environment
October 24, 2009
For 350: Home (0 Comments)
From Wikipedia:
Home is a 2009 documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The film is almost entirely composed of aerial shots of various places on Earth. It shows the diversity of life on Earth and how humanity is threatening the ecological balance of the planet.
It’s a good eye-opener for us to realize the importance of saving our environment. For other movies, check the Top 5 Climate Change Movies.
I don’t think there’s a 350 activity happening in the city, so this is what I’ve thought of doing for this day. Well, should there be an activity, I don’t think I have the heart to take part… Only that I would be there just so I wouldn’t cry. ;_;
October 20, 2009
Cities’ involvement in climate change (0 Comments)
This was supposed to be for Blog Action Day, but emotional stress got in the way. -_- Oh well, sharing climate change information doesn’t require any special dates.
Before Oct. 1, 2008, I didn’t know the term ‘climate change.’ I only knew global warming.
It was then I started working under the city government that I knew and became aware of climate change. The city has been advocating climate change that we even try to link it in almost every possible global/national issue. Why is the city so much involved then?There are a lot of cities already taking action especially the rapidly urbanizing ones. People from small cities or provinces tend to move to big cities due to better provision of settlements, jobs, and more places for leisure among others. The rapid urbanization becomes a reason for cities to neglect the safety of residents by providing settlements even in hazardous areas such as the coastal area. Those living there will be more susceptible to the effects of sea level increase. For the rest of the city, they’re exposed to flooding, risk of rising temperature, and possible decline of water supply. Other than these dangers, people’s daily activities will emit more greenhouse gases.
Cities’ initiatives against climate change are through adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation is when people adjust to the changing environment while mitigation are reduction measures against greater impacts of climate change or reduction of GHG emissions. People’s cooperation will make the initiatives more efficient. This presentation shows the adaptation and mitigation measures being done in the city where I live. If you’re not aware of your city’s projects, now is the time to find out and see where you can help. For reference, you may check WB’s Climate Resilient Cities Primer. That is like our climate change bible in the office. *lol*
Pfft, I can come up with a short post on this topic yet I wasn’t able to contribute to BAD09. -_- Anyway, climate change information sharing doesn’t end there. There’s still the 350.org. This time, “offline” action will/must take event event. There are no activities in my city, so I only plan to post a video showing reasons why we should care for the environment. Believer or not of climate change, there’s nothing to lose in taking action. Just think of the future generation.
July 8, 2007
Don’t use that! (2 Comments)
I’m getting tired of hearing that every time they ask what shampoo I use. Filipino readers would already know what I mean. There is news going around that Sunsilk contains formaldehyde (aka formalin). I guess this is more spread through emails, since the ff. sites — THE BLOG @ dencio.com and The Mommy Journals — have mentioned getting them through that. I won’t quote the email here anymore since you can read it from the sites mentioned. Although parts of the email are in Filipino, so I would have to explain further. It seems some people have ’seen’ Sunsilk shampoos having the ingredient formaldehyde. Formaldehyde (aka formalin) is known to be carcinogenic (cancer-causing).
I use Sunsilk for a very long time. I’m already brain dead. I guess I already have brain cancer. O_O WHOA!
Haha~ Of course I’m just kidding. ^_^ If you have read the comments in The Mommy Journals, some have mentioned they had or have direct contact with formalin when they use it on a biology experiment yet this didn’t have any effect on them. But I guess it would be different if they’ve been doing that for n years. What about their professors/teachers then? O_o Not all of them might be doing experiments by themselves, but what about those who do? The probability could be 1:20 professors would work with their students. *shrugs* A dermatologist have mentioned about formalin causing redness, skin rashes, or skin irritation on contact. I forgot if this is based on frequent, prolonged, or instant contact. These effects might be possible on instant contact though especially for those with sensitive skin.
You know, if they add this carcinogenic substance in shampoos or other health-care products, then those wouldn’t be approved for public distribution. A minimum dosage would be fine and it’s not like you actually use _formalin_ on your head. So you can have an idea of what I’m trying to point out, I would use WATER as an example. ^_^
Do you know how your public water is treated and disinfected? Treatment process depends on the quality of the raw water. Chlorine is commonly used for disinfection because it is strong and will kill many microorganisms. Chlorine may be toxic when too much is used, therefore, a minimum amount is only required. Why would they use chlorine? Because it will be able to kill microorganisms once the water is distributed through the water pipe distribution system. Manganese, flouride, iron, etc. can also be found in water, but there are others hard to remove. They can be left alone once they are under or at least equal to the minimum standards. Of course, the majority of the population do not drink water directly coming from their faucets. Some may have home water purifiers like my family does. At least this will remove any solids that may have come from water pipes. (Read some information about chlorine here.)
Going back to formalin, it is used similarly like chlorine — to kill off germs that may live in your cosmetics, health, or beauty products. A lot has been saying, “DON’T USE SUNSILK!” I would say then, “DON’T DRINK WATER!” *lol*
You may say you drink mineral water, but it contains a lot of minerals that you have to be wary of. Those minerals will always have to meet the standards. (Read MineralWaters.org or Aquamania.net).
It’s not bad to have a little bit of what’s dangerous to our body. Don’t you even wonder why street children still grow old even if they grow up in a dirty environment? It’s only bad they get various kind of diseases. XP You know, it’s also bad if you’re TOO CLEAN. *lol* It’s funny how people react this way when it comes to their health-care products, when there are other things they should worry about. Like their surroundings. The environment. People in the Philippines wouldn’t normally look for a trash can. They would just throw it any where that is convenient for them. The streets are the biggest ‘trash bins’ or ‘trash cans’ you’ll ever see. ^_^ Even when I haven’t studied Environmental and Sanitary Engineering, I’ve been mindful of my trash. Just because there isn’t a nearby trash can I’d just throw it away like that. I would really look for a trash can. If it were just plastics from candies, I’d temporarily keep it “properly” in my bag and throw it when I get home. Plastics are the hardest to break down and, when you burn them, you will only contribute to the air pollution. Be conscious of your environment. The environment comes first because this is where your habitat is based. The government will not entirely do the cleaning for you. You can’t just go to another planet once the Earth’s resources are gone. ^_^ More generations will come and it’s the current generation who will have to put action in protecting their environment for the future… The future generation will also do their part for the future, future ones. ^_^V
It’s funny how people have been fighting over that formalin issue. When there are other issues like you can easily get lung cancer from air pollution.
If you made it this far, then I thank you and congratulate you. ^_^ Boring topics like these aren’t supposed to be ignored. Hehe~
Flames would be ignored, btw. If you want to bring down products of Unilever, don’t argue with me. There are proper places for that… Like the court. ^_^
(Crossposted in Here is No Why)
June 12, 2007
Cleaning up Google Reader (0 Comments)
The following are links I removed from my Google Reader because they’re hardly updated or I they update too much that it’s hard for me to catch up. *lol*
Nuwen.com
FionaApple.org (seems to be a dead link)
Go2Web20.net
famfamfam.com
Anime Lover
Brain Wave
Wise Worm Blogs
Karoshi
And random sites:
Cigarettes Top Trash List at Waterways — Ugh~ I think I’m one of the contributors to this even though I do not directly throw my cigbutts in the waer. It is only possible if some trash are being thrown in a body of the water. O_o But that isn’t the pint why I’m plugging this… It’s because Philippines was rated third to having the most volunteers in cleaning waterways and coastlines. Wow ^; *lol*
Movable Type 4 Beta — Oh gosh, I’m liking the new interface of MT and it even has this VOX feel. Shit, I so wanna move back to MT. O_O Maybe I will once it’s done with beta stage.
I got SMS spams again — a Chinatrust salary loan offer and Tax Amnesty Seminar. WTF. This is probably the third time I got that seminar message. ~_~
Anyway, time to shower. I have OJT by 9AM. I wonder if Wally’s going. He said he will, but he didn’t ask where we would meet. XP
