This article is an environmental piece a.k.a. my personal take/rant on the state of the world (my world) due to a build-up for a race which will be conducted by many V8 cars driving around a track for a total distance of 500km (nearby the Norwood-portion of the city). And by the way, should I was asked to write this for CHEM ENG 4024: Environmental Engineering in Adelaide University, I think, I deserve some points or extra marks.
And nope, this wasn't a waste of time. I was making the best of my time stuck in the bus (about 55minutes, compared to the usual 10minutes) due to the clogged up road, which by the way, had made me to come in late.
Why is it (the race and the build-up to it) should be considered non-Earthly?
1. I'm pretty sure that the very act of V8 cars (although using unleaded fuel) racing around a track for 78 laps (totalling 500km) WOULD definitely increase the sudden amount of pollutant gases to the environment. And I haven't even talked anything about the noise pollution, thermal pollution, smell of rubber tires burnt etc etc.
2. These cars surely consumed a lot of fuel. (No arguement to that. If you disagree, think about hybrid cars. Maybe that will drive the point home).
3. During that event, which might make about 291,400 attendees happy, I'm pretty sure that litres and litres of beer would be consumed. This might pose a threat of extra amount of rubbish / strain on recycling system. And bear in mind, for every 250mL of beer produced/consumed, LifeCycle Assessment says that the Virtual Water Content (the cradle-to-grave amount of water used to produce it) is 75L! There is going to be a lot of water to be used for producing beers for one event. And should hamburgers/similar foods be consumed, a 150g hamburger's Virtual Water Content is 2400L. (Reference: Dr. David Lewis).
4. Due to the clogging of the road (detours + extra time spent), most road users will have to spend at least an extra 30 minutes of the road stuck. Are the engines switched off? Nope. So, as each of the vehicle inch their way to the city (for about 7 days of the roads being clogged), more and more of fuel are burnt and more pollutant gases are released (compared to other usual week).
5. Due to the roads being clogged, to avoid being late for work/school/anything, most residents in the nearby area had to wake up at least 30minutes early (or prepare to be late). Bearing in mind that the sun rises up around 7am (which is around the time usually people would wake up), now, people have to wake up earlier (ie. before sunrise). And it's cold nowadays. So, the would be an increase amount of time for the lights and heaters being turned on (for every house), compared to the amount of time these equipments would be switched on, if residents could wake up at usual time. Hence, more fossil fuel will be burned.
6. Also, due to the roads being clogged up, some residents who would usually take the public transport might opt to drive their own vehicles. (Personal vehicles can use any other routes, which although might not be the shortest routes, would still let them get to their destination quicker. Public transport will always have to follow the destined route, which might be clogged). Ergo, more personal vehicles on the road, more pollutant gases, and more fossil fuel burnt, compared to if these people using the public transport as usual.
So, how to mitigate / reduce-or-cancel the effects?
1. Cancel the race, or..
2. Longer Earth Hours is needed. (Maybe, instead of 1 hour, it'll be 7 x 0.5 hour more, ie. 5hours. Yeay, let's just stay in the dark for one whole night!)
3. Further studies by experts are needed. (I like this sentence, makes me feel safe.. haha)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
:: Earth Hour (but non-Earth Life??) ::
Well, every time when March is around, some people would be obsessed about Earth Hour.
"Hey, let us switch off our lights for one hour during the night time", they said.
Well, good on them. Yeah, yeah, it's a show of solidarity, care for the environment, (And maybe, to be 'in' with the group'. Maybe).
Well, forgive me if the opinion that I have may hurt some people. But there might be time when I disagree. As I think, sometimes, IF IT WAS REALLY NECESSARY, of course you'll be using lights during night time. After all, it's dark, and that's what you use when it is dark.
Furthermore, why bother doing Earth Hour if you're having a "non-Earth Life"???
Just read my following advise, and see what you should actually continuously do that will help save the Earth many many many times more than a dark Earth Hour:
1. Turn/switch off unused appliances. Yes, when you are going out, or sleeping, turn off your lights, fans, TV, laptops, speakers etc. Or if you really need them to get you to sleep, put it into a timer mode to switch off within 30minutes or so. (Yup, guess what, the electricity you save by doing this is way way way more than just an hour during Earth Hour night time).
2. Reduce usage of heating and/or cooling units. For your information, heaters, and air-conditioners are the major drain for electricity. Want to know about the figures? Go figure it out yourself on Google. If you're feeling cold, put on more on thicker clothes (or drink warm stuff). If you're feeling hot, drink lots of water, and wear less, or thinner clothes. Try not to get too hooked up on these appliances. And if you really have to use them, please do put them at a reasonable target temperature. Surely, putting a target of 16'C on your air-conditioners in a 46'C hot summer will kill the Earth by having lots and lots of coals burned to generate the electricity you're consuming. After all, having your bodies to experience a shocking change of temperature (eg. 19'C in the house to 40'C outside) would actually harm your body and health.
3. Sort out your rubbish. Yes, this might sounds silly, but it helps the Earth. Un-recycled recyclable stuff like bottles or boxes harms the Earth. Firstly, these stuff can't be biodegradable, thus it leads to bigger mounts of rubbish. And that means more landfill. More lands cannot be used for planting trees needed to help control the climates. Secondly, by having these recyclable stuff thrown away, more trees need to be cut, and more plastics had to be produced to replace them. And this adds up to the whole cycle of "making recyclable stuff to be thrown away just so that new recyclable stuff need to be made again".
4. Reduce/stop your intake of hormones or illegal/excessive drugs. Do you know that when you take those stuff, and when you urinate or shit, it gets all flushed out into the reservoir for water treatment? And do you know that hormones and drugs (which contains chemical compounds) will be a major threat to the biological system in the sea and river? Yeah, yeah, us environmental engineer have to sort it out. But did you know that: systems that can truly filter out everything is very hard to achieve? And very costly too? And do you know that in the end, these waters (hopefully, treated ones) will be released back into the waterways, and can harm/kill the aquatic life and the microorganisms that helps the Earth's cycle of gases? So, help yourselves and the Earth by saying no to these stuff.
5. Use the public transportation. Yup, a single trip with a bus, or train or tram is way more Earth-friendly than each of us individually taking our own vehicles. And it saves you money too. Oh, but they (the public transportation) doesn't appear every 5 minutes.. Well, have you heard about a great invention called a watch? Or maybe about God's greatest gift to us all called a brain? But if you still loves your ride, just minimize its usage. And try to get a better alternative as fuel.
6. Reduce your garbage generation rate. Recycle. A sheet of paper got two sides, you know? And even if you print only on one side, the other side can still be used for annotating notes, scribbling, drawing, calculations (and doodle too!). Or why don't you try these: fit multiple pages of your work/lectures/whatever on a sheet of paper (as long as it is practical and readable). Less paper used, less trees cut, less harm for the Earth. Or why don't you have it in electronic format?
So, that's my 6 advices on leading and living an Earth life. So, if you do care about the Earth (truly from the heart), please do consider about these points.
And so, if you're like me, you've tried your best to do all that you can (at least these 6 points) to save the Earth, I thank you. And may you have a good day for everyday of your life.
And maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't feel guilty then when you opt to still switch on the light so that it won't be dark when you're educating people or saving the Earth during the Earth Hour.
peace!
p/s: Please, just don't be like a famous band that uses a private jet to attend a Save-the-Earth kinda concert. (And it wasn't a better fuel alternative anyway). Really ironic! And hypocritical too!
"Hey, let us switch off our lights for one hour during the night time", they said.
Well, good on them. Yeah, yeah, it's a show of solidarity, care for the environment, (And maybe, to be 'in' with the group'. Maybe).
Well, forgive me if the opinion that I have may hurt some people. But there might be time when I disagree. As I think, sometimes, IF IT WAS REALLY NECESSARY, of course you'll be using lights during night time. After all, it's dark, and that's what you use when it is dark.
Furthermore, why bother doing Earth Hour if you're having a "non-Earth Life"???
Just read my following advise, and see what you should actually continuously do that will help save the Earth many many many times more than a dark Earth Hour:
1. Turn/switch off unused appliances. Yes, when you are going out, or sleeping, turn off your lights, fans, TV, laptops, speakers etc. Or if you really need them to get you to sleep, put it into a timer mode to switch off within 30minutes or so. (Yup, guess what, the electricity you save by doing this is way way way more than just an hour during Earth Hour night time).
2. Reduce usage of heating and/or cooling units. For your information, heaters, and air-conditioners are the major drain for electricity. Want to know about the figures? Go figure it out yourself on Google. If you're feeling cold, put on more on thicker clothes (or drink warm stuff). If you're feeling hot, drink lots of water, and wear less, or thinner clothes. Try not to get too hooked up on these appliances. And if you really have to use them, please do put them at a reasonable target temperature. Surely, putting a target of 16'C on your air-conditioners in a 46'C hot summer will kill the Earth by having lots and lots of coals burned to generate the electricity you're consuming. After all, having your bodies to experience a shocking change of temperature (eg. 19'C in the house to 40'C outside) would actually harm your body and health.
3. Sort out your rubbish. Yes, this might sounds silly, but it helps the Earth. Un-recycled recyclable stuff like bottles or boxes harms the Earth. Firstly, these stuff can't be biodegradable, thus it leads to bigger mounts of rubbish. And that means more landfill. More lands cannot be used for planting trees needed to help control the climates. Secondly, by having these recyclable stuff thrown away, more trees need to be cut, and more plastics had to be produced to replace them. And this adds up to the whole cycle of "making recyclable stuff to be thrown away just so that new recyclable stuff need to be made again".
4. Reduce/stop your intake of hormones or illegal/excessive drugs. Do you know that when you take those stuff, and when you urinate or shit, it gets all flushed out into the reservoir for water treatment? And do you know that hormones and drugs (which contains chemical compounds) will be a major threat to the biological system in the sea and river? Yeah, yeah, us environmental engineer have to sort it out. But did you know that: systems that can truly filter out everything is very hard to achieve? And very costly too? And do you know that in the end, these waters (hopefully, treated ones) will be released back into the waterways, and can harm/kill the aquatic life and the microorganisms that helps the Earth's cycle of gases? So, help yourselves and the Earth by saying no to these stuff.
5. Use the public transportation. Yup, a single trip with a bus, or train or tram is way more Earth-friendly than each of us individually taking our own vehicles. And it saves you money too. Oh, but they (the public transportation) doesn't appear every 5 minutes.. Well, have you heard about a great invention called a watch? Or maybe about God's greatest gift to us all called a brain? But if you still loves your ride, just minimize its usage. And try to get a better alternative as fuel.
6. Reduce your garbage generation rate. Recycle. A sheet of paper got two sides, you know? And even if you print only on one side, the other side can still be used for annotating notes, scribbling, drawing, calculations (and doodle too!). Or why don't you try these: fit multiple pages of your work/lectures/whatever on a sheet of paper (as long as it is practical and readable). Less paper used, less trees cut, less harm for the Earth. Or why don't you have it in electronic format?
So, that's my 6 advices on leading and living an Earth life. So, if you do care about the Earth (truly from the heart), please do consider about these points.
And so, if you're like me, you've tried your best to do all that you can (at least these 6 points) to save the Earth, I thank you. And may you have a good day for everyday of your life.
And maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't feel guilty then when you opt to still switch on the light so that it won't be dark when you're educating people or saving the Earth during the Earth Hour.
peace!
p/s: Please, just don't be like a famous band that uses a private jet to attend a Save-the-Earth kinda concert. (And it wasn't a better fuel alternative anyway). Really ironic! And hypocritical too!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
:: just now you can, now you can not ::
Hi, just wanna update on the issue of usage of the word 'Allah' for publications made by non-Muslims in Malaysia.. Taken from Utusan Malaysia Online, written by Hamden Ramli (4th Rabiul Awal 1430, 1st March 2009)..
(editor's note: Em, so how is it now? Just wondering, is there any way a punishment could be made on anyone who is at fault here? I think, there might be more court cases soon..)
KOTA KINABALU 28 Feb. – Pewartaan kebenaran penggunaan kalimah Allah dalam penerbitan agama Kristian dibatalkan kerana terdapat kesilapan pada warta tersebut.
Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar berkata, perintah yang diwartakan pada 16 Februari 2009 itu juga bertentangan dengan keputusan kerajaan sebelum ini dan ia dibuat sebelum mahkamah memberikan keputusan.
Sehubungan itu katanya, kementerian membatalkan pewartaan tersebut dan memperbetulkan segera kesilapan berkenaan.
“Dalam perkara larangan penggunaan nama Allah itu, kita tidak akan mengatasi keputusan kerajaan yang tidak membenarkan penggunaan nama Allah oleh agama lain selain Islam dan kita juga tidak akan mendahului keputusan mahkamah.
“Saya mengaku berlaku kesilapan dalam pewartaan larangan penggunaan nama Allah itu dan kita akan mengambil tindakan untuk membetulkannya,” tegas beliau kepada Mingguan Malaysia di sini hari ini.
Syed Hamid berkata, kesilapan tersebut berlaku di peringkat ‘penggubalan maksud arahan’.
“Apa yang diberitahu pada saya dan apa yang akhirnya berlaku adalah dua perkara yang berbeza. Oleh itu, berlaku kesilapan dan kesilapan itu membawa implikasi yang amat mendalam,” katanya.
Beliau menambah, keputusan kerajaan sangat jelas bahawa perkataan Allah tidak boleh digunakan oleh agama selain daripada Islam.
Ditanya sama ada ruang untuk membetulkan pewartaan itu, Syed Hamid berkata: “Pewartaan itu dibuat oleh saya. Oleh itu saya akan membatalkan pewartaan tersebut”.
Mengenai tindakan seterusnya, beliau berkata, kementerian akan membetulkan kesilapan tersebut dan seterusnya menunggu keputusan mahkamah.
“Kita sudah membuat keputusan sebelum ini tetapi mereka cabar dengan membawa kes itu ke mahkamah. Sebelum mahkamah buat keputusan, kita tidak akan membuat apa-apa keputusan,” katanya.
Mahkamah Tinggi (Bahagian Rayuan dan Kuasa-Kuasa Khas) semalam diberitahu bahawa penggunaan perkataan Allah dalam penerbitan berkaitan agama Kristian bukan lagi satu larangan.
Keputusan itu terkandung dalam Perintah Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (Larangan Dalam Penggunaan Perkataan Tertentu dalam Dokumen dan Penerbitan) 2009 yang baru diwartakan oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri.
Menurut Peguam Kanan Persekutuan, Nizam Zakaria, perintah bertarikh 21 Januari lalu berkuat kuasa serta-merta setelah ia diwartakan pada 16 Februari lalu.
Perintah tersebut berbunyi : “Percetakan, penerbitan, penjualan, pengeluaran, pengedaran dan pemilikan sebarang dokumen dan penerbitan berkaitan agama Kristian yang mengandungi perkataan Allah, Kaabah, Baitullah dan Solat adalah dilarang melainkan di muka hadapan dokumen dan penerbitan itu ditulis dengan perkataan ‘Khusus Untuk Penganut Agama Kristian’.
Nizam memberitahu demikian semasa sebutan kes semakan kehakiman (undang-undang) oleh Gereja Katholik terhadap larangan penggunaan perkataan Allah dalam penerbitan Herald - The Catholic Weekly di hadapan Hakim Lau Bee Lan.
(editor's note: Em, so how is it now? Just wondering, is there any way a punishment could be made on anyone who is at fault here? I think, there might be more court cases soon..)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
