13 Ways to Fight Climate Change at Home

You have the power to change the world. This is the battlecry of the Green Footprints Movement, a corporate initiative hoping to transform each and every Filipino into a green advocate. Spearheaded by Concepcion-Carrier Air Conditioning Company (CCAC), one of the Philippines’ leading air conditioning and refrigeration solutions provider, it is the goal of the Green Footprints Movement to enable Filipinos to connect their everyday actions and decisions with its environmental impact.

“It’s not easy to be green. How do you change lifestyle? That’s the key issue here. The only way for green to be sustainable is it has to make sense, and that’s what we’re trying to do in this movement,” said Concepcion Industrial Corporation (CIC) Chief Executive Officer Raul Joseph Concepcion. CCAC is a subsidiary of CIC.

“This consciousness, we believe, will lead them to make environmental impact an important consideration and value in everything they do or use,” said CCAC Director and Head of the Consumer Solutions Group Harold Pernikar, Jr.

How do you get green? Everything begins at home. Here, the Green Footprints Movement shares some ways by which your household can reduce its carbon footprint:

1. Give your microwave oven a break. Don’t let meals wait for you; start dining as soon as they’re ready. This would skip any need for reheating them in the microwave, reducing the microwave frequencies passing through the atmosphere which leads to global warming.

2. Turn off your phone. Give your phone a rest while you sleep. When you’re with family and friends, turn the phone off and start real-life conversations.

3. If nobody’s in the room, turn off the lights. Apart from making the room cooler, this quick move can help fight light pollution which wipes out starry nights, harms wildlife, and affects human health.

4. Use foot power. If you’re going on short errands, why not just take a walk? It will help you burn fat. Plus, by not using your car, you help lessen the carbon dioxide emitted in the atmosphere.

5. Turn the aircon off. Apart from lowering your electricity bill, it could also help diminish the amont of carbon dioxide dispelled by air conditioners.

Manila Fashion Observer Blogger Christine Dychiao, who was present during the launch of the Green Footprints Movements, shared some of the ways she’s helping fight climate change at home:

1. Compost. Christine makes an effort to compost their kitchen waste by using earthworms.

2. Exercise thoughtful consumption. Christine has become more intentional in her purchases to lessen her carbon footprint.

3. Reuse. She also organizes garage sales with friends so that they can pass on stuff that their children have outgrown.

4. Carpool. Sharing a ride with friends is not only enjoyable and economical, it also helps save the environment.

5. Segregate trash at home.

Celebrity host and World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature Philippines National Ambassador Marc Nelson also gave his own tips:

1. Reduce the use of plastic bags. It can take hundreds of years to break down plastic, and they could end in our forests and oceans, threatening wildlife and sea life.

2. Switch to LED. LEDs are energy efficient, consuming up to 90 percent less power than incandescent bulbs.

3. When the heat becomes unbearable, use an electric fan instead of turning on the airconditioner. An airconditioner uses far more energy than an electric fan.

“As the most encompassing environmental issue facing us today, climate change must be everyone’s agenda. For CIC, we aim to strengthen our commitment to a sustainable future by driving greater awareness and understanding of climate change and global warming among consumers and other stakeholders, and enabling access to green choices that will enable consumers to reduce their environmental footprint,” said Concepcion.