mEARTHa stewart's blog

It was early in the morning. The sun shined happily. The birds were chirping cheerfully. I heard the noise made by our neighbor doing laundry outside. And the joyful sounds of children playing. And of course, the morning chismisan of our neighbors outside their houses could not be missed.

What a pleasant day.

But why was it so that after a short while, the beautiful morning scenario was covered with hasty dispersing darkness. It hid the handsome sun. And as a result, heavy rain suddenly poured down. The sound of the falling rain swallowed the bird chirps. It made my neighbor pack up her laundry set-up outside her house. The rain interrupted the happiness of the playing children as they went inside their homes. And definitely, the momentum of my neighbors’ pleasure of chit-chatting was distracted too.

What an awful day.

Yet the sun showed up after a few minutes. It shined brightly again. Everything went back to the starting scenario. Only that it was wet outside.

This experience of mine is an example to a sudden climate change, a characteristic of global warming. It is quite alarming that in our everyday lives, we could feel the effects of global warming. The facts I learned from watching Signos made me be more cautious of the way I treat the environment. At the same time I felt guilty because of what I did and is continually doing that contributes to the destruction of the environment. Simple acts like throwing candy wraps anywhere in the streets, leaving trash on the places I have stayed, leaving the lights and appliances on even when not in use, using the air conditioner even when it is cold, and throwing papers away when it could still be recycled. These are such irresponsible things to do.

When I was in grade school, one of my teachers always said that we are all stewards of God’s creation. We are all responsible in taking care of the environment. Every person is expected to do their part in nurturing the nature. As early as childhood, parents should instill to their children the importance of this shared responsibility in taking care of the environment. And it needs a constant reminder, proper guidance and as an elder, one should set as a good example.

But come to think of it. Are we all aware of the problem on the environment we are facing now? The answer is no. Some people may not be aware of the meaning of a simple word like pollution. To be able to start solving the problem, one must be knowledgeable of the problem, even a little only. This is to instill in the minds of the people the awareness one should have. But still, awareness can do nothing if we would not do something to cure the problem. Motivation to act goes side by side with awareness.

Speaking of actions, we can do so many things to lessen the effects of global warming. The short documentary even cited simple ways to help heal the nature like using paper bags instead of plastic bags that takes so many years to decompose, removing the plugs of unused appliances from the socket, and minimizing household wastes.

In our home, a simple way we do to minimize and organize our wastes is through recycling and waste segregation respectively. We have a big box for paper and carton wastes and a large plastic bag for PET bottles. We see to it that we only bring out our garbage bags if the garbage truck is already outside to prevent its scattering by cats and beggars. Another thing we do is turning lights off when sleeping at night. We do not use the air conditioner and electric fan if it is cold. My mother always reminds me to conserve water. Use a glass in brushing your teeth. In our bathroom, we do not use the shower. Instead we use a tabo and a pail. We use the water tank for emergency only.

You see? We can do so many simple things in order to save the environment. Awareness, motivation to act and cooperation, these we must have to help save Mother Earth. Lessen your carbon footprint, save Mother Earth!! Yeah.

Marian Grace T. San Pedro

2006-10356