Our Environment

Since we are talking about the environment, our professors noticed that before we take notice about the earth’s environment, we should first look on our own surrounding and do something to change it for the better. What I’m talking about is the condition of our classroom: our learning environment. I can’t deny that our room isn't one of the cleanest and the most properly organized room in our campus and that’s why our professor told us that it is not only the student’s duty to keep the room neat and clean but also the management’s.

With this, our group enumerated the things that should be changed inside our room together with the other problems like repairing of the wall fans and chairs, the proper trash can for our room, air-con maintenance, regular garbage collection, dirty curtains etc. together with the letter of our request and pleas, we head out to the administration and presented our case.

We were not disappointed. After a day some people from the maintenance did mostly what we had requested and things inside the room just got better. Now that our room is a little better than before we can now focus more on the things that we should really do.

Environmental Laws

What is the law? According to a website Law can be described as a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. Laws are made by governments, specifically by their legislatures. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution (written or unwritten) and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics and society in countless ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people.

ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

Almost everything we do is administrated by some set of rules. There are rules for every sports, company, community, social club, examination, traffic etc. that we need to follow to uphold the law’s purpose and orderliness. There are also rules set about our morality and custom that states what we should and shouldn't do. Laws are rules imposed to the people by the state.  Everyone should obey the law at all times whether they like it or not.

Environmental laws are one of the most important yet the most neglected law in our country. News about illegal logging and deforestation is always on the air but never did they say about capturing the culprits. Same goes for the problems in water and air pollution. I think that maybe our environmental laws are a bit outdated but it is not the reason of our nature’s destruction. Law enforcers should do their job better and think for the better good rather than personal gain. People also should know the importance of our environment and maybe able to discipline their selves and stop in their own way our nature’s deterioration.

If I will be given a chance to make my own law, I will inhibit the construction of golf courses and clubs and the like if the site is a home for a number of trees. I think those projects are more of a detriment than a benefit for the society and an entertainment for some people should not be an excuse for the destruction of the nature. I think that it is us that should adjust to our environment and not the other way around. We should always place the nature above people or experience the consequences later on. 

Atmosphere

What is atmosphere? The atmosphere is the blanket of gases which surrounds the planet Earth. It is held close to the surface by the planet’s gravitational pull. It is made up of a mixture of gases, mostly nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide. It ranges as far as over 500km above the surface of the planet. There is no exact boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. The Atmosphere become thinner the higher up you go. The atmosphere just keeps getting less and less dense, until it disappears into outer space.

Protecting the earth’s atmosphere should be the priority of everyone. Life on earth became possible because of the atmosphere. It is the only thing that keeps safe from the harmful effects of the sun and without it we will be toasted alive. It is also plays a major role in the water cycle and keeps the oxygen around so we can breath and live the life as we know it. 

The Layers of the Atmosphere

Even though we may not feel the effect right now, destroying the atmosphere can be a great disaster for all of us that are living in this world if it continues. Air, water and land pollution is the leading cause of the destruction in the atmosphere. As we can see, everything is interconnected in our nature so we must all exert effort if we want to preserve our life. Be mindful in what we do and try to maintain a mutual relationship with our nature.

Lithosphere

Lithosphere  

The outer most shell of every planet that has a rocky surface is what we call the lithosphere. In our planet, the lithosphere is composed of the crust and the upper mantle and is further divided into tectonic plates. The earth’s lithosphere has two types: the continental and the oceanic. By studying the earth’s lithosphere somehow we can learn more about our planet’s history. Scientist has now understood further how volcanoes erupt, how and where mountains will form and many more by learning about the lithosphere. We may not notice it in our everyday living but the tectonic plates where we are situated moves constantly. These movements, regardless of how little they may be, is the reason of the earth’s geographical features.

The Philippines is located on what we call the pacific ring of fire. As we know, the pacific ring of fire is a region that surrounds the majority of the Pacific Ocean Basin where high volcanic and seismic activities happens. This region is essentially a home of geological activities like volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, deep sea trenches and major fault zones. Knowing these facts, we should always consult geologist if we ever plan on building a house or any infrastructure so as to know whether the building site will be situated near a fault line. If so, it is better to look for another place or rather make the building sturdy and earthquake proof in case one should happen. People should also avoid settling near active volcanoes in case of eruption just like what happened in Mayon Volcano in Albay.

Hydrologic Cycle

Hydrologic cycle is the journey the water takes as it circulates from the land to the sky and back again. This cycle begins when the water in the oceans, lakes and rivers heat up and begins to evaporate, so as the water in plants which is called transpiration. The water vapor then goes up in the air and changes into tiny droplets forming clouds in a process called condensation. When so much water has condensed that the air cannot hold it anymore, precipitation will occur. It may be in a form hail sleet, snow or rain which is a regular occurrence here in the Philippines. After precipitation, water returns to the land or sea. Some of it are absorbed by the ground and become ground water but most of it flows to low lying area and eventually returns to the bodies of waters where the cycle start all over again.

Water is essential for every living organism on the planet. Plants and animals may live without food for a time but never water. Humans are the same. We need clean water in order to survive; even the first civilizations were established near bodies of water as an indication. But if water is really important to us why do we keep on disrupting the hydrologic cycle with our unwise and careless actions?

Even if earth’s surface is 71% water, 97% of that water is in the ocean the remaining fresh water is frozen as ice caps (little more than 2%). The remaining freshwater are either groundwater or readily accessible through rivers and lakes. With this we can conclude that less than 1% of the water supply can be used as drinking water.

                 

Continuously interrupting the hydrologic cycle may cause water shortage. It means that the less than 1% of potable water won’t be enough to sustain the population. This may be the result of drought, deforestation and too much use of water that it doesn’t have time to replenish. But it may also be the result of the disturbance by us, humans, in the water cycle. Improper waste disposal and blocking or diverting the natural path of the water ways are some of our mistakes that needs to be corrected immediately.

Change for a better future

I always bring my own lunch during school days from my nursery days until now.  I always pack my lunch and bring utensils thinking that in this way not only did I save money; I also helped the environment by not using plastic utensils and styrofoam. When I learned about the Eco foot print I suddenly realized that even if I am not contributing too much in the world’s destruction I still do. It is unfortunate that it is our fault that our environment is in this bad condition so we should act and do something about it. From now on, I will help in my simple way in saving our nature. While I always bring my own utensils and lunch box to school, I still place my spoon and fork in a small clear plastic. I now realized how much plastic I have used if I have been doing this since nursery. So now, I started to use a non-disposable container for my utensils. In this way I would totally stop using disposable materials for my lunch. This might sound very light but thinking about the years that I have used the clear plastic this will be a great start if can continue this for the rest of the time.

from this...

...to this

And if possible i will also minimize the use of other plastic materials  like plastic bags and start using  Eco friendly bags . lessening the use of paper and recycling some will also be a great way to save our environment. 

Transforming culture: Consumerism vs Sustainability

Everyone wishes to live in a perfect world where everything is abundant and we can always get what we want. Unfortunately, this world where we are living is far from perfect and even more unfortunate is that we, humans, think that it is. Consumerism is now a trend in the society: Weekend sale in the malls and supermarkets, new fashion style for clothes, shoes and gadgets.  People consume stuff like mad without realizing its long term effect in the planet and on ourselves. 

 It is said that consumerism is beneficial for the economy on the long run, but will it be beneficial if in the end all we have is money while our natural resources are already gone? Too much consumption leads only to destruction.  Consuming more means extracting more raw materials from our natural resources. By that, we can pretty much predict what will happen if this trend continues. Subtracting too much from a number will result in a negative answer and we don’t want to be in that negative’s place. 

The only solution in that problem is to change our view as a society from consumerism to sustainability. Sustainability means configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals for future generations. By changing our views and actions we can preserve what is left while sustaining ourselves. What will you choose: Consumerism or sustainability, Environment or Ecosystem? I think that there will surely come a time that our society will be forced to accept that sustainability is required for us humans to keep on living but I fear that when that time comes, it will be too late for all of us. Why wait till everything is gone if we can still preserve what we have now?

The Story of Stuff

 Extraction to production to distribution to consumption to disposal, all things that we buy, all that we use and every product we acquire has undergone this process. Our society today demands us to practice the concept of consumerism. This means that people should just purchase things even if it’s not necessary just to help the world’s economy. In a way, we can say that consumerism really do help the economy of the country where these products are being sold. What about our natural environment? Yes the economy is progressing but our nature is the one suffering. Everything in excess is bad and especially for extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. Each step in that process causes enough harm in our environment for us to rethink our way of life.

Our society has set a standard on the way we are living. We need to buy, wear, and eat like everyone else if we want to fit in the society. And that standard changes every now and then that people should constantly obtain what the standards are. Sometimes purchasing something really unnecessary without pausing to reflect what will happen to that stuff after they are through with it.

Our nature is dying, and these days, it is all our duty to save and protect it. All of can do something to improve the situation and a better way to start is by being a responsible consumer. By simply rejecting to use plastic bags and Styrofoam we can change the state a little better. Remember that it’s either you’re part of the solution or you’re one of the problem. Pause and reflect the effects of your actions to our nature. Know the story of stuff.

The 11th Hour

Turn mankind’s darkest hour into its finest. The 11^th Hour is a documentary film about the situation of the natural environment and how our actions affect the condition of our planet. This documentary shows us the serious problems that should be addressed immediately if we want to continue living in this world.

Global warming, water and air pollutions, deforestations, melting ice caps, the 11^th hour shows us the current state of the environment we are living and how we can make things better or worse through our actions. We can’t deny the fact that we ourselves are the reason that these problems are here. Lacks of discipline, poor implementation of the law or just plain carelessness are some of the reasons these problems have gone from bad to worse. The complications look overwhelming based on the figures analysis shown by the scientists but it is not too late for us to do something. There’s a saying: “a bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.” The time to make that turn is now and everyone is obligated to do something to fix these problems. With the advancements in technology and the cooperation of everyone it should not be that hard to reverse what is going on around us. We should understand that change should start from one’s self if we want to change the world around us. All of us should persevere and preserve what is left in the nature.

 We should remember that it is not the world that we are saving by fixing these problems but ourselves. The Earth will continue to live and will adopt just like what it is doing for the past millions of years but humans cannot easily cope with such changes. We should learn to live together with the nature and think what is best for both. We should act, time is running out.