Small Steps towards a Green Hari Raya Festival

Every year, Aidil Fitri celebrations are preceded with wishing cards being sent out to our family, friends and business acquaintances. From the beginning of Ramadhan, the postal services will be bogged down with the sending of these cards throughout the country. During my childhood days, I used to choose small cute ones for my cousins or friends but as time went by, the cards became bigger or even thicker. These traditional well-wishing during Festivals is almost unavoidable but fortunately, the amount of paper and carbon being used isn't. In the recent years, many have opted to send e-cards via the internet or even sending a note by e-mail. There was no longer a great necessity to send cards and use up paper for the card and the envelope and consequently, less carbon being used to transport the card to the recipient. Despite that, traditional courtesies are still expected especially with business acquaintances or older family members who have no inclination towards being e-savvy.

I say - if you have to, send a recyclable Hari Raya card or even for Chinese New Year, Christmas, Deepavali and the New Year. The price of recycled paper has yet to come down in Malaysia and perhaps is becoming a deterrent towards consumers choosing a recycled card over one which isn't. A recycled card is usually priced around RM5.00 including the envelope whilst its 'fresh' counterpart can be purchased at as low as RM1.00. How now brown cow?

Fortunately, we can re-use the cards we received previously and give it a bit of enhancement. One such site which gives ideas is http://www.recyclingchristmascard.com/.  Alternatively, try using all used stationery which are ready to be thrown out and create a card out of it. Embellishment is the key so that it doesn't come across to the recipient that you are just being cheap. There a number of sites which gives ideas: http://www.thegreenestdollar.com/2009/05/how-make-your-own-handmade-greeting-cards/ is one to look at. You can also get some ideas from http://www.hp.com/hho/hp_create/themes_partners_martha_stewart.html. 

Wanna try? Good luck!

Helping the Environment One At a Time

Saving the environment not your thing? Too difficult, you say? Let's make this elementary. Today, all you have to do is pick up the trash you see which had been thrown onto the grass, the sidewalk or into that little drain you walk pass everyday. Not difficult at all. Let's not question yet whose job it was in the first place to clear the litter in the area or who's the moron who threw that rubbish on the road. Let's just do this simple thing - pick it up and throw it into the rubbish bin - the right one, please. One thing at a time. Thank you.

Recycling your Personal Computer May Not Be So Simple

I found out that recycling your personal computer within the State of Pahang in Malaysia is almost unheard of. Most Local Councils within the State do not have a recycling program for this purpose. The website of the Temerloh Local Town Council where I live provides links which are outdated and from the same website, it is clear that recycling is only paid lip-service and best done for 'cosmetic' purposes only. There are a number of recycling centres in the town itself, where the community can send their old newspapers, plastic bottles and containers and these are collected on specific days of the week by the Local Council themselves or their contractors. This is not enough. Those living in this town know that there is a Malaysian Newsprint Industries' Paper Mill nearby to which our local council can send the papers collected to but is this the only reason for having a recycling program within the area?

Recycling computers have no home in my own hometown. Nobody collects and sends them off to any other 3rd world countries, as suggested by many recycling gurus. I tried to send my own office old PCs to a recycler who advertised on the net recently but apparently my 12 PCs and  4 printers are too small for them to take in. We need to have a community collection to make it worthwhile for recycling purchase programs. 

Why not start one in your community today?

Water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink..

Today, I saw a burst water pipe dispersing out water endlessly to the ground without the water authorities coming to repair. This, apparently, had been going on for hours! The owner of the building or its tenants did nothing to quickly solve the problem and everyone else said it wasn't their problem and only God knows whether or not the water authorities were informed of the burst pipe! The end result - tonnes of water went to waste..this is only ONE burst pipe. How many are there out there today?

Malaysia is building so many water dams to collect water as there is supposedly a need for more supply of water in the Klang Valley as the population continues to grow. The water transfer project from Pahang to Selangor will see to a whole new dam being built in Pahang, which will see to the loss of habitat of many animals including a few endangered species, the loss of a precious forest reserve and the loss of dwelling for the aboriginal people within the area. Research has shown that the need for water kept growing but steps to conserve and to reduce wastage of water had not been carried out in a systematic way. Many communities have not been encouraged to save their daily use and a lot of people are not well informed on how much they are using per capita per day. A recent study in 2007 showed that individuals living in Georgetown, Penang were using up to 310 litres of water per person per day! Sahabat Alam Malaysia made a conclusion in their study on the current water usage that the increase in water demand was mainly to meet the lack of systematic usage by users.

This phenomenon is only because most of us fail to realise our own selfishness and most of us do not realise that by  letting the water tap run, there will be forests vanishing, people displaced and animals losing their habitat. A simple act of uncaring for the usage of our natural resources have far-reaching effects. Whether we realise it or not, our actions will mark the way the world will be in the next few decades. Perhaps our future generation will have to pay a very high price for our present ignorance/'misdemeanour'? Water will be an expensive resource not long from now, if we do not learn to conserve and minimise our wastage. Our land will be set aside not for greeneries but to build blocks and blocks of dams. Forget forests with its natural lakes and rivers, welcome the vast nothingness for kilometers on end with concrete walls stretching along the way. This is what we will be leaving behind for the rest of the world if we continue to be selfish.

Ecotourism - Responsible travelling

These days, so many resorts claim to be ecotourism resorts. Many of us have heard of ecotourism and many are interested to spend some time holidaying in jungles or within nature rather than taking a break in the cities. A lot of people see this type of travel as creating a new identity of sophistication or merely as an affirmation of what is expected of them and therefore, ecotravel is the new big thing in tourism. Be wary, though, that not all resorts that claim to be eco-resorts are really what they claim to be. If you find that there is a huge five star hotel in the middle of the jungle, that should be the first obvious clue that something is amiss. Displacement of aboriginal communities for the mere building of resorts is also a great indication that sustainability has been compromised in creating a supposedly environmentally-friendly holiday vacation resort. So trying to be responsible in the way we choose our holiday destinations is the least we can do.

For us in Malaysia, there are a few eco-resorts that have been identified internationally as being supportive of this type of travel and are not merely labelled as ecotourism resorts. Try to have a look at these places listed in the following website for now:  http://www.eco-tropicalresorts.com/Asia/Malaysia.htm