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LAST week, I found myself sitting through a most amusing meeting.
You see, the company I work for had been wisely introducing
cost-cutting measures on an almost weekly basis in the wake of
escalating fuel costs. The subject for this particular meeting was
the latest measure to be implemented, which concerned the use of
vehicles for official business. Our company had been extremely
generous in providing chauffeured transportation to employees for
when they stepped out of the office to perform some work-related
assignment.
As much as management wanted to continue
providing such a service, it also needed to make a few adjustments
if it expected to stay competitive for the long run. The meeting was
thus called to get everyone’s input on how to achieve maximum
efficiency in using our fleet of vehicles. As I sat there, I
listened as we zeroed in on the two basic areas in which we could
drastically improve the way we do our trips.
First, it was determined that some staff members
had been too spoiled to do some healthy walking. There had been
instances when some of us would request the use of a vehicle even
when the destination was merely 200 meters away. Which reminds me of
how princely we behave in our own country and how we don’t mind
walking kilometer upon kilometer in Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur as
tourists. Or how some of us wouldn’t be caught dead riding the MRT
but wouldn’t have qualms using the subway train in Tokyo.
You may argue that it isn’t nice to stroll in
the Philippines because it’s hot and humid. But Malaysia is just
as hot and even more humid. And you may point out that you have
reached a certain status that makes railway transits awkward for
you. But Japanese executives regularly take the train—while
donning well-pressed suits.
If only most of us learned to walk a bit and
take the occasional bus ride, we would collectively save a lot of
fuel, free up a lot of traffic space out there and burn a lot of fat
in the process. Although having said that, I can’t help but blame
government for not providing the public an efficient mass-transport
system. We’re so Third World in this regard. It’s already 2008
and our roads are still teeming with prehistoric jeepneys. We should
have invested in railways and electric trams a long time ago. But
no, our brilliant thinkers revere the jeepney so much that they’re
even evolving it as an electric mode of transport. Splendid!
Second, it was brought up in the meeting that
some of us did not plan their itinerary properly, such that a
vehicle sometimes went back and forth over a certain route just to
do errands that could have been accomplished in a single trip. I
suppose it’s human nature not to be very mindful of the waste when
we’re not the ones personally paying for it. There are many
different kinds of jobs that come with free vehicle use as a perk.
It takes moral individuals to treat company vehicles like they would
their personal cars.
It felt good to join a meeting where all the
participants worked their brains to come up with practical solutions
to help their company deal with the trying times. The bottom line is
that we all need to make sacrifices. We can’t pretend that we can
continue enjoying our past conveniences and luxuries like fuel is
still forty bucks a liter. There’s no dodging this fuel crisis.
It’s for real.
I just read a news story that said airlines
around the world are also struggling to cope with skyrocketing fuel
prices. They’re planning on printing in-flight magazines with
fewer pages, making utensils and seats out of lighter materials, and
decreasing the amount of water they bring onboard. Why? All in the
name of shaving off precious weight, which of course is crucial to
fuel consumption.
Walk. Commute. Carpool. Plan your trip. Shed
body fat. These little things will go a long way in helping your
family, your company and your country survive the current fuel
crisis. You will also realize that you’re doing the environment a
world of favor by becoming more prudent in the way you get around.
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