(Source: Edgar Su)
This week, I live in an ashtray. I have colleagues visiting from China, and they even think it's bad.
Singapore's air pollution has jumped to PSI 371 (hazardous for grandmas and babies). Luckily, I'm neither, but it's still gross. You know it's bad when: A) you get *multiple* work emails saying to stay home, B) your company hands out face masks in the office lobby.
So, why is this happening? Does Singapore have an underground lair of hidden factories, or did it create a giant bonfire with fossil fuels to celebrate the Marina Bay Sands?
No. It's coming from Indonesia. An entirely different country that's about a 2 hour flight away.
They slash-and-burn in Sumatra to clear land for Palm Oil plantations. The farmers don't really know any better, and companies prioritize short-term gains over long-term losses.
It's easy to point fingers. Tisk tisk, Indonesia. That's so bad.
But, in reality, we all do it.
Buying an SUV instead of a Prius (or, better yet, a bike)
Driving instead of riding public transport
Commuting to work (average of 1 hr per day in the US)
Flying to business meetings instead of using VCs
Buying (more unnecessary) crap that was made in a factory
And, that's just air pollution.
I haven't even touched on ozone depletion, water pollution, land pollution, noise pollution, waste & recycling, climate change, water scarcity, etc. No need to depress the shit out of you.
I've seen first hand this week that we will live in a very sad world if we continue our bad habits.
Next Step: Evaluate what habits I should change in favor of the environment.
PS - See some other examples of places humans are changing via Google Earth GIFs
We all have our vices, government and humans alike.
ReplyDeleteOne simple thing we can all do immediately is to recycle. It's mindless - make an effort
Use less oil (but we have to travel and get to work) so conserve where you can. We have had a new car for 13 months and only have driven 5000 miles. It will last forever. The other car we have is 7 years old and only has 60,000 miles on it.
Stop buying crap made in China and other countries that have no or low pollution standards. Stop traveling to these countries as well.
We may drive a lot in the US, but we have emission standards to adhere to. The government of the US is also very proactive regarding pollution (air & water).