awareness/charity,  FT of Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia

Let’s make our city a better place to live

November 19, 2009 /

On October 8, 2009, Water, Green Technology and Power Minister, Datuk iamaplasticPeter Chin Fa Kui has announced  in Putrajaya that a campaign to ban the use of plastic bags will be implemented to conserve the environment and promote green technology. For a start, the campaign would be implemented at the ministry level before being expanded to shopping centers and eventually nationwide.

The campaign, although still in the stage of being expanded to the shopping centers, stores and retail shops in Kuala Lumpur have already started promoting the ban of plastic bags. The ones I came across was Ikea and Body Shop, while shopping for Hari Raya. At Ikea, they charge 20 cent for one plastic bag to discourage customers from one-off use of carrier bags and help customers make an environmentally friendly choice. Ikea believes the move will cut total plastic bag use by 20 million next year. The last time I went, I carried a small handbag so I really had to buy a plastic bag but then later during another shopping session, I carry my own handmade tote bag.

As for Body Shop, the company has been Plastic Bag Free in all its stores since 1999. Their sales person will encourage us to bag the items we bought in our own bag. Should we really need a bag, we will be given a recycled paper bag which is made from chlorine free pulps, environmentally friendly inks and water based adhesives

Why ban plastic bags?
Plastic bags have made our lives easier in many ways but unfortunately, they are often not disposed of properly and foul our public spaces not to mention putting pressure on our already scarce Taman Beringin landfill. Furthermore, when released into the earth, the bags emit poisonous chemicals and utterly dangerous to all living things and the environment.

What should we do?
Since the nationwide campaign has yet to kick off, maybe  we can make an early online effort ourselves to help support the campaign to ban the use of plastic bags. Penang has started its campaign by going green every Monday.

When?
Right now, this minute or as at 2.28am as I am writing this post ^_^. Anytime is a good time. (Yes, I am a night owl.)

How?
Ditch the plastic bags; use recycled bag (cloth or canvas) when shopping as well as blog about the campaign.

My effort?
I am doing my bit to support the campaign and am kicking it off personally by hosting a little giveaway, Emila’s Go Green Giveaway, to one lucky winner. But you need to do something really simple for me; leave a comment by discussing your idea on how are you going to support the campaign.

The person who comes up with the best idea will win Emila’s Go Green Giveaway (a combination of my handmade tote bag and my Illustrated 2010 Calendar).Date of closing: 30 November 2009, 8pm. Anybody can enter this giveaway contest; that means locally and internationally.

emila's go green giveaway

34 Comments

  • bain

    November 19, 2009 at 8:03 am

    Eat smart.
    * If you eat meat, add one meatless meal a week. Meat costs a lot at the store-and it’s even more expensive when you consider the related environmental and health costs.

    Save energy to save money.
    * Unplug appliances when you’re not using them. Or, use a “smart” power strip that senses when appliances are off and cuts “phantom” or “vampire” energy use.

    Save water to save money.
    *Take shorter showers to reduce water use. This will lower your water and heating bills too.

    Less gas = more money (and better health!).
    *Walk or bike to work. This saves on gas and parking costs while improving your cardiovascular health and reducing your risk of obesity.

    Skip the bottled water.
    * Use a water filter to purify tap water instead of buying bottled water. Not only is bottled water expensive, but it generates large amounts of container waste.

    Think before you buy.
    *When making purchases, make sure you know what’s “Good Stuff” and what isn’t.

    Borrow instead of buying.
    * Borrow from libraries instead of buying personal books and movies. This saves money, not to mention the ink and paper that goes into printing new books.

    Buy smart.
    * Buy in bulk. Purchasing food from bulk bins can save money and packaging.
    * Wear clothes that don’t need to be dry-cleaned. This saves money and cuts down on toxic chemical use.

    Keep electronics out of the trash.
    * Keep your cell phones, computers, and other electronics as long as possible.
    * Donate or recycle them responsibly when the time comes. E-waste contains mercury and other toxics and is a growing environmental problem.
    * Recycle your cell phone.

    Make your own cleaning supplies.
    *The big secret: you can make very effective, non-toxic cleaning products whenever you need them. All you need are a few simple ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and soap.

    🙂

  • Rara

    November 19, 2009 at 8:43 am

    Well, in order to save our environment – these are the things that we should start doing:

    Refill! Refill! Refill!
    What would you do when your pen run out of ink? We can reduce waste by only choosing refillable pen, markers, pencil and other stationery.

    Never ending stories
    We hardly read more than once books that we bought. It is good if we can resell those books, instead of putting it on our book shelves. We can benefit more by extending the books’ life cycle. For example, you may visit BookCross@1U. We can donate books, as well as looking for them.

    Re-energise
    We should start using rechargeable batteries. Well, they can last for several thousand uses!

    Give it. Don’t waste it.
    For things that we no longer need (like toys, clothes etc), or we can’t reuse, give it to someone who can. Trashing is the last thing we should do. Think of someone who might able to use those things. Otherwise, donate them to charity centers.

  • muminmalaysia

    November 19, 2009 at 10:43 am

    hi emila.
    what a coincidence. great mums think alike — 🙂 i too have posted an entry on recycling at my blog here…

    http://muminmalaysia.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/think-before-you-throw/

    i was born in a developing country. at one time, water was so short that we got only two mugsful to bathe, everyday…

    as a result, i am very conscientious about how i use water. here in KL, our family never uses the bathtub or the shower.
    we fill water up in a bucket and then use it to bathe.

    even when we wash our car– we never use the hose. we fill half a pail of water and then wipe our car down.
    i think, only when you have had to live without a basic commodity do you really realise its true value.

  • Covert_Operations'78

    November 19, 2009 at 12:13 pm

    As the past coordinator of the Malaysian Nature Society Green Living Special Interest Group , I thank you for this initiative. I am gratified that people actually see the sense in reducing and reusing, as opposed to advocating the distribution of biodegradable plastic bags and paper grocery bags. All new materials, whether biodegradable, compostable or not, require a lot of energy, fuel and water to manufacture. Here’s an example: It takes 3 litres of water in the manufacturing process to produce 1 litre of bottled water. It just makes so much more environmental and economic sense to bring your own drinking water from home, doesn’t it> Your Go Green Bag, by the way, is quite stunning.

  • Rara

    November 19, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    Hi, you can find BOOKCROSS@1U at One Utama shopping centre, PJ. Here you can bring your books and exchange at 1 Utama’s Official Book Crossing Zone.

    For more details on BookCross@1U, pls contact the Customer Service Centre at 03-7710 8118 from 10:00am to 10:00pm daily. Or you can always google: BookCross. TQ.

  • emila

    November 19, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    Thank you for dropping by! I totally agree with you. I really hope that more bloggers, or KLites or Malaysians will blog and promote this campaign.

    😀 Made the bag from a fabric I bought, later hand-painted the go green text with fabric paints and sew it up using sewing machine. It has got black cotton lining inside. Very comfy, can fit so many things inside…oh I forgot to jot down the measurement heheh will update my post with the measurement.

  • Arcturus

    November 20, 2009 at 1:18 pm

    I think a lot of people don’t really care about going green, most common perception would be “One person wouldn’t make a difference”. My advice would be to watch the documentary ‘The Inconvenient Truth’ by Al Gore.

  • Nessa

    November 20, 2009 at 1:34 pm

    ooohh… canteknya bag… *eyes bag with glee*

    tips for going green ya? Hmmmm…. *tengah berfikir*

    *bring own plastic bags to supermarkets
    *don plant flowers therefore no need to water
    *don throw food leftovers
    *use the stairs instead of the escalator

    banyak lagi tapi orang lain da tulis 😀

  • dwimaya

    November 21, 2009 at 6:10 am

    i feel most guilty whenever i need to collect all the garbage inside the house and throw them outside to be collected by the lori sampah – simply because looking at the number of plastic bags we use. let say ada 3 dustbins inside the house, plus 1 huge black color garbage bag to put all those in 1 bag. 🙁 so, we need to be careful with this. think first, before we throw. minimize the platic bags for the dustbins. put aside whichever items that can be recycled, e.g. plastic juices bottles etc. if we don’t know where to recycle them, perhaps just put those as loose items because usually those garbage collectors (pekerja lori sampah), they do collect these items separately.

    another thing is about kedai2 makan whenever we want to tapau (buy and bring back) the food. perhaps it’s about time that kedai2 makan should allow ppl to use and bring own container rather than to use those polystyrenes. and perhaps we as individuals should take step to start approach and ask politely from the kedai makan to tapau the food into own containers. no harm in trying, rite?

    🙂

  • mama mia

    November 26, 2009 at 3:21 pm

    what a great giveaway! Hmm..here’s my tips on going green :-

    * bring own container when going out for ‘tapau’

    * always bring a bottle of drinking water from home, tak payah beli dr kedai

    * plan what you’re going to wear to work for the whole week then iron them sekaligus

    * plant vege for own consumption, at the lawn or in flower pot. Jimat, kualiti terjamin & boleh menghijaukan laman/beranda… 🙂

  • unlisted_one

    November 29, 2009 at 12:23 am

    Kak Emi,..my ideas is :

    1) Woman Cosmetics
    Some of the content in cosmetics and beauty products can contaminate our environment. This is because these products are not supposed to degrade in human body so they can fulfill their function. However, they are not degrading once they get into the environment. As an alternative, we can choose a natural choice such as a home made beauty remedies. For tips, just visit http://www.wholeliving.com/article/beautyremediesb0407fob_t1?autonomy_kw=psoriasis&rsc=header_2 or http://allnaturalbeauty.us/hbr_hair_skin_body.htm.

    2) Household items
    Try to buy your household needs in bulk and buy a refill once it is finish. This will not only save your money but also the environment by reducing wastage to the environment. Usually, I will buy a big container of shower bath cream that is suitable for the whole family (including my baby) and I will buy a refill for it later.

    3) Babies
    For babies, use cloth diaper instead of normal diapers. Every child adds a minimum of 6500 disposable diapers (30% of which is non biodegradable) to our environment.
    Soiled diapers will also contain many pounds of raw fecal matter with viruses that can contaminate our water supplies and wild life. To manufacture disposable diapers will also use large quantities of wood pulp from trees, which can also effect the environment.

    4) Choose un-processed food
    One of my colleagues used to tell me, try to eat more un-processed food instead of the process one. She told me it is for our health but I can see her principle will also save our environment. Why? Because the lesser processing for the food is, the fewer resources used to get it to your plate.

    5) Use online banking
    Some of us will still go to the bank to settle their bills, or pay for their credit cards. Why not doing it all at the comfort of your house? By doing it online, you can save paper usage (which origin is from a tree) when you use the online billing instead of the hardcopy one. You can also save on fuel by not going all way to the bank to settle all your payment.

    6) Make it green
    Plant more trees in your neighbourhood,the average tree can remove 50 pounds of carbon from the air in one year during photosynthesis. After mowing your lawn, leave the grass clipping there instead of scooping it into a plastic bag. It will reduce the amount of waste and can act as a natural fertilizer which is safe and healthy for the environment.

    7) Solar power
    Try to use gadgets that run on solar power. This can be done for radios, chargers for phones and laptops. By doing this, you are actually saving more on the energy usage.

    8) Donate electrical item

    Purchase long-lasting products that can be reused or refilled, such as rechargeable batteries, handphone, laptop etc. Donates used electronics to be reused by schools, non-profit organization or families that could not afford for a new one. This will extends the lives of these products and keeps them out of the landfills. If you are using a disposable items such as batteries, you can always recycle it.

    9) Reduce plastic waste
    Use shopping bag when you are out for shopping. Shopping centre such as Tesco, Giant and Jusco do sell this type of bag. Reduce plastic waste as it shows that 66% – 80% marine litter is plastic which is very long lasting. This plastic waste is a threat for our marine life.

    10) Gifts
    Use your creativity in gift giving, including making homemade gifts (using recycle items such as newspaper, old megazine etc) or even giving away an unused gift. You can even used an empty cereal box to make a homemade cards and re-used the wrapping paper. This can reduce the paper usage.