If you still haven’t heard, smog has been making headlines these past two weeks. This is not just some icky news. When the first news reports came in, pollution levels of PM2.5 recorded by the U.S. Embassy in China reached as much as over 700. That’s dangerously off the chart since PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometer in diameter) is usually measured on a scale of 0 to 500.
Image from http://www.mirror.co.uk
Today, the numbers have slightly gone down to 526. Currently, the World Health Organization considers 25 micrograms per cubic meter as a safe level, so you can just imagine the severity of the smog problem.
As the smog continues to blanket and obliterate the city in an unmoving haze (there is little wind to dissipate it), the Chinese government continues to urge its citizens to stay indoors. No, this certainly is not just some icky news you can quickly fold away or cover your nose from; this is serious stuff. And it concerns everyone—all of us—not just those living in China.
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It’s bound to happen, this smog problem smothering China. This country is home to tens of thousands of coal-fired power plants, manufacturing practically everything our hungry consumerist world could ask for: from those cute plastic toy freebies from McDonalds to the high-tech parts of our favorite gadgets to beautifully gleaming full-featured automobiles. We have simply come to expect that almost everything is well, Made in China.
For all its rapid economic growth, making policies for the environment has never been a strong suit of China. Ever since Mao Zedong instituted The Great Leap Forward in 1958—an economic plan to turn China from an agricultural country to a modern industrialized society—the environment—land, water, and air—has always been the casualty. The Great Leap Forward ended disastrously, but over the years, through its other economic policies, China was able to become the highly industrialized nation we now know it to be.
In all of this, the environment continues to suffer. China is currently the number 1 in carbon dioxide emissions. Each year, the Chinese government spends some $91 billion just on environmental protection, something they wouldn’t be doing if only the country had a more stringent policy for the environment ever since.
So the smog problem right now should be a wake-up call. But where do we fit in all of this? Well, consider the fact that most companies have practically placed their manufacturing operations—sometimes the most toxic ones—in China, so all of us who has ever owned something that’s Made in China is guilty one way or another.
Even if that smog is happening far from where you are, it’s still essentially your air. Our air, our Earth, and we all have a stake in this, especially now that global warming is becoming harder and harder to ignore.
If you happen to live in a city where the air is still miraculously pure and unsullied, be thankful, take a deep breath, enjoy, and do everything you can to keep it that way.
1. Go carless for a day. Or challenge yourself: for a week. Bike or commute instead. Or carpool with friends and officemates.
2. Speaking of cars, always keep your car well-tuned. Tires should be properly inflated, engine should be in tip-top shape for less carbon emission.
3. Consider a hybrid electric car. HEVs are making news these days as car manufacturers build better models. They’re worth checking out at the least.
4. Telecommute to work. Convince your boss to allow you to work at home, or if you’re the boss, encourage telecommuting. The less people who gets into a car to go to the office each day, the less carbon emission.
5. Plant a tree. Trees absorb carbon dioxide. You know the drill.
6. Mind your electricity. Since CO2 results from generating electricity, when we don’t use that much electricity, we’re actually not contributing to smog. So be mindful of your electricity use, even if it’s just the simple act of turning off the light and TV when they’re not needed or switching to energy-efficient appliances. Every single watt counts.
7. Write to your country’s leaders. Demand a better environmental policy. Demand stricter standards for manufacturing plants. Demand renewable energy sources. Demand they make our cities walkable again.
The smog in China might eventually lift, but even as the Chinese government prepares to change things around, who knows how long it’ll take to undo the damage. Meanwhile for the rest of us, let’s do the right thing because whatever we do on our side of the earth translates to rest of the world.
