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Philips and WWF:
Wardens of the World
By Ana Kristine B.
Valenzuela
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Australian Embassy Counsellor for
Political-Economic and Public Affairs
Pablo Kang and Mandaluyong City Public
Information Office head Jimmy Isidro in
their bicycles aim to encourage
individuals to use alternative modes of
transportation to reduce carbon monoxide
emissions. |
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Clean Up the Philippines,
Clean Up the World
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The
Australian Embassy in Manila and The
Podium joined other countries in
celebrating Clean Up the World 2007 last
Monday, September 10. Spearheading the
activities was the city government of
Mandaluyong and Clean Up the
Philippines, a local arm of Clean Up the
World, in partnership with the United
Nations Environmental Program.
The activities began with a Bikeathon at The Podium which was
participated by representatives of
project partners as well as volunteers.
It was organized to raise awareness
about climate change.
The participants signed a manifesto pledging their support
for the Clean Up the |
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Philippines campaign at the mall’s
lounge area. Shoppers did their share by
signing up. Other activities were the
Village Clean Up in Barangay Amihan,
Project 3 in Quezon City and in Sta.
Cruz Manila, the Mangrove Restoration
and Clean Up Activities of streets and
parks in Mandaue City, Cebu; Clean Up
Drive of streets and parks in Davao City
and Davao del Sur; and Clean Up
Activities at Benguet State University
in Benguet, La Trinidad.
Clean Up the World, founded by Australian Sportsman Ian Kiernan, is
considered to be one of the world’s
largest environmental campaigns. |
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Global
warming is a serious threat and its effects
are slowly being felt already. Philips, a leader
in lighting, television and medical imaging, is
taking a step to solve the problem.
Philips recently partnered up with World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
to raise public awareness on the current
environmental situation. Last September 13, both
groups hosted the “Wardens of the World,” an
exhibit at the Shangri-La Grand Atrium aiming to
educate the public, particularly the youth on
possible climate crisis solutions.
Shiang Wee, general manager of Philips Lighting Philippines,
discussed one general solution that is both
practical and easy to do: changing incandescent
light bulbs to compact fluorescent light or CFL.
“All over the world, the Philippines included,
lighting accounts for 19 percent of electricity
consumption and by year 2030, we will consume 80
percent more energy if we continue on with our
current practices. The required action is truly
very simple: eliminate inefficient and costly
incandescent lighting. And how do we do this? By
just simply switching our old incandescent bulbs
to energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps,”
Wee said.
CFL reduces the high cost of lighting, be it environmental,
consumer and even economical. Energy-efficient
bulbs use less energy than traditional
incandescent bulbs and thus reduce carbon
dioxide emissions resulting from burning fossil
fuels for electricity generation. Greenhouse gas
emissions contribute to global warming, the
consequences of which are |
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already
visible in the shrinking Arctic ice cap,
accelerating sea level rise, receding glaciers,
more violent tropical storms and altered growing
seasons.
CFLs are 80 percent more energy efficient than incandescent lamps,
while providing the same light levels and
lasting six to ten times longer. They also emit
only a fraction of the heat of incandescent
lamps, allowing even greater summertime energy
savings in buildings with air-conditioning.
Cutting demand for lighting electricity frees up
capacity for industry and business.
Globally demand for energy is likely to increase by 53 percent
between now and 2030; over 70 percent of this
increase will come from developing countries,
led by China and India, determined to sustain
economic growth.
An ordinary 100-watt incandescent lamp if switched to an energy
savings 18-watt CFL and used for 12 hours daily,
saves as much as to PhP 4,686 for just 1 ½ years
(based on a PhP 9.50 per KWH). WWF head of
marketing and media relations Susan Roxas shared
that many of the animals are endangered. The
endangered species are indicators of how much
the environment is destroyed due to the climate
change and global warming.
“Global warming is one of the most important issues we face as a
global community,” said Wee. “Philips is excited
to work hand-in-hand with WWF to create more
awareness on climate change and to provide
simple solutions that will stabilize, or even
reverse, this trend.” |