On November 1, 2009, Filipinos all over the Philippines will observe again the All Saints Day by visiting their deceased relatives in the cemetery. They will again go to cemetery to clean and repaint tombs, lit candles and offer flowers. It is more of a "family reunion" atmosphere. Entire families camp in cemeteries, and sometimes spend a night or two near their relatives' tombs. Card games, eating, drinking, singing and dancing are common activities in the cemetery.
It is considered a very important holiday by many Filipinos including me. I can visits my father's tomb only during All Saints Day, but this year I'm not sure if I will lit candle,
considering the effect of it to our environment. But it will not be easy though, it is tradition that we are doing for more than a decade. It is the most common practice Filipinos doing every All Saints Day.
My father is not the only one in the burial plot where he is buried; he is sharing it with other relatives. So if we do not lit candles, many of our relatives will witness it and they might think that we are just being thrifty. In all the visits that we made to my father's grave, the only thing we are doing is lighting candles, so without it the visit is not complete.
Not sure if it is worth the sacrifice. If only one out of millions will not light candles, will there be any significant contribution in stopping global warming? Well, I think no matter how small is your contribution, you need do what you think is right for the environment. I think I need to explain the reason why I am doing it. This might encourage other to do the same. If every one of us will have their own small contribution on our own way, it will also become a big help.
October 31, 2009
October 24, 2009
Tapping Rain Water
The drainage at the back of our house is partially clogged, making the water drain slowly and causes flooding. More rains will cause the water to enter our kitchen. Since it will do a lot of work to unclog the drainage and before I finish unclogging the drainage, our kitchen will already have water, so I look for something in our house that can load water and put it to the downspout to lessen the water going to the ground. The water containers were able to hold some of the rain water and slow the flooding which gives me enough time to unclog the drainage before the water enters our kitchen.
Because of what happened, a question pop up on my mind, if all the household in the Philippines or even around the world will harvest rainwater will this also stop or at least lessen the flooding during rainy season?
If every household can create a 10 feet long, 5 feet wide and 10 feet high tank, they can already store 3,750 gallons of water. In NCR or Metro Manila alone, according to 2000 census there is 135,294 households. If all of them will store 3,750 gallons of rainwater, that will be a total 507,352,500 gallons(67,822,882.2 cubit foot) of water.
NCR Land area is 6,873,294,985.92 sq ft (638.55 sq km). Assuming that the flood in NCR has an average height of 2 feet, then the volume of water in the flood is 13,746,589,971.84 cubic feet. If you will remove the volume of rainwater the NCR's household will be able to harvest, there will be a reduction of .0098 foot in the average height of floodwater.
I'm not an expert in math or physics, or whatever expertise that you need to have to give accurate findings on reducing or stopping flood and I understand that it is purely assumption and the reduction in the height of flood is not that big, making this finding not so compelling but we cannot taken for granted the financial and environmental benefits of harvesting rainwater. It is beneficial in the sense that it can save water bill and energy that we will be using in bringing the water to our home.
There are already lots of studies made regarding rain water harvesting and the benefits of it were already proven, some of it was published in the Internet. If our government authorities show their interest, and will get involve in this kind of project that will be the time the impact on flood prevention will become big and compelling.
October 17, 2009
Respect for Bikers
Most of low income earner here in the Philippines, like those who are working in a factory or construction, rides a bike when going to work, to save money on transportation cost. They also use bicycle for their livelihood by renting it to commuters or by using it to sell their merchandise. Commuters usually prefer pedicab than other motorized passenger vehicle because the fare is much cheaper. This is also the only mode of transportation that can be used by impoverished Filipino when there is flooding.
Sadly, I'm always seeing a driver getting irritated every time they are tailing a bicycle or pedicab (a human powered tricycle). There is a point wherein some driver, specially truck drivers, are trying to scare bikers by tailing them so close and then blow their horn excessively.
I understand that this kind of vehicle move slowly and can cause traffic congestion especially pedicab, but still they don't deserve this kind of treatment. We should actually thank them because they are not competing with us in the use of fossil fuel, which could help in lowering the price of fuel. They are also not contributing to carbon emission that is already in alarming level. We should consider them as heroes of the environment because they risking their life when riding a bike. Riding a bike in the Philippines road and street is like suicide. Government is not implementing safety measure for bikers and no road or lane intended for them.
If there is someone needs to be blamed, it should be our government because they are not making the Philippines road and street a safe place for bikers. Aside from not encouraging the Filipinos to ride a bike, their lack of interest and focus on this kind of vehicles discourage would be biker.
Our government should spend massive effort and money to deal with serious environmental problems and one of that is building road or lane dedicated for bikers. Thus environmentally-friendly and inexpensive modes of transportation will proliferate.
Sadly, I'm always seeing a driver getting irritated every time they are tailing a bicycle or pedicab (a human powered tricycle). There is a point wherein some driver, specially truck drivers, are trying to scare bikers by tailing them so close and then blow their horn excessively.
I understand that this kind of vehicle move slowly and can cause traffic congestion especially pedicab, but still they don't deserve this kind of treatment. We should actually thank them because they are not competing with us in the use of fossil fuel, which could help in lowering the price of fuel. They are also not contributing to carbon emission that is already in alarming level. We should consider them as heroes of the environment because they risking their life when riding a bike. Riding a bike in the Philippines road and street is like suicide. Government is not implementing safety measure for bikers and no road or lane intended for them.
If there is someone needs to be blamed, it should be our government because they are not making the Philippines road and street a safe place for bikers. Aside from not encouraging the Filipinos to ride a bike, their lack of interest and focus on this kind of vehicles discourage would be biker.
Our government should spend massive effort and money to deal with serious environmental problems and one of that is building road or lane dedicated for bikers. Thus environmentally-friendly and inexpensive modes of transportation will proliferate.
October 9, 2009
How Do Trees Prevent Floods?
I'm always mentioning the benefits of trees to the environment on my previous articles. Due to the most recent massive flooding caused by typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana), I think there is nothing wrong if I will reiterate again the importance of trees. And this time I will focus more on how trees prevent floods.
Experts have shown that a single 10 inch tree can store more than 60,000 gallons of water during a single rainfall. Single tree can save flooding by more than 250,000 liters of water. Imagine if we only have lot of trees planted along the river bank, we will not have a flooding of almost 6 feet high and more lives will be saved.
If you will notice almost all the land in Metro Manila are already concreted, this prevent water from seeping in the ground, and the run off instead of being converted to safe drinking water, gets polluted, floods areas, and causes diseases especially amongst children. Trees catch water and store it for future purposes. This is the normal water cycle that has been disrupted by not leaving enough green open areas, and cutting down decades old trees in the country. Projects have to be made keeping in view that green areas have to be left for natural replenishment of ground water, which is the natural store for fresh and safe drinking water.
Beside from flooding, other danger during rainy season is mud slides. Trees prevent mud slides because their roots help hold the soil together. Planting trees in the uplands that drain into rivers could slow down the transfer of water into rivers and thus reduce flood risk. More trees in the upland have a far greater sponge like capacity to absorb water and then release it more slowly.
I am not wishing for more calamities to happen but until each and every one of us hasn’t realized the importance of trees in our lives, expect more of this kind of calamity to occur, or much worse.
Experts have shown that a single 10 inch tree can store more than 60,000 gallons of water during a single rainfall. Single tree can save flooding by more than 250,000 liters of water. Imagine if we only have lot of trees planted along the river bank, we will not have a flooding of almost 6 feet high and more lives will be saved.
If you will notice almost all the land in Metro Manila are already concreted, this prevent water from seeping in the ground, and the run off instead of being converted to safe drinking water, gets polluted, floods areas, and causes diseases especially amongst children. Trees catch water and store it for future purposes. This is the normal water cycle that has been disrupted by not leaving enough green open areas, and cutting down decades old trees in the country. Projects have to be made keeping in view that green areas have to be left for natural replenishment of ground water, which is the natural store for fresh and safe drinking water.
Beside from flooding, other danger during rainy season is mud slides. Trees prevent mud slides because their roots help hold the soil together. Planting trees in the uplands that drain into rivers could slow down the transfer of water into rivers and thus reduce flood risk. More trees in the upland have a far greater sponge like capacity to absorb water and then release it more slowly.
I am not wishing for more calamities to happen but until each and every one of us hasn’t realized the importance of trees in our lives, expect more of this kind of calamity to occur, or much worse.
October 3, 2009
October 2, 2009
No More Ondoy
More Pictures Here
Last September 26, 2009, Philippines was devastated by a typhoon, flooding major part of Metro Manila and nearby cities and provinces. Many were caught by surprise because it is a flash flood and some area are not being flooded before and it is surprisingly big.
According to some expert due to global warming, the ice is melting and if it become worst this might submerged low lying areas in the world. I'm just wondering if the surprisingly big flood is caused by rising sea level. The worst hit by this flooding is Marikina, because it is situated near a river. Marikina river bank is 8 meters above sea level. According to some study, sea level may rise by 1 to 2 meters by 21st century. Though this will not entirely submerge Marikina but can you imagine how high will be the flooding by then. Will the flood also increase by 2 meters?
According to Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA) administrator Frisco Nilo this unusual level of rainfall was a sign of climate change. It's about time our government spends massive effort and money to deal with serious environmental problems like this. Assemble scientists and engineers to draw plans how we can adapt on this kind of calamity aside from of course the usual campaign of reforestation, logging ban, river excavating & cleaning, proper garbage disposal, etc.
And for the Filipinos, this should serve as wake up call; we should begun taking care of our environment. Let’s take advantage of the bayanihan spirit that becomes alive again due to this calamity. Let’s unite in stopping or at least limiting the use of plastic and other non biodegradable materials that is clogging our drainage, sewage and waterways. Let’s reduce our carbon emission and stop buying houses or property near the river and plant trees instead.
Environmental issue is as significant as public works, education, health and social welfare as far as annual budgeting is concerned. We should not underestimate or ignore the mood of nature now that it is already damaged due to man's abuse.
Political will and money could avert another Ondoy's deluge in the future.
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