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PENCINTA ALAM AUGUST 2016 ECO KIDS COLUMN HELPING HANDS AT THE MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY URBAN COMMUNITY FOREST By Wong Ee Lynn < wongeelynn@yahoo.com / gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com > " Take care of the land and the land will take care of you ." ~ H. Bennett.     What if we told you that you didn't have to go on a long holiday to a place far away in order to help volunteer for a project that helps the environment? What if we told you that you could volunteer any weekend you please, and still have time for your other activities, tuition classes or music lessons after helping out for a few hours on a Saturday morning? What if we told you there is a place in the city where you can volunteer to help the environment and plant rainforest trees on Saturday mornings and learn more about trees, gardening and the environment? What if we told you there is a place in the city where your club, society, class or Scout/Guide troop can visit and volunteer and learn about trees and natur...

PENCINTA ALAM AUGUST 2016 GREEN LIVING COLUMN ALTERNATIVES TO ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP   Maybe you’ve heard how the overuse of antibiotics is causing the rise of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs.” The same can be said of antibacterial products such as antibacterial shower gel, hand soap and hand sanitisers.   As epidemiologist Allison Aiello explains to Scientific American, most antibacterial soaps contain the ingredient triclosan. When the bacteria are exposed to triclosan, they can undergo genetic mutations. These same mutations not only protect them from triclosan (or whatever other antibacterial product you are using), but can make them more difficult to kill with antibiotics!   In animal studies like this one at the Journal of Toxicological Sciences it was found that triclosan altered the hormones in rats, causing an estrogenic effect. The FDA says that animal studies aren’t always indicative of what will happen to humans, but even they recommend reviewing the risks f...