'll also start thinking about other things that cause carbon emissions. We must have a mind-set of checking for their energy-efficiency. If people ask for such appliances, manufacturers will make better products."

Going low-carb(on)

Malaysians may not have gotten into the habit of tracking their carbon footprints but in the United States and Europe, it is growing in popularity with even the websites of national environment agencies providing online carbon calculators (www.mycarbonfootprint.eu, www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions).

In Britain, a growing band of people are taking matters into their own hands. The Carbon Rationing Action Group (www.carbonration ing.org.uk) is a network of community groups who set themselves individual and collective annual carbon allowances. Members who exceed their carbon rations are penalised, for instance, by giving funds to a low carbon project or for carbon offsetting.

At www.carbonrally.com, teams throughout the United States pit against each other to make the deepest CO2 cuts by taking up various challenges. A recent one calls for the planting of a vegetable garden; it will cut CO2 emisions by 18kg. And some 9,120 people have taken the challenge of skipping meat twice a week, saving some 26kg of CO2.

Calculating carbon footprints, however, is not an exact science since it relies on many assumptions. So you tend to get different results from different calculators. Housewife Catherine Ooi discovered this when she was tracking her family's carbon footprint online. But the discrepancies did not bother her for she found the whole exercise highly educational.

"I now know what are the things that will enlarge my carbon footprint, and avoid them. The calculators remind me to think about my purchases and to make better choices. I think they are useful in raising awareness on the easy, simple changes that people can make to lower their carbon score and positively impact the planet," says the mother-of-two.

Those who have gone on the low-carbon diet, people like Ooi and Lim, vouch for its lack of hardship and extra expenses – all that it requires is to not waste energy at home and on the roads, and to shop wisely.

Imagine if the whole country – all office buildings, malls, factories, government buildings – went on a similar diet. The shed kilowatts would stack up and eventually halt further expansion of our already huge carbon feet.

This article was taken from:The Star Online: Go Green Live Green 2 June 2009