You’re all smiles because you’re now a proud owner of one of the for sale affordable condos in Pasig. You thought you saved up big time. Well, think again. We’re not saying it is a wrong move or decision on your part. You’re one of the lucky individuals who were able to find a quality yet low-cost condo. But let us have a reality check here: have you factored in the HOA (Home Owners Association) fees and your lifestyle? Sadly, HOA fees are fixed and sometimes nonnegotiable, so you have to live with it. On the other hand, your lifestyle is, in a way, has something to do with environmental disasters. If you’re open to change that is. This change will not only add up to your savings but you will able to save the environment, too. Moreover, this change or set of changes are nothing new because it is already part of our everyday lives. All you have to do is tweak your lifestyle a bit and minimize your carbon footprint. What is carbon footprint? It is the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) (Time for Change (TFC). Greenhouse gases, one of which is CO2, trap the energy or heat in the lower atmosphere instead of releasing it back to space. CO2 is supposed to be one of the natural greenhouse gases but we humans contribute to its increase because of our certain activities... like breathing. Too much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases make the Earth a lot warmer – this is the greenhouse effect. Who wants to experience abnormally hot temperature or weather? No one will raise a hand, of course. As an overview, the diagram below is the breakdown of a typical person’s carbon footprint: The worldwide average CO2 per person a year is 4 tons (TFC). Multiply this by the number of the current population which is 7.4 billion (Worldometers) and you’ve got a rather large scary result. Alarming, isn’t it? Let us start reducing our carbon footprint by tweaking some of our daily activities, such as:
Switching off incandescent bulbs and replacing it with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) or LED bulbs. Using 30 incandescent bulbs per year emits 4500 pounds of CO2, while with CFL and LED bulbs it is only 1051 pounds and 451 pounds, respectively. LED bulbs are for the win because its average lifespan is 50, 000 hours compared to the 1,200 hours of an incandescent bulb. (Design Recycle Inc.) Ditch your car and commute instead, considering it is a 20-mile round trip. By doing this, you could reduce 4,800 pounds of CO2 per year. Overall, public transportation could reduce 37 million metric tons of CO2 annually. It solves traffic congestion and costly fuel consumption. (American Public Transportation Association) Eat less meat and start eating your greens and seafood. Did you know eating beef is same as driving a car? Consuming 1 kg of beef can emit 13.3 kg of CO2. It is as if you’ve burned 6 liters of petrol! While eating fruits like apples causes only half a kilo of CO2. (TFC) Don’t put your appliances or gadgets in standby or sleep mode. Unplug appliances when not in use. Or else you’re inviting a “phantom load” in your own condo. Nah, it has no ghastly appearance but it haunts your electricity bills. Phantom load is any device that consumes electricity when turned off but still plugged into an outlet (Take Control and Save). Standby power consumption contributes to the 1% of the world’s CO2 emissions (Green Living Tips). You can reduce this by using smart strips and appliances labeled with Energy Star. Stop using electric dryer to dry clothes. Hanging them in a clothesline can curb 2,400 pounds of CO2 a year. It saves money as well because an electric dryer can cost you $100 a year. (Green America) Now, you did not only buy an affordable for sale condo in Pasig. You’ve also curbed your electricity bills, started living healthy, and helped to save the environment.
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