FIRST EXERCISE

1. Nowadays, environmental issues have become a hot topic in the society.
Everyone is worried about the Mother’s Earth and man’s destructive effect on it. It
was once thought to be the the inevitable price of modernization and
industrialization. Media and press are widely discussed on the ways to conserve
the environment. Henry David Thoreau, the author of Familiar Letter of Henry
David Thoreau say, “what’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable
planet to put it on?”. Today, they slowly gaining momentum on solving this
problem. They come with the idea to construct houses with Green homes
concept. Green homes is a house that is built or renovated in order to improve
the way that homebuilding site to use water, energy and material efficiently.
Thus, it helps to reduce the impact on human health and the environment. Using
non-toxic paint and avoid phantom load are the examples of green home feature.
There was a time when painting a room in our home meaning we have to
open all the windows, switch on the fan and left the room
until the paint dry just to avoid inhaling the chemical smells. According to
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), average of home’s interior air is three
time more polluted than outdoor air. From their research, interior paints are the
prime suspect causes the indoor air pollution. Thankfully, that day was over.
These day, many major paint brands offer low and non-VOC paint. VOC is a
harmful chemicals as it can contribute health problems such as cancer, sick
building syndrome, breathing difficulties and blurred vision. These kind of paints
are safe to use around the chemical sensitive, asthma suffer, pregnant woman,
kids and pets as it contained ingredient from natural sources. As a result, we can
have a better air quality in the house.. Yolo Colourhouse, Mythic Paint, Earthborn
Paint are the brand that offer non-VOC paint.
Do you know you may have phantom in your house? Not the ghost you see in
the movie or during the holloween, but the energy phantom. Phantom load is any
device that consume electricity when turned off but still plugged into an outlet. If

2. you look closely in every corner of your house, you will notice many phantom
lurking especially in the entertainment center. When you turn off the television, it
still draw energy out. DVD players, satellite boxes and video game consoles also
use energy turned off. Altogether, phantom energy Can account for about 10
percent of an individual home’s electricity use. So, to minimize the usage of
phantom energy we have to unplugged electrical appliance that are unused, buy
ENERGY STAR equipment and use smart strips. Instead of saving energy
usage, this way also save money and reduce the emmision of greenhouse gases
from the sources.
In the nutshell, our environment has been threatened by pollution that have
been made by us. “When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves”-David Orr.
Therefore, we should make our first move by using non-toxic paint and avoiding
phantom load. We are the people who borrow the land for a short term from the
next generation. Don’t let our kids and grandchildren suffer because of our action
today. After all, nature is not a place for us to visit, it is our home.