Schwarzenneger to Host Climate Summit

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger has announced plans to host a climate-change summit in Los Angeles in November in an attempt to form an international climate alliance of local, regional, and world leaders ahead of United Nations climate talks in Poland in December. 

The summit invitees include governors from all 50 states, as well as officials from Australia, Canada, China, Europe, India, Mexico, and more. "The real action for any new ideas is always on the local level. This is how we can push the agenda," Schwarzenegger said. "We are not waiting for the federal government." 

Schwarzenneger announced the summit a day ahead of the second anniversary of California's landmark climate law that aims to cut the state's emissions 25 percent by 2020. 

Clogged Beijing Unveils New Traffic Controls

Beijing - flushed with the success of Olympic traffic controls and struck by the painful return to congested normality, Beijing on Saturday unveiled plans for smaller-scale but permanent controls on its drivers. 

Cars will be banned from the roads one out of five weekdays, in a system based on the number of their license plate, and 30% of government cars will be taken off the road entirely. the official Xinhua agency reported. 

The new rules will kick in for a six-month trial on October 11. Department stores will open and close and hour later and the government will encourage companies to allow flexible working hours or change their shifts to ease the rush hour traffic that brings part of the city to a near standstill. It is also considering raising downtown parking fees. 

After the clearer skies and smooth roads of the Olympics, the city has been buzzing with discussions of whether the traffic controls that grounded cars on alternate days for two months could be extended. Under the new system all cars will be free to circulate at weekends. 

On Mondays cars with license plates ending with 1 or 6 will be banned, on Tuesdays those ending in 2 or 7, on Wednesdays 3 and 8, on Thursdays 4 and 9 and on Fridays 5 and 0.

Now why can't the Philippines follow this? What I like the most is the reduction of government cars to 30%. If we do that here it could seriously change traffic and at the same time lessen the gas emissions that's causing the air pollution. 

7 Ways To Be Energy Efficient At Home

On the advent of rising fuel cost and high increase of demand in energy production, a lot of power-generating plants are looking for more raw materials to convert to energy. As a result, the environment suffers from these industrial plants and at the same time, these power plants can dictate the price of generating and transmitting this energy to consumers' houses. And looking at our economy today, more and more companies are finding ways to eliminate high usage of electricity simply because it can cut down their cost to more than 40% of their total annual budget. 

Looking at an ordinary consumer with an average monthly salary, it is only imperative to cut cost in order to survive in this community. One way to do it is by cutting down the usage of our electricity.  When one decide to do this, there are a lot of benefits that will follow through. 

But the questions is, how do we do this? How can one be energy efficient at home? So here are 7 simple ways that you can contribute in greening the earth.

1.  Replace your OLD Refrigerator - The older the fridge, the higher in consumes energy to maintain the desired temperature. There has been a lot of significant changes in this industry in improving energy efficiency so that it can both benefit the consumers as well as the environment. Direct Energy spokesperson Lisa Dornan said "If you look at the top-rated refrigerator in 2001 that was Energy Star, and one that you would buy today with an Energy Star rating, there would be a 20% to 40% difference in energy efficiency" during a press conference about minimizing energy consumption. Her firm performs home energy audit and energy retailer. As a rule of thumb, when buying refrigerators, always look at the energy efficiency ratio (EER). The higher it is, the better. Also, anything that has a motor in you appliance set, try to have it replaced with newer models and make sure to check the EER.
   
2. Install programmable timers and thermostats - When buying appliances, make sure it comes with a timer or thermostat sensor in order to make it more efficient. This is helpful because it can minimize the usage of appliances when not in use. Best example is your air conditioning unit that can be programmed to switch on and off the time you leave your house and the time you come home so that it will not keep on removing the heat of the house all the time. 
3. Don't let the heat escape - Caulk your windows and door frames to make sure they are airtight. Also, try to install honeycombed-type shades in order to trap the heat before it goes inside your house.
4. Use compact fluorescent bulbs - this is a no brainer kind of suggestion. This kind of bulbs are very efficient and easy to produce. It can dramatically decrease your power consumption as much as $400 per 10 incandescent bulbs.
5. Change the filter of your air conditioner unit- this will help you AC units to function properly and detect thermostat changes in order to require it's machine to operate. This will also help minimize wear and tear on your unit. 
6. Invest in an attic fan - for regular homes, try installing an attic fan, it is more energy efficient and it can remove unwanted heat to make your house feel cooler. For people who live at apartments or condo units, try buying an energy efficient fan in replacement of your AC unit during the cooler season. 
7. UNPLUG all appliances not in use - even though your TV set is not switched on, by merely plugging it to the power outlet inducts energy thus increasing your bill at a certain level. Try unplugging unused appliances and switching off lights when not in use in order to cut down on the cost and minimize energy loss.

So these are some ways that can help you be energy efficient at home that can benefit you, your family and the environment. But before I end this article, I would also suggest to look for those power savers being sold at hardware stores. These are devices that cuts down the energy loss being transmitted in your home by reusing it in the system. These are somewhat expensive devices but when you look at it in the long run, it will help you cut down on your cost.

Proud To Be A Paperless Company!

I have been a closet activist when it comes to environmental issues and I try to reform the world in my own little way. Wherever I am, I try to help out as much as I could in making the world a greener place to live in. I may not be first in line when it comes to public demonstrations but I make sure that my contribution to the environment is significantly helpful.

I have been exposed to different industries and so far, I am proud to say that my current employer is adhering to eliminating the use of paper in the office. Yes, we still use paper but it has been minimized to a certain percentage that the company is now benefiting from these practices.

According to some research done by Tom Soder, then a graduate student in the Pulp and Paper Technology Program at the University of Maine, he calculated a rough average of 24 trees to produce a ton of printing and writing paper. This is based on a mixture of softwoods and hardwoods 40 feet tall and 6-8 inches in diameter using the kraft chemical pulping process. And base on statistics, 500,000 acres of trees are being cut down per year to meet these demands.

To minimize the growing demand of papers, most companies today are doing a paper-recycling program to decrease the risk of deforestation. According to Nobile, Philip. Complete Ecology Fact Book, p. 379. - 1 ton (907kg) of recycled paper spares 17 trees. Imagine that...

There were countless research and propaganda that called out for a reduction of paper consumption in most companies but to no avail, a lot did not adhere. Until today, majority of these titans are still consuming way too much paper. Most of them used it to file confidential data and information.

On the advent of modernization, everyone is now equipped with modern ways in dealing with data. Companies are now pressured to use the Internet to communicate and send large size data because it is faster and more efficient. They are now investing in services like colocationand virtual/physical servers that houses all company files. But still, the issue of decreasing the paper consumption is questionable. I believe that most companies are still not looking at the bigger picture when it comes to the benefits of digitizing their data. And some are most likely not to care.

Digitizing these massive amount of data requires time and training since most employees are used to the old ways. This however is a cost not all companies want to invest in. As a result, a prerequisite in hiring people is to know the fundamentals of using a personal computer. But there is a loophole here in the hiring process. Yes, companies are hiring tech-savvy people in doing the job but what lacks is the follow up trainings that teaches how to be productive and efficient when using these gadgets at work.

Looking at the scenario I presented, I came to think about the natural resources being put to waste because not all of us are educated in doing our part for nature. I know being uneducated is not a crime but it is not an excuse. We can all participate in greening the world by doing our own initiatives in helping mother nature. So as a personal mission to help gaia, we are now maximizing our technology in the office to lessen the usage of paper.

To give you an idea how we operate, let me itemized the things we do (and don't) in the work place.

• Everyone is given a wifi enabled laptop
• The company premises is wifi ready so that everyone can work anywhere comfortably
• All employee table is equipped with an Ethernet cable to connect to the Local Area Network via cable
• All employee records are digitize and filed under a secure server that only our HR can access
• All approvals of collateral are done via email
• Filing of leaves and status request are done electronically
• All tasks are listed on a customize website
• We maximize our office tools by using Microsoft Office Suite for calendars, email, documents, spread sheets, even note taking.
• The only time we use paper is if we need it to get a printed copy of our records for other purposes. (like filing for a utility bill, etc.)

As a result, we reduce our paper consumption by 90% from the original number when there was still limited number of laptops and computers.

We believe that "printing" is a privilege and not a right so that no one abuses the printer :)

So there you have it, I am proud to be part of a paperless company! As of the moment, I am helping out in the company to achieve an ISO 9000 and 14000 certification and I hope to make it happen soon (preferably next year). But I know there are a lot of things that still needs fixing and we are taking it one step at a time... 

BYEE 2005 Profile

5 years after the first batch of young envoys came the largest group of participants in the annual Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Program. A staggering 18 participants all over the Philippines were gathered to learn the fundamentals of environmentalism and how each one can contribute from their own respective fields in the conservation and protection of the environment. 

Students from different sectors shared views and opinions about current environmental issues during a 5 days eco-camp that was held at the Lake Caliraya Resort located at Lumban Laguna, Philippines. 

Also selected from this group was the first participants of the first Eco-Minds forum that gathered great thinkers from 9 Asia-Pacific countries. BYEE 2005 will always share the same vision to protect and restore the earth.

BYEE 2005 Members: 

1. Ayson, Ivan Lester
2. Bautista, Alita Criselle
3. Buccat, Ryan Anthony
4. Cabral, Jonathan Francis
5. Dagoc, Frandel Louis
6. Darong, Jo-Dan
7. Dimaano, Exequiel
8. Dumancas, Gerard
9. Jardinero, John Rex
10. Ledesma, Maria Krizia
11. Lopez, Lester Louis
12. Mabano, Love Joy
13. Manuel, Ryan
14. Mora, Jeffrey
15. Nabong, Tristan Kirby
16. Tan, Nicco Joselito
17. Tayawan, Romulo
18. Zamoranos, Jordan

Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Program Profile

As a research-based enterprise, Bayer place great emphasis on promoting science education for your people and has therefore been committed to promoting youth environmental programs for many years. In cooperation with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Bayer organizes and promotes a number of specific projects which aim to improve knowledge about the environment among young people and support them in their environmental commitment. One of these is the "Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Program".

Under this program, selected students go to Germany on a weeklong study tour to experience how environmental protection is practiced by people, government and industry in one of the leading countries with regards to technology and environmental awareness.

The visit to the global headquarters of the Bayer Group in Germany demonstrates how companies - through product development and responsible manufacturing processes - contribute to sustainable development.

Initiated in 1998 as a local project in Thailand, the program included participants from the Philippines and Singapore from 2001 on. The program was further extended to India in 2002, China in 2003, Poland, Indonesia, Korea, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador in 2004, Peru as well as Kenya in 2005 and to Vietnam and Malaysia in 2006. In 2007, Turkey joins the program for the first time.

For more information about the program, click here.