The School Is Not A Fridge!!!

The white hoodie with the words “BANGKOK CROSS COUNTRY 2018” printed across the back has become a necessity for my school life. It may be my only protection from hypothermia! And even so, getting goosebumps all around my arms has become a daily phenomenon. I am quite sure that I am not the only student in this kind of situation.

When I complain about room temperature, the response is always the same. “Just wear sweaters.” Yes, it might be true that the cold people can adjust their sensory temperature by wearing or taking off their jackets while hot people have no way to help themselves without turning on the Air conditioners.

However, the reality is, that Jackets don’t help. According to the questionnaire by 256 students in ISB, 74.1% of those who “always/ almost always” wear jackets say that they still suffer from cold. 

Can I stand up and question why WE are the ones who have to tolerate when 79.7%(see graph below) of the students are constantly dealing with the classroom cold, and why we have to overlook our school being a contributor to the mass destruction of the world’s environment?

Earlier this month, I recall myself being at the peace day assembly clapping my hands for the children’s speech and the great videos about environmental issues such as plastic waste, global warming, and nature preservation.

Although in the speech, I admire the advocacy of cutting plastic waste, it was quite disappointing that they did not talk so much about saving energy. They talked a little about renewable energy sources like solar panels, but to be honest, I am positive that these will not solve the fundamental problem of mass overconsumption. We have to get into the habit of energy-saving or else, we’re getting in trouble in case there comes a situation where we run out of it.

Yes, I admit that technologies are making big improvements to provide us with abundant electricity without wasting so many natural resources. They call it something like “clean” “renewable” and “green” energy. Solar panels, wind power, and hydroelectric power generations are the main example of those. But even so, these are still light years away from perfect in terms of efficiency, cost, and safety. 

And the sad fact is that many people still prefer to cling to our tiny hope of technological development rather than taking the most realistic and effective solution of reducing unnecessary electricity usage. I call it “stupidity”.

So, how should we save the students and the teachers from heatstroke and tackle environmental problems at the same time? I have an idea. Why not shift the air conditioning setting up by 1degree celsius? This would potentially save 6% of energy according to the bureau of energy efficiency. (Business line). This is a popular opinion supported by 127 and opposed by 65 students. 

I understand the pain of living in a tropical region especially those who are from a chill area like northern Europe or the US. But don’t worry, 1degree wouldn’t make a big difference on your sensory temperature. For those carrying jackets all around the school shivering with cold, the proposal is about to go to StuCo, so stay tuned!

Image of Environmental destruction(photoAC)