Why should I care?

Read the sign: “Welcome back beloved retirees.”

World Health Organization (WHO), the UN agency tasked with global health, called back its retirees to celebrate a momentous occasion, its 60th anniversary.

Strange faces met me with giggles and amused whispers but what the heck, there were still some old faces — among the new — that made me feel like this was once my territory.

Walking towards the conference hall, I saw a familiar face approaching. Quickly, I turned to my friend, Gin Mata, and asked, “Hurry, what’s the name of this girl approaching us…hurry, hurry…” My friend got all excited, “Ah, ah, I know her, I know her…oh dear, her name is …?” Too late. The “nameless” girl gave me a buss on the cheeks and exclaimed, “Oh wow! How long has it been? You’re looking great.” I smiled and returned her compliment. In mid sentence, another retiree approached us and thank goodness, she saved me from further embarrassment. I turned to Gin Mata again and squeezed her hand, “Okay, tell me, do you remember this one?” She shook her head, “Nope, and don’t ask me for any more names because I’m having a mega, as-in-major, senior moment here.”

This has been a common occurrence to me, too. I could manage to pull out names from memory, but other times, they’ve been jumbled to smithereens and only sweet smiles and firm hugs can save me.

But, it felt good to be back. The flags of the 37 member states were flying with the summer wind and the water pond was teeming with koi fish in red, white, and orange. I never took notice of these before; that’s because I was too harassed and besieged by pouch deadlines and précis reports to even bother. Now, I was just a plain and happy “old hand” exchanging pleasantries with colleagues, unit advisers, and directors. The pressure was gone.

Dr Shigeru Omi, the present regional director, beamed to see many of the retirees. He shook my hand, nodded, and said, “I’m so grateful for the high standard of work you all maintained and passed on to our present staff…” I smiled at him but I was more interested to see a huge board that covered the entire wall of his private conference room. Is this the new mission statement of the organization? In the ’70s through the late ’90s, our entire work was devoted towards the realization of “Health for all.” This time, the focus was on “Protecting health from climate change.”

I saw graphic pictures of the effects of climate change: Parched earth versus flooded grounds, felled trees and melting glacier, dead fish and starving villages. But these pictures can leave one feeling blasé and unconcerned with a blanket statement like, “It does not pertain to my situation” being the easy stand.

Not when it concerns health. There is a serious connection between health and climate change. If weather patterns are disrupted, it can create havoc in the food chain or cause certain carriers of diseases to thrive. Think of the outbreak of dengue, SARS and bird flu, among many others, not to mention the loss of food sources for man and animals causing malnutrition, starvation, even death.

Someone snickered, “Yeah, but who will listen to me?”

We may not be the world’s recognized movers and shakers (being fame-, talent- and money-challenged) but in reality, it is the average folk, the captivating “influence of one” who could bring about real change.

Below is a list that we can apply to our daily lives where we can make the most impact, a whole lot of difference indeed:

1) Change a light – replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

2) Drive less – walk, bike, carpool or take the MRT more often. You’ll save one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive.

3) Recycle more – you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just half of your household waste.

4) Check your tires – keeping your tires inflated can improve gas mileage by more than three percent. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere!

5) Use less hot water – it takes a lot of energy to heat water. Install a low-flow shower head (350 pounds of CO2 saved per year) and wash your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year).

6) Avoid products with multiple packaging – you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10 percent.

7) Adjust your thermostat – moving your thermostat down just two degrees in cold weather/winter and up two degrees in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

8) Plant a tree – a single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

9) Turn off electronic devices – simply turning off your TV, DVD player, stereo and computer when you’re not using them will save thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

10) Be the solution! Going over this WHO list, I found that I have done a fair bit of global “nursing” although I must work harder on numbers 2, 6, and 9. Recently, a beloved friend passed away. One acquaintance made a comment that left me deep in thought. She said, “Can you imagine? It’s now our age group that has been placed on queue?” She was right. Inevitably, I would leave my children behind. I brought them into this world and it’s the only world I know.

I should care what happens to it.

Who else would?