Yes, change some of our habits and we can help reduce the world's carbon footprints. This is the theme for 2008 World Environment Day set on June 5. How much are you willing to do for the environment? Can you do something this day to save our Mother Earth?

These are the A-Z to observe WED on June 5. Which one can you do? Little things such as what I do can have a huge impact on the environment if the great number of us do it at the same time.

On March 8, we observed Earth Hour by switching off our lights for an hour starting at 8pm in many cities all around the globe. The mere one hour without using electricity helped to reduced thousand pounds of carbon footprints.

The award-winning documentary The Inconvenient Truth showed scientifically the consequences if we continue not to care of the environment. Some of us may not like the narrator of this film but scientists around the world have concurred to the technical basis of his power point presentation.

Stop the apathy. Do something. Act now. Protect the environment. Save Mother Earth.

Start:

Apr 22, '08 9:00p

An OSCAR-award winning documentary presented by Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize winner for 2007, about protecting the environment. The former US Vice President expounds in this film the shocking effects of global warming, complete with complex scientific powerpoint presentation. Check this trailer http://www.youtube.com/v/wnjx6KETmi4&hl=en.

Premiering on HBO on this date with replays on the following dates:
23 April - 1:00pm
24 April - 1:15am
25 April - 11:00pm
26 April - 7:00pm
27 April - 3:00am & 5:00pm

April 7 is the World Health Day! This date marks the founding of the World Health Organization. This year's theme is "protecting health from climate change."

This Saturday, 29 March 2008 at exactly 8pm, lights will be shut off for an hour in 24 global cities.

For what? If more people are aware and switch off their lights for one hour, it can help to reduce this year's carbon footprints by thousands of pounds. That's equivalent to saving hundreds of thousands trees or preventing million pounds of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere.

What can you do? Switch off your lights. A simple act that will affect our environment.

If we can spread the awareness, we can be involved in a noble cause to preserve our Mother Earth. The more people are aware, the more people will be involved, and the better environment for us to live in.

You can get more info from this Earth Hour link.

(thanks to my friend Vin for sharing the email).

With unpredictable weather and climatic changes becoming a major concern globally, the responsibility of protecting the environment does not rely alone on Nobel Peace prize winners Al Gore and UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. All of us have a role to play in making our Mother Earth a better place to live, not only for today's generation, but for many more generations to come.

Being one who loves nature and likes to climb mountains, trek jungles and do all sorts of adventure outdoors, it pains to think that the environment is on the brink of destruction due to human recklessness and nonchalant attitude, unless we all start doing something to prevent it.

These are just a few things that I do to protect the environment. Hope you too can do your own little part.

1. I recycle as much as I can. Bottles, plastic bags, newspapers, even printing ink cartridges, all can be recycled. In my neighborhood, there's a recycle center for charity accepting all kinds of stuff, and at the same time, the organization that handles the job use the proceeds for charity. I regularly send all my recyclable items to this center instead of throwing them just anywhere.
   
   
2. I use airconditioning sparingly. Conserve the use of electricity since the more electricity we use, the more fuel we burn. I use timer for aircon so that I use it enough only for a good night sleep. I switch off electrical items when not in use too.
   
   
3. Use water wisely. I brush teeth at the same time that I am in the shower. This way I can save few liters of water everyday. I wash my car only when really necessary to save a few more liters. I do laundry weekly to maximize the load of the washing machine, thus wastage of water is minimized.
   
   
4. Since I wash my laundry weekly, I am reducing my use of surfactant-based products like detergent. Surfactants are said to be non-biodegradable and can cause ecological imbalance. If you can find alternative those that are surfactant-free, go for them. If no alternatives available, make sure to use these chemicals less and less. Same thing applies to our shampoos, soaps and shower gels. It may sound ridiculous, but bathe only when necessary.
5. As a paint chemist, I formulate coatings that are environment-friendly - low VOC, low odor. Although paint is just a small part of the major contributors to air pollutants that can destroy the ozone layer, at least, we are doing our part of being responsible in our actions to the environment.

This is an appeal to everyone to care for the environment. There is no such thing as we cannot do anything. We have many ways to contribute, little ways, all it takes is your own initiative and commitment to do it.

PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT, SAVE MOTHER EARTH!!