tech vs. nature

There have been indeed numerous books wherein authors have exerted their much effort in trying to convey an environmental message, not just a mere message but a very significant message that all of us should hear of. Or they have interestingly perceived the future destructions we might be all facing in the very near future. We could either be very alarmed upon hearing such message or just keep our ears and eyes, as well as our mouths closed as if we did not come to perceive such things. Not only books but also movies have been used as a medium to let us hear the most important message that we all should be hearing and that message would be the message of global destruction. Global destruction is such a totally major word and for me, hearing the term ‘global’ would also totally mean big time, and incorporating this big time word with the term ‘destruction’ is very disturbing and frightening since I’m one of the big-time-word’s inhabitant. Destruction to our earth would surely mean destruction of mankind. Obviously, immense actions should now be at mobile to counter act the damages done and prevent further spoiling of our environment. I don’t think I had already read a book that tells about global destruction and the like where the future is the setting but I already have seen a bunch of movies about it, though I guess those movies are still based from published books. The Day after tomorrow, Wall-E, Back to the future, Water world, Ultraviolet and Time Machine are few to mention. As far as I can remember in the movie Time Machine, when the lead actor travelled into the future, there was a scene wherein the moon was gradually tearing into pieces and seems to be falling off from the sky. And another man was shouting something about the plant earth will surely be next. The moon has already been inhabited by the humans, where they locked up prisoners, causing imbalance in the environment of the moon and it started to get destroyed. Since each bodies of the universe are interrelated, the destruction of the moon would surely affect the planet earth as well as other planetary bodies in the outer space. From that instance, the future seems to be nothing but a damaged world. And those damages seem to only source from us. It just appears that every step we make to bring us to the future would also be a step for greater obliteration.

I am only a typical student of one of the known college in the metropolis of Davao and I have my own plate of concerns to attend to as being an Information Technology student. I am already aware that technology is indeed one of the major contributors of environmental problems. Although I am a person I the technology field, I can’t give my side to technology and all I can do is give the help I can to lessen what these technologies has done. These are the little things or ideas I could think of for now as a small and concerned citizen who greatly wants to save our mother earth in an Information technology student way:

1. Yes to Obama’s move

I read over the internet in the BBC news website that the newly elected United States of the America president, Barack Hussein Obama II has assigned his new Department of Energy Secretary Mr. Chu which is a Nobel Prize Award winner for knowing how atoms are trapped or the like. The president wants to give up the addiction of the world or particularly the Americans for gasoline or oil since this is one cause of the environmental problems. He wants to greatly focus, in his term, in taking care of our earth. In line with this, I would really be an advocate to his actions and beliefs. About the oil issue addiction, I really admire him for somehow letting go to the bond of trading oil which is some kind of purposely active for bigger profits in countries. Even our own country, Philippines couldn’t seem to let go of that trade even a Filipino citizen has found a very great solution to lessen pollution and made water as gasoline. If I had a car, I would really opt to use the ‘water gasoline’ than use the typical one everyone uses and flaunt to everyone how I would add up to the pollution day to day. To motorists, they should regulate their use of their cars like if possible they could just find time to walk than use their car; they might as well do that.

2. I am a Green campus Computing advocate

Green Campus Computing is one of the recently formed advocacies in our school particularly by my schoolmates, also Information Technology students. Green Campus Computing yearns to call upon every student, with University of Southeastern Philippines students initially, to reduce technological effects to our nature in our own ways. It wants us to conserve electricity and regulate the use of technological devices that usage of such mostly contributes to radiation emission and some sort. So whenever you don’t use your personal computer at home or even at school, in computer laboratories, might as well just shut it down or turn the power off. That is also the same with conserving electricity at school, at home or wherever we maybe. This advocate has been formed by my schoolmates spear headed by one of the professors we look up to, to inculcate in our minds as Information technology students, that technology is damaging what has to be really taken care of always by us and we must do something to counter these acts and let others know that we are not in this field to contribute more to the damage done but to be a pro-earth despite of the field we are in. I really think that this is a very good advocacy and I really hope that it would reach more schools locally and nationally or even as well as in global terms. Mobiles are not exclusion to this matter and the same with everyone I am a mobile user. Mobiles also emit radiation that is actually bad for our health as well as to the environment too. I am not really sure how exactly it contributes to the damaging of nature but actually it is. Mobile use regulation is completely as hard as telling someone not to breathe specially in a country like ours which has been called as the text capital where millions of text messages are sent a day. But I just hope that we should do something regarding this device usage to somehow lessen its damaging contribution.

3. Pro – Earth Blogger

I am not really a good writer but I think everyone could understand what I would try to convey. I have been a blogger for a year I guess and the realization of what blogging could do has already crept into me. Blog posts can be viewed by the whole world via Internet and your message could be read globally in just an hour I think. It could either make a positive or negative impact, but nevertheless, your message could still be sent out. As an information technology student, I would start to use my personal page of letting everyone be a mother earth hero or heroine. Through my blog posts, hopefully I could influence everyone or make them realize the global problem we are actually facing now and also motivate them to participate in any environment saving activities there are. A result of one or two influenced reader would really mean a lot for me at least someone has actually believed my beliefs and advocacy. I would really want to use this method to reach the whole world in becoming one to make a difference about the global crisis. Although I didn’t have any pro-earth posts on my blog yet, this item would surly be the first. And I would invite every bloggers in the cyber world to do the same.

4. An environmental Org member

I have been a member of the Junior Ecologists Movement (JEM) way back in high school and I am quite sad for the thought that I am not a member of it anymore and I am not currently in an environmental club though I really want to. Looking back with the activities we have done in JEM, I am proud of myself that I did such things. I learned to change my attitude in throwing trash anywhere and had tried to influence others to do the same thing too. I had actually planted a tree or a plant four or five times already in our several escapades. I have read in Global issues about the method being planned to use “Carbon Sink” to drench all the carbon dioxide. And that is to do reforestation or planting of new forests. Planting trees would really help reduce carbon dioxide emissions so it would be really nice and helpful if we could have mini ecosystems in our own homes or even in schools. And what I’m most proud of is when I joined a river trekking once as a charitable act to save the Tamugan watershed in Baguio District somewhere in the ends of Calinan. We trekked over 3 kilometers and met stumbles and other small accidents along the way. My face was really sun burnt and my body is aching all over but it was all nothing compared to the experience that I had actually survived it in the name of saving nature. I had heard of Green Peace which is a global organization, I guess, for pro-environmentalists and I really want to join

5. Regulate businesses with the nature issue

I read from an article in Global Issues site posted by Anup Shah that the first world countries, or particularly United States of America and other few countries are indeed one of the major contributors of global warming as they continued industrializing and giving off the climate change gases around so well. Large corporations within these countries have been always against climate change settlements because they fear the economical effect and to their profits if they would do substantial changes inclined to such settlements and also the fear that they would realize that their means have been contributors of the said problem. Although most of the large and influential corporations have continually destabilize this issue that they are greatly involved, others were good enough to embrace the settlement and involve their company to reversing global warming. I think that is what every companies as well as governments should be doing right now.

Another thing is that impact or the effect emitted by large corporations in first world countries is greatly felt by poor countries. I think that they should stop being so self-centered as to getting focused only in worrying about making their profits bigger. They could just be left out if they really don’t want to join the pro-earth club but the thing is they are greatly affecting others with their methods. What’s good for them is to actively participate in World Conventions about climate change or other protocols organized by some concerned ones and start doing emission reductions.

6. Go with good innovations

We are the makers of technology and obviously we are the main culprit of what we are faced right now. Although technology has really brought us much convenience it has also brought us another side of its effect that we really don’t like and the big one is still to come or actually it is already on its way to us. Putting myself to the makers of technology, or those technological devices, I really could not relate that much yet, but if I were one, I would really opt to make a technology that will have less negative impact to contribute again to the global dilemma or if possible, no negative effect at all. I could not still fathom on how those developers think, why they would neglect the side effects of their technological creations to the real world and just seem to be focused in breaking innovations or making profit. But I guess it is related to the norm of humans that we have still many things to learn and that is hopefully to innovate and climb each level to maximum technology without ever disturbing the natural ecosystem as what has been conceived and placed by God. Would that be even possible? I do really hope so.

Well, those are my ideas and proposal to everyone who wants to get involved but whether you like it or not, as long as you’re an earthling, you are undoubtedly involved, I just came to realize now that the fear I have of technology becoming so advance, that we might get ruled over by it rather us ruling over it, is just a part of what we all should be realizing. That technology would be a way to destroy the world we are living in and would totally change the way of living that we all got used to and loved as humans. I don’t think we will be called as humans then for that matter. All I can say is we need to badly participate in saving the environment and not just pretend to be blind, be deaf or be mute. Our little actions put together would be really powerful against global warming. I know there are already in the move to the saving plan but it seems that it is still not enough and this global problem needs global counteract. And let us change the image of technology that has been established as the destroyer of the environment and make it the technology that is on the environmental side.