Published February 8, 2014
According to “Oxford Learners Dictionary” energy is defined as “an ability of matter or radiation to do work because of its nuclear motion, mass or its electrical charges for example, nuclear energy, kinetic energy and electrical energy” and also as “fuel and other resources used to operate machines”. Energy crisis is briefly defined as “when sources of energy get scarce or are not available”. Energy is one of the most important commodities for the modern world, and scarcity of it can virtually put a stop to most of the essential activities of people. Therefore, saving energy is extremely important for the future of Fiji.
Fiji is a small country but its energy consumption is relatively high. There is a lot of wastage because of carelessness and lack of foresight. According to statistics released by the Department of Energy “Fiji spends hundreds of millions of dollars on energy, and for a small country like Fiji such excessive usage will be catastrophic for the country”. Thus, saving energy and using it wisely will not only be beneficial to the individuals, institutions and organizations, but also in the long run save Fiji a lot of foreign reserves, which could be channeled into other areas of development. Energy saving is possible at household levels and institutional levels.
Energy wastage is a common problem all over the world. A common situation at our school is when teachers from the same area bring their own vehicles, instead they could get together and organize in such a way that only one vehicle is used. In this way they will not only help in minimizing energy usage, but also reduce their own expenditure. Another incident I could give is when people switch on more lights than they need at home. For example, when the whole family is seated in the living room, the bedroom and the kitchen lights need not be on. A very good example is when people tend to turn on fans and air conditioners, instead of simply opening the windows, which would let in fresh air and amazingly save energy and money at the same time. Another situation we can state is when people forget to turn off electrical appliances using their power points. When we forget to do so, we are wasting energy. In institutions like schools, there are times when classrooms are not occupied, yet the fans and the lights are on. This is another example of unnecessary wastage of energy.
Energy wastage has a lot of major disadvantages. One is that, once we use all the available sources of fossil fuel, there may be none for our younger generations to see and use. Furthermore, it is the cause of excessive pollution particularly air. For example, when more energy is used in vehicles, more vehicles emit smoke, thus, more pollution occurs, causing harm to the ozone layer. Moreover, using more energy is a way of spending more money. If we use more electricity this month compared to the last one, we also pay more. Finally, much of a country’s economy is spent on buying fossil fuel from other countries. It is a loss to the government as well as us and makes us more dependent on other countries.
Creating awareness is the first step towards conserving energy. This is a step towards conserving energy. This is an example which most countries have already taken. For example, Barack Obama had a campaign ‘Obama Campaign’ in which he states “…energy efficiency is a means of reducing pollution, spending and dependence on foreign oil…” (www.ase.org ). Fiji itself is participating in the world’s largest movement for earth, “Earth Hour”. This is an event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and is celebrated all over the world at the end of March annually. It is the switching off of all unnecessary lights for one hour to remind us about the need to take action on climate change. It was first organized in Sydney by Leo Burnett in which 2.2 million residents participated. Despite this, lights can still be seen in many houses in Fiji during “Earth Hour”.
Other things we can do concern our daily usage. For example, turning off unnecessary lights, appliances and other means of wasting energy. The main idea is to reduce the use of fossil fuel and decrease the harm caused to our planet by humans. According to “www.fijisun.com.fj” an article named “FEA Reply on Nadi “states that “… FEA has a long term objective of producing ninety per cent of electricity by renewable energy sources…”. So, we see that organizations are really trying hard to conserve energy and so should we. Finally, here are some quotes to ponder on (seqasiddarth.blogspot.com):
” Save energy, save money, save planet”
“Save today, survive tomorrow”
“No energy conservation, Know monetary loss,
Know energy conservation, No monetary loss”.
816 WORDS
“MAKE FIJI PROUD,
BE AN
ENERGY SAVER”
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Hi Anshira!
Is this an essay for school? I think it's an important topic that more people should be made aware of, so it's a good thing that you wrote this, for school or not.
When talking about an environmental issue like this (or indeed anything that requires people to make a change), it can often sound preachy and the readers or listeners are in danger of just tuning out, because they feel like they've seen/heard it all hundreds of times already. This is why you want to adopt your own unique voice to get your point through. If people have indeed heard it lots of times and still haven't made a change, perhaps the problem is in the way that they're being told about it. It's all about making the "boring" sound interesting and coming up with examples that directly concern the reader/listener themselves. You've done this to an extent when listing ways in which normal people can save energy, but you could push it even further addressing the reader directly, like "YOUR family", "the lights in YOUR bedroom" etc. instead of just saying "people".
Fiji is an interesting place to lift on the pedestal, and it can indeed come across as a bit random, like ArcticMonkey said. I'm guessing you chose that as the example because it's a relatively small place with high level of energy consumption. However, I'm concerned that unless the reader is actually from there, it's easy to shrug off as "Oh, who cares, Fiji is so far away, that doesn't concern me". Perhaps you could put more emphasis on the fact that Fiji is just an example and that it's just as important regardless of where you come from.
If this is a school assignment, I can understand the Oxford definitions and the mentions of the websites, facts and figures - teachers love that sort of stuff! However, for an ordinary reader like me, it's hardly very interesting, so you do have to keep in mind who you're aiming the text for. I have a feeling it's a school work, so you're off the hook with that one! It's just something to keep in mind that the regular consumer really doesn't care for "boring facts". It's all about getting their attention with something out of their own actual lives.
It's an important topic! Good luck!
Demeter x
Thanks
Hiya anshira! I had to scroll to the bottom of the Green Room for this, I'm sorry that it's taken so long to get a review. It's been a while since I've done a review, so excuse me if it's a bit shabby
.
I'll start off with what I liked. I'm not sure if this topic was given to you or you came up with it but nevertheless, it's something really interesting and something that pretty much directly affects everyone. I also think it was interesting to read statistics about a specific country like Fiji, because obviously I know that energy saving is a problem, but linking it to a specific country makes it all the more real and almost scary to read about- so well done!
Here are some suggestions:
-Starting off with the oxford's definition to something is kind of boring, but can be fitting. I think the general issue here is I'm not really sure whether this article was to make people more aware, inform, or actually get people to try and save energy. If the latter, then I suggest opening the article with a scary statistic, because it really draws people in. You can mention definitions later, but the opening sentence in an article is in some respects, the most important, so be aware of that!
-Although I did like the facts about Fiji, I thought it was slightly random. I mean, I think you need to say something like 'using Fiji as an example,' rather than jumping straight in. I was also confused if this article was actually based on Fiji, which is fine but maybe an alteration in the title to something more appropriate like 'Energy Saving in Fiji'? or something like that.
-Again, I'm not really sure the purpose of this, like whether is was purely to inform or not. If it wasn't, I think more of your own opinion is needed. I think not only would it be really interesting, but it would round things off quite well. Also, just generally giving a few more opinions about energy saving. If you can't think of any, maybe you could search the internet a bit for some, I just think it would give the piece a bit more than it already has.
Overall, I really liked reading this! It was interesting, and well-written. I think the general issue here was at times it felt a bit boring, but that can be easily solved by just varying a bit what you write about and such. I hope this review helped, feel free to PM me with any questions you have or if you'd like another review on anything.
Keep writing,
~ArcticMonkey x
Thank you! I do understand that this was boring.