Consumers urged to use ozone-friendly products, services

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 is calling on the public to patronize products and services that help protect the ozone layer.

“Before buying any product especially air conditioning units, read first the label and buy only those that are hydrocholorofluorocarbons or HCFCs-free,” advised Engr. Cindylyn Pepito, environmental management specialist 1, during the Kapihan sa PIA forum yesterday.

William Cuñado, Environmental Management Bureau 7 director, also said that HCFCs-free products are usually more energy efficient and will multiply savings from electricity consumption.

HCFCs are used as blowing agent for the foam industry, as coolant in commercial refrigeration, industrial and domestic air conditioning, as flushing agent in the servicing sector, and as fire-extinguishing agent.

HCFCs-free products can be found in shops for refrigerators, air conditioning units and vehicles that are accredited by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Cuñado said that by 2015, the country has to reduce its HCFCs imports by 10 percent of its baseline as efforts are underway to reduce the demand of these chemicals.

Rechale Ybañez, DENR-7 environmental education and information coordinator, said that since 2010, the Philippines no longer imports Ozone Depleting Substances.

“Ug naa man gani ODS, it means illegal na because we no longer import it since 2010 (If there are ODS being imported, that’s illegal because we have stopped importation since 2010),” Ybañez said.

Incidentally, this year is also the 25th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer wherein the Philippines is one of 188 signatory-members.

The Montreal Protocol has been recognized around the world as the most effective multilateral environmental treaty ever implemented, and the country’s being a member is proof of our commitment to reduce global warming, officials said.

The EMB-7 said recently that the Philippines has contributed to the global key achievements of the Montreal Protocol with the phase-out of 98 percent of historical production and consumption of ODS.

Last year, it was reported that the hole in the ozone layer has shrunk, the size is recorded to be the smallest in the last decade.

“This is really good news nga nagkagamay ang buslot sa atong ozone layer (This is really good news that the hole is getting smaller),” Ybañez added.

Also, the Montreal Protocol has already averted greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to more than 135 billion tones of carbon dioxide.

DENR-7 Executive Director Isabelo Montejo said the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was designed to reduce the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances in order to reduce their abundance in the atmosphere, and thereby protect the earth’s fragile ozone layer.

Also this month, the country will celebrate the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. The celebration on September 16 will be anchored on the theme, “A healthy atmosphere, the Future We Want.”

The celebration was proclaimed in a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1994. – (FREEMAN)