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| Energy-rating Label |
Labels on the products you buy
can help you make a choice that will contribute to attaining a clean and
balanced natural environment. In my last two posts, I shared with you two
labels on products which indicate that the products could be disposed of in an
environmentally friendly manner. The two labels discussed were the crossed-out
wheeled bin and the Mobius loop. The crossed-out wheeled bin label shows that
electrical and electronic products can be recycled, thus reducing environmental
destruction that comes with mining of minerals. The Mobius loop label tells you
that the product on which it is fixed can be recycled, generally plastic
products. In this post I am going to deal with yet another label. The name of
the label is Energy Rating Label.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The Energy rating label is significant in a
way that is different from the last labels, yet ultimately it contributes to an
improved natural environment as they do. The energy efficient level on the
label is determined by the number of stars on the label. Normally there is a
scale of one to five stars. One star is an indication of lowest efficiency, and
five stars is an indication of highest efficiency. Also there are different
forms of the energy rating label. The one I have presented in figure 1 is a
Ghana energy rating label. I took a shot of the label in an LG shop on Oxford
Street (Cantonment Road) at Osu-Accra.
The energy rating label tells you the level
of energy the product uses. So if you buy say a five star rated refrigerator it
means you are going to use a lesser amount of energy compared to the one who
bought a two star rated refrigerator. In the same way if someone bought a one
star refrigerator they would be using lesser energy than the one who bought an
unrated refrigerator. You should benefit from using a star rated product by
saving money on energy consumption, and reducing harm to the environment.
ENVIRONMENT
Electricity generated from the
national grid to your home may require the use of coal or oil. These two
resources are extracted from the ground before they are used. The extraction
and use of these resources in the generation of electricity for our homes, for
example, endangers the environment. If you bought an energy rated appliance
which has been designed to use relatively reduced energy, it means lesser coal
or oil should be sourced for the generation of electricity. And if lesser oil
and coal should be sourced for the generation of electricity, endangerment to
the environment associated with the extraction and use of those natural
resources must record a proportional reduction.
COAL
In extracting natural resources from the ground
many an unpleasant thing happen the environment as indicated. In the extraction
of coal vegetation and soil is scrapped. That which is scrapped is the habitat
of some life forms. It is just like living in a place where you call home, even
if as a squatter, and a transnational comes round to uproot you to establish
say a cement factory where you called home. The biome of the area scrapped for
the extraction of coal will be lost. Top soil will be lost. Cycles will be
lost- nutrients that flow through and between life forms will be lost. An
example is that the breakdown of nitrogen by microorganisms in the soil into
nitrates for plants to use would be disrupted. The vegetation scrapped to make
way for the extraction of coal reduces, in the process, the number of trees on
planet Earth. Trees use carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in photosynthesis to
provide energy for plants and animals. In the process of photosynthesis oxygen
is released into the atmosphere for the use of man. You may know that carbon
dioxide is a greenhouse gas which causes global warming. The loss of trees on
planet Earth increases the amount of carbon dioxide retained in the atmosphere
for that matter the intensity of global warming. Chemicals used in mining seep
into the soil and ground water.
OIL
In the extraction of oil too, unpleasant things
happen to the environment. In the extraction of oil mistakes happen and oil
spills into oceans, killing and maiming aquatic life forms, for example. Take
Ogoniland in Nigeria for example, because of oil flaring and oil waste, the
soil has been contaminated by hydrocarbons (containing hydrogen and carbon) to
the point that agriculture is no more possible.
Oil used in running machines to generate
electricity in the process emit carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the
atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
PARTING SHOT
I have cited two resources which contribute
to, or rather make possible the generation of the energy (electricity) you use
in your home. Further, I have indicated the environmental costs (endangerment)
associated with the extraction and use of the resources that make possible the
generation of the electricity. Now it is clear that there is a link between
your choice of buying a star-rated appliance- one, two, three or five star, and
a natural environment clean and balanced. If you bought an efficient appliance
as symbolized by energy rating labels, you should be contributing to the
reduction in the extraction of oil and coal, as lesser quantities of those
would be needed in the generation of electricity for your personal consumption.
By this way the endangerment to the natural environment should be seen to be reducing-
endangerment to land, air and water, the natural environment holistically.
Ultimately, man would end up with a natural environment of fresh air, fresh
water and an uncontaminated soil.
In my next post, I will look at yet another
green label.
Reference:
http://www.yourenergysavings.gov.au/information/energy-rating-labels
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