Going Green is the NEW Pink

Being a small town girl in this big city, Kuala Lumpur, people always ask how Kedah (a state well-known for paddy) looks like. Questions and statements like "Wow! Kedah! So your house is surrounded by the paddy field?", "Jeez, there must be cows and goats everywhere.", "You live in the jungle?" or "Is your house made of attap and wood plank?" are pretty common to be heard.

Well, the answers to all the questions and statements are "no". Kedah may look that way back in 50years, but now, definitely not. Look how like-a-bat-out-of-hell fast our country has developed. No more so-called "kampung"(village) boys and girls!

Yet, it's a shame because so many forests were destroyed for the development. I remember there used to be trees around my neighbourhood and kids would be playing on the field. But now, the trees are all gone and all I see are houses. What's worse is the temperature rises drastically over the years and the air is pretty much dry and dusty. No more running-around-children BUT more constructions, more factories, more cars...... these emit smokes that will lead to various chain reactions. From deforestation to greenhouse effect, from greenhouse effect to global warming, these are pretty common and are getting worse.

I reckon everyone knows how dangerous it is if these issues are not fixed, but no one seems to care. Trees and other plants help remove carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere during the process of photosynthesis and release it back into the atmosphere during normal respiration. As deforestation continues, the rate of carbon dioxide increases. This will lead to global warming. It gives me goosebumps just to think about it. Come to think about it, what if deforestation is carried out by every little town for development but no trees are planted back? Imagine every minute or even second a tree is chopped down all around the world, what will the world turn out to be in few years time?

This issue has been haunting us since the 20th century and it's worsening. Besides deforestation, the smokes produced by cars and factories, CFCs produced by aerosol spray and air conditioner...... GOSH! What do we get now? Ozone depletion, retreat of glaciers, drastic climatic change and blah blah blahh...

I think everyone should play a part in making this world a better place to live in. To do so, the best way is PLANT MORE TREES!! We need to stop open burning, practice car pooling or taking the public transport and many more. Small things we do can change the world. Together as human we should protect the wonderful creation of God. Here's a website regarding "A Beginners Guides to Going Green" [http://www.go-green.ae/gogreen_extlinks.php?linkid=943]. The world is at stake. Do something for it, for yourself, and for all the people around you.

Save a tree, save the World.