What can you do to address climate change?

Remember: everyone has an impact on the environment. Climate change may seem like a very distant, global problem now, but in the long-term we will feel its effects. No improvement in the situation can be effective if no one does anything. Even a small action can go a long way. That means that we, as Malaysians, have a role to play, whether it's to improve our own quality of life, cutting back on our personal contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, or getting engaged in international environmental issues.

Here are some things that you can do:

• Get engaged with the issues. Read up more-try to make links between what scientists, activists, and government officials say, and how you conduct your own lives. Ask yourself: what is the effect of your life style on the quality of the environment? Don't leave it to the experts to tell you everything.
  
  
• Find out about international efforts like the Kyoto Protocol and the challenges involved. What is the role of our government?
  
  
• Identify who are the players. Ask yourself: is your organisation involved? Can you urge your local neighbourhood group to do something proactive? Join voluntary organisations of like-minded people; consider forming one of your own. Keep an eye out: is there a talk or public discussion somewhere? Try to attend. Ask questions. Take notes. Bring your friends, family, and relatives along.
  
  
• Do things more carefully. Don't just do what's convenient; do what is environmentally sensitive. Use only what you need, and think how you can save energy. Look around your own house, garden, and street: where's the wastage? What can be done more efficiently?
  
  
• Do without. Are all those nice gadgets in the shops necessary? Can you cut down on commuting? Can you work from home?
  
  
• Be a role model. Strike an attitude. Care about the issues? Don't just believe in them; do practical things. Use public transport; carpool; maintain your vehicles so that you do not emit so much foul exhaust fumes; don't drive so much. Start community actions to improve access to public transport and organise carpools. Buy energy-efficient appliances and equipments. Write letters to the newspapers. Get more people to talk about climate change.
  
  
• Improve the quality of your life. Remember: climate change affects biological and agricultural diversity. Your grandchildren may never see some of the beauty of this environment. Already clean air is a luxury in our cities. Plant a tree (and make sure it's a local species). While you can, enjoy the bounty of the environment. Visit national parks, recreational areas, nature reserves. Don't just look for the most impressive looking hotel. Rough it out; give show-and-tell sessions and talks when you get back.
  
  
• Be alert. Do not open burn. Contact the Department of Environment if you see anyone doing it.
  
  
• Educate your children. Cultivate in them a love of animals, plants, and beautiful landscapes. Fill up their rooms with thematic posters. Read to them; share your memories and knowledge with them. Take them hiking. Send them to nature camps. Look for books and magazines that feature environmental themes. Buy educational videos and CD-Roms. Urge your local bookshop to stock the books that you need.

Remember: the more wasteful you are, the more things you can do! Almost everything we do to address climate change will bring other benefits in the long-term-financial savings, cleaner air, healthier lives.

(partially adapted from: Andrew Sebastian's "The heat is on. . . ." Malaysian Naturalist vol. 55/2, pp. 45-47 [2001])