Today we again mark World Environment Day with the theme ‘Your Planet Needs You: Unite to Combat Climate Change'. What will you be able to do?

In fact, there are thousands of things an individual can do on our own to play a role in saving the planet. Never belittle our efforts for in numbers we are strong - 28.2 million of us. One small thing you can start at home is in itself being energy-efficient.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), nearly 48 percent of energy consumed in a household is wasted due to inefficiency. This means, every RM 100 we pay for our electricity bill, nearly RM48 is actually energy that is wasted.

We, as consumers, must realise that the energy we consume comes from mainly from fossil fuels. With our nation's resources to deplete by 2020, are we willing to pay a higher price to ‘waste' 48 percent of our energy? Definitely not.

In a recent stimulation done by Wecam's Research Division, we manage to outline that if a person switches on his air-conditioner for one-and-half hours without being present to enjoy the cool air, he wastes around RM0.29 a day which totals up to RM105.85 a year.

If this is the cost of the inefficiency of an air-conditioner, one million of such air-conditioners will make all of us pay RM105.85 million a year for inefficiency. Now, that's a big number.

The wastage is about 1.35 kWh (kiloWatt/hour) or RM 0.29 a day. This is a comparison between non-energy efficient and energy-efficient air conditioners. In total, we may waste about 492.75 kWh per person a year.

An estimated carbon footprint for energy would be near to 0.6 kg of CO2 per kWh. That means we are generating 295.65 kg of CO2 just by wasting electricity for air-conditioners. What about other household fittings?

There are many new electrical equipment on the market which claim to be energy-efficient. How do you purchase a good one? How do you know which equipment is the energy-gulping culprit in your home?

Visit our website for calculators that help you to identify energy-gulping equipment and also to rate which equipment is more energy and cost-efficient to purchase. You will definitely find it handy to use.

Once you have done that you can also pledge to reduce your energy usage. Wecam also urges industries to pledge to reduce their energy usage.

A stable energy demand which is efficiently used can definitely be more cost-effective to manage and maintain.

Your planet needs you and this is the only planet we have to live on. Do your part.

T he writer is secretary-general, Water and Energy Consumer Association of Malaysia (Wecam).