Kiel Lerio (Philippines)
Samsung Engineering Prize

Nowadays, whenever I go to somewhere, the lingering smell of the air always follow. I’m a student who goes to school everyday using public transportation; I ride one everyday and look out the open-aired window to have the wind slap me up awake and avoid my eyes to go back to sleep. Until I make my stop near the Highway and cross the road, it follows. Moreover, every single day, when I walk to the terminal of public vehicles that encompasses my route, it’s there. And even at my very home where it sticks to our clothes, it’s still there-and I call it the modern smell of air.
The modern smell of air is different from what it was. Reminiscing back about 15 years ago, I loved the air how it lightly brushes up the hair all over my body, the fresh and clean smell it harbors, the serenity and calmness it instills…but now, it chokes me. And now, it’s all gone, really gone; they became memories of a distant past that will never come back. But I believe something can change, because change only comes to those who wish for it to be there. Also, if you are not aware and act as of now with news such as the destruction of the Last Lung of the Earth for roughly 3 weeks, change will not come.
I wondered what it was that changed the smell of air. I wondered whatever changed it was corrupted; I guess I was right, because we were the ones who transformed it, us humans. We degraded our environment by not caring and being concerned enough, we never thought of the consequences of our actions. We were too selfish as we built our economy and started taking for granted our environment. When will we ever realize that we cannot and never can eat money or even count it whilst not breathing? We are the cause and we must accept the fact that we are at fault. I am not here to point fingers and blame that everybody is ignorant, but we must first know how ignorant we are. By knowing, we implant the thought of nervousness that then on grows into a fear, a fear of knowing we are destroying our planet and that you should be on edge to decide. Do you continue to become ignorant or will you strive for change?
You might be wondering, how can you as an individual, as a family, community even save the air as it was once.
You cannot beat this air pollution madness, not alone. Collectively, we can make efforts for a sustainable future. Collectively, we act and implement certain disciplines that is to be acted upon strictly. Beating it can come in many ways such as reducing our carbon footprint, alternatively using carbon-waste machines, and incorporation. Beating it, we must ready our arsenals and load our artillery with knowledge.
As an individual, it is important to remove the mindset that others will do it for you. You should think of the fact that if no one does it, then therefore you should, why are you waiting for others to do it if you know you can? Are you incompetent enough? As a worker of some sort of company, if possible, you could incorporate sustainable, environmental-friendly ideas on your company products and activities. As a student, spreading awareness as of now is not enough, act it also. Smoking and vaping as a vice? Find alternatives, such as poetry rather than killing your lungs, you can make someone smile with your literary work.
As family, you should educate one another on how we can save our planet, no more space for closed-minded people that one cannot educate someone older than one’s self because our future is on the line! The appliances and even transportation we use, even there can change something. Rather than using electrical stoves, use the traditional gas tanks. For the mode of transportation, it’s better for the mass to rely on the public transportation that are being provided than a personal one.
As a community, implementation and strict adherence to policies can bring about an effort of change. In some parts of the Philippines, providing to light up a cigarette in stores are banned. Our country also has the policy of number coding of personal vehicles, wherein the last digit of a vehicle plate states that they cannot ride it on a certain day of the week.
But are these efforts enough? Just by knowing and spreading awareness is not enough to bring change, I hope we all act on it as well. As for the youth, which is at the forefront as of now to hopefully bring about a change in this world, I hope all of us get dawned upon the fact that we must act. The world is now at a constant war with air pollution, and good news is we are winning some of the battles by implementation, discipline by some, and adherence. Though unfortunately, the war will never be over if we do not stop our measly conflicts to ourselves and to the environment.
Let us beat the sense of concern to the people of the planet that our little actions can beat air pollution. We must put our minds into our small actions before air pollution beats us all. Mind the consequences of our actions, mind who we collide with such as the future of our next generation. We must implant these thoughts to all, and spread the word as of young so that they will grow critically concerned for the future to not be a wasteland.
And I hope that the future generation would get to smell and appreciate the clean and pure air of what I had remembered 15 years ago. Because as one would say, history repeats itself, and I know that the air before can be brought back once more.