Sunday, November 17, 2013

Root Cause Analysis

In the present time, human beings are now aware of the problems we are facing with regards to the present situation of our environment. We know that the future of this planet lies in every action that we choose to take. And as responsible citizens of a rapidly developing world, we need to take actions in order to preserve our environment. But before doing this, we need to understand what these problems are and in what simple, yet, effective ways can we help in solving the said problems. Discussing this with two of my classmates, we came up with a main problem which we really think is one of the most pressing matters that we are currently facing, Energy shortage.
We came up with a Root Cause Analysis pyramid shown above. The image presents the main problem in its top, and the causes below it. Every arrow represents the question "why?", because we know that if we keep asking this specific question, we will come up with the root cause of the main problem. In this way, we will know what actions we need to take in order to help solve the problem in the main problem we chose, which is energy shortage.
As a group, we have concluded that the current problem in energy shortage could be solved if we would rely less on "wasteful" or energy consuming technology. We had this conclusion because we have observed that people nowadays are fond of utilizing wasteful technology. From inefficient car engines to simple devices we use everyday like laptops and mobile phones. We just consume and waste energy without thinking of the possible consequences of our actions. If only we could rely less on these wasteful technology, we could greatly contribute in solving the energy crisis.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Contributing to Sustainability

Alternative Transportation
 As a student and as a commuter as well, I contribute to sustainability every day that I go to school through the use of alternative transportation. Since my school is far from our house, I often take public means of transportation like riding jeepneys and trains. And whenever I need to go to places which are not very far, I grab the chance to either ride a bike or walk/jog to my destination which would also serve as my exercise. Not only are these means of transportation cheaper, they also help in reducing the consumption of fuel and electricity, which are sources of energy of modern transportation vehicles.

Recycling Paper

 Another simple act that I can do to contribute to sustainability as a student is through recycling paper. Paper is one of the most commonly used materials in school may it be in notebooks, books, research and test papers, etc. It would be a great contribution if each individual in school would do their share of maximizing the use of papers. For example, some of my notebooks from the last semester still has empty leaves. I chose not to buy new notebooks and decided to use the empty pages for my subjects for the second semester. And for research papers which would not be used because they were returned to us after checking, I use the back pages as scratch papers when I need to solve math problems or make reviewers for exams.

Sustainability saying

"We do not inherit this land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
- Haida Indian saying.

The quoted saying above perfectly explains the concept of sustainability. It means taking into account the future. Because everything we do at the present time would greatly affect the future generations, our children. Especially now that the world is experiencing manifestations of the mistakes made by the past generations through global warming, food shortage, and other negative impacts. We need to start being responsible about our actions, specifically in our consumption of our scarce natural resources.

What is Sustainability?




Sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of well being for humans, which has ecological, economic, political and cultural dimensions.

It requires the reconciliation of environmental, social equity and economic demands - also referred to as the "three pillars" of sustainability.