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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: CAR SAFETY, PERFORMANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RATINGS DEPEND ON MORE FACTORS THAN JUST AGE In coming to a decision on whether to impose a mandatory 12-year cap on the lifespan of private vehicles, the Ministry of Transport should consider the feedback of citizens, organisations and professional bodies. ( The Star, 20 Nov 2013 ).  The safety, performance and environmental ratings of vehicles depend on more factors than just their age. The automotive industry, understandably, sees increased sales as a much-needed shot  in the arm for the industry and the nation's economy. However, from an environmental point of view, purchasing used goods, including automobiles, is a wise decision as it reduces the need to extract and transport raw materials. Buying a car the second time around also means we avoid  consuming all the energy used in producing and transporting a new vehicle, and  hence significantly reducing the generation of waste matter and carbon emis...

PENCINTA ALAM DEC 2013 ECO KIDS COLUMN REUSING CHILDREN'S ARTWORK By Wong Ee Lynn ( gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com ) ( Image credits: The Imagination Tree.  http://theimaginationtree.com/tag/reusing-artwork ) The school year has come to an end, and without doubt you would have accumulated many masterpieces from various art sessions at school and at home. What can you do with all your paintings and drawings? There is only so much space on the refrigerator for displaying your artwork. How do you decide which to keep, which to throw away and which ones to give away? Here are some ideas you can try out to manage your collection of artwork.  1. REDUCE AND RECYCLE Give yourself a limited storage space, for example, a large folder or a keepsake box. Choose only your best work to store in the folder or box. For every 1 item you decide to keep, you should discard 5. If you find it too difficult to part with your labour of love, then use a digital camera to take photos of your artwork and stor...

PENCINTA ALAM DECEMBER 2013 GREEN LIVING COLUMN GREEN RESOLUTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR by Wong Ee Lynn (gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com) ( Image credits: Planetpals.com ) 2013 will soon come to an end, and whether or not you are in the habit of making New Year resolutions, there is never a better time than today to start taking action to reduce pollution and carbon emissions and conserve energy and resources. Here are some suggestions that you may wish to consider or improvise on, if they are not already part of your lifestyle: 1. RESOLVE TO GREEN YOUR DIET.  Start with a resolution to cook at least four meals a week in your home from fresh, organic ingredients. A vegan diet has the smallest carbon footprint, followed by a vegetarian diet. If you are not already vegetarian, try going vegetarian once a week, and slowly increase it to every other meal. Cutting meat out of your diet just two days a week can decrease your carbon footprint by about 1/3 of a tonne — and coming up...