Download PDF - 50/Fifty Magazine

make itust actthoughtlessness on the ecological stabilityof our own beautiful country and others is, infact, a lot more destructive than those whodisrespect ecological policies are preparedto realize. Minor acts of ignorance such aslittering the roads with dirt even when trashcans are available at every street corner areindicators of indifference on a much largerand much more devastating scale.This is how we got here…Algerians want to live in luxurious, healthy andimmaculate places. However, most of themdo not lift a finger to actually improve things.Our dear country encounters a miserableand heart-rending deficit of ecologicalawareness. Many Algerians possess their owncar claiming individual transport to be morecomfortable than traveling by bus. Sure! Butto decrease Greenhouse gas emission rates,it would be more perspicacious to use publictransport. Nevertheless, Calgary implementspreventative programs to encourage itsresidents to share one car between differentpeople, use public transport, ride a bike oreven walk -which is beneficial to our health.If they must have a car, they suggest itshould be a well tuned. Furthermore, withregards to traffic lights, conventional lampswere retrofitted with Light Emitting Diode(LED), which consume, on average, 80% lessenergy and produce brighter light. Algeria,by contrast, still uses the less ecologically fitconventional model.In 2008, Calgary enlisted to use tallow asits main of biodiesel, which has a very lowecological footprint. To lower its ecologicalfootprint, Calgary undertakes severalprograms and has developed several policies,encouraging Calgarians, for instance, tobuy locally grown or produced foods thatnecessitate less transportation to reach theshelves of a supermarket, and therefore lessGHG is emitted into the atmosphere. Besides,avoiding processed or packaged food candecrease the carbon footprint. Processedfood requires more energy to prepare, whichmeans more pollution. In Algeria, importedgroceries are in great demand because theyare better-looking from an aesthetic point ofview. This is, however, a merely psychologicaleffect: the conditioned eye sees health,modernity and safety in the beauty of foreignpackaged products. But, in order to reduce,if only by little, the pollution caused by thefossil fuels needed to transport the food,we simply have to support our farmers andbuy local organic food. (This, incidentally, isadvisable not only from the ecological pointof view.)Small steps…Electrical energy has paramountrepercussions on our habitat. We rely on itin almost every daily action. For instance,in using household appliances such asfridges, microwaves, blenders, dishwashers,etc. Electronic gadget use usually requiresa lot of energy. Though house lamps wastemore energy than compact fluorescent lightbulbs, most Algerians are still using them.The use of compact fluorescent light bulbshelps to reduce GHG emissions. One of theprojects that Calgary undertook was ‘Targetminus 5’, which enabled the reduction ofGHG emissions by 50% in 2012 compared to1990. This project adopted the EnviroSmartstreetlight retrofit program, which tooktwo years to complete between 2003 and2005.The wattage of streetlight lamps wascut down from 200 watts to 100 watts onresidential roads and from 250 watts to 150watts on collector roads.What about garbage?The Algerians favorite subject! We hearabout it wherever we go, on the radio, onthe television, outside and it appears as atopic of women’s gossip. We must act now.It does not suffice to be satisfied with tellingourselves that other Algerians are making ourcountry dirty but stay arms crossed. We can’tkeep saying that we love our country withoutacting. We must hurry up, time is runningout! Eat less packaged food; throw away lessgarbage and recycle plastic bottles to makea little start to decrease our carbon footprint.Moreover, we need to think seriously aboutrenewable energy and set up more windmillsand solar panels. We do have to protect ourforests and inaugurate more parkland sothat the excess of Carbon Dioxide in the aircan be swallowed up during photosynthesis.Also, education and popular culture have ahuge impact on the ability to change things.So, of course, do government policies aimedat providing viable alternatives. While theseare indispensable, our little article shows youwhat you personally can do to make a startright now and right here.Unity is strength. Through unity of purposeand action we can manage the pollutionproblem and work things out so as to havethe most beautiful city in the world – and letthere be no doubt. But we must act NOW.By Siham Zamouchi