I feel guilty of being one regular contributor to global heat. Every day, I use the aircon, I charge my gadgets, I watch the television, I use a laptop, electric fan, etc. Our house and offices consume electricity. Our lives are dependent on a lot of electric-powered equipment.
No employee will show-up if there’s no aircon in their offices. No customer will visit our showroom if there’s no airconditioning.
While I am typing my thoughts, I sit here in our small study room at home, and the old 12- year-old window type aircon is running. 95% of our lights at home have already been replaced with LED but still…
Twenty-five years ago, we don’t use aircon when we sleep. I open the windows and we have a small electric fan. We only use the aircon during summer or when it gets maalinsangan.
Then 20 years ago, we started using aircon na almost every night. But during the colder months, especially in December and January, the temperature is so pleasant, we even use blankets. Ngayon, any day, any month, we use aircon when we are here in Manila. I feel guilty but we can’t sleep anymore without the aircon. Mainit dito, pawis-pawis ako.
The world’s accumulation of heat has accelerated and I don’t know how we can reverse that.
Metro Manila alone is one big contributor to gas emissions.
Every day, instead of just using the car for fifteen minutes going to the office and another half-hour coming back, my vehicle emits toxic gas for four hours a day. One hour going to the office and three hours coming home.
I wasn’t able to visit the cemetery on November 1 because I was in Thailand. I went instead on November 6. It used to be a half-hour drive from Ford Cainta to Binangonan, ngayon more than one hour. Traffic along Manila East Road was so bad I thought I was in EDSA.
A few days ago, it took an hour and a half before we reached Makati, a distance of ten kilometers from my house. Coming home, a solid three hours. I thought I wouldn’t make it alive. I was gasping for breath, hyperventilating while helplessly and restlessly sitting in the horrendous traffic. The first thing that I did when I reached home was to run to the powder room and threw up. Hilung-hilo talaga ako. Can you imagine those in the ambulances?
Wala na, instead of reaching the hospital, go straight to heaven na lang.
Before:
“Grabe ang traffic, inabot ako ng isang oras.”
Now:
“Walang traffic ngayon ang bilis ko, isang oras lang.”
Thousands of vehicles stand idly still on EDSA, SLEX, and even on side streets, burning gas for several hours instead of just a few minutes. We are not only contributing to global warming and destroying earth, but we are destroying ourselves. We are bombarding our bodies with toxic substances. We are inhaling pollution.
Our windows at home are always closed and we are surrounded by lots of trees and plants, but still, I could feel a certain heaviness in the air we breathe inside our home.
There’s no way we could escape inhaling this harmful air unless we stop breathing or get out of the metropolis.
