savoy094

Volunteering has always been a critical component of Green Living. Volunteering enables us to put our skills and knowledge into practice, and to acquire more knowledge, awareness and experience in the process. Volunteering is an essential part of walking the talk about environmental responsibility, and also opens up our eyes to the problems we encounter in trying to implement solutions to environmental issues. The Green Living SIG chose to organise a volunteer programme on 28th September 2013 at the Turtle Conservation and Information Centre operated by the Department of Fisheries in Pantai Pengkalan Balak, Masjid Tanah, Melaka as it does not receive as much volunteer help and positive publicity as some of the other turtle sanctuaries and hatcheries in Malaysia. 30 MNS members registered for the programme to learn more about turtle conservation issues in Malaysia and help with the upkeep of the Centre. Participants also made a financial contribution of RM25 each, which would be used by...

WILD ENCOUNTERS AT THE MNS ECO KIDS ZOO ENRICHMENT WORKSHOP By Wong Ee Lynn ( gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com )   Though many of us do not enjoy seeing animals in captivity, 41 MNS members were keen to learn how to improve the quality of life of animals at Zoo Negara.   Zoo Education Officer Edwina and team were there to greet us when we arrived on the morning of 28 th July 2013 and we were taken to the Enrichment Centre where we were to prepare food puzzles and treats for the lions, tigers, tapirs and elephants to keep them mentally and physically stimulated.   It was also a good exercise in repurposing, as the workshop participants had spent time collecting cardboard boxes, coconut shells and toilet roll tubes for the Enrichment Centre to be converted into toys and puzzles for the animals.   Due to the large size of our group, some of the participants chose to go on a Science Walk with Dr. Ille Gebeshuber, who is not only a Professor in Physics but also a dedicated M...

PENCINTA ALAM SEPTEMBER 2013 GREEN LIVING COLUMN   (Image credits: www.theguardian.com ) MANAGING ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD POLLUTION By Wong Ee Lynn gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com   Electromagnetic fields (EMF) and electromagnetic waves (EMW) are present everywhere in the environment and natural sources include the Earth, Sun, ionosphere, lightning and visible light. EMWs in their natural frequency are not harmful to humans. Our Earth’s frequency is 7.83 Hz, which is identical to human (alpha) brain waves.   However, there are also manmade EMFs and EMWs, which have increased in the past century with the development of technology and radio communications. Devices such as cellular and cordless phones, electronic gadgets, satellite systems and microwave ovens come in a frequency range of between 900 MHz to 2.4 GHz.   These frequencies are hazardous because they overload and overstimulate our bodies, and overwhelm our immune systems. Computers, for instance, generate enough r...

PENCINTA ALAM AUGUST 2013 GREEN LIVING COLUMN REFILL PACKS, HANDKERCHIEFS AND OTHER GREEN LIVING CONUNDRUMS (By Wong Ee Lynn, gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com ) Q.Which is better -- purchasing refill packs and refilling existing containers, or buying regular products and recycling their containers?  Refill systems have the potential to significantly reduce both retail packaging waste and product waste. This favours the selection of high volume products that show significant potential weight savings. Such systems involve the initial sale of products in a dispensing container such as a trigger spray or a pump dispenser, with customers encouraged to purchase a simple container to refill the original dispenser. In their simplest form, refill systems could be a pack where the spray or pump can be transferred from the original container to a new container of the same size and design as the original but with a screw cap in place of the dispense mechanism. Refill packs generally provided value...

GREEN LIVING COLUMN PENCINTA ALAM JULY 2013 NATURAL DISINFECTANTS AND DEODORISERS By Wong Ee Lynn Bacteria are a natural part of the ecosystem. Our attempts to keep our homes and families healthy should be with the goal of having a clean, pleasant-smelling place to live, where potentially hazardous bacteria are controlled by basic hygiene. A healthy human immune system can easily cope with normal household germs, and is in fact at greater risk from the chemicals used in many cleaning products. In recent years, we have seen a boom in anti-bacterial products, from kitchen sponges to dishwashing liquid. Not only can disinfectants be health risks in themselves, many disinfectants contain chemicals, such as triclosan, which can affect the central nervous system of humans and other mammals, and cause organ damage. Health and environmental experts caution against anti-microbial products (sponges, toys, soaps, washcloths, aerosol sprays) because: (1) They create a false sense of security and t...

PENCINTA ALAM JUNE 2013 ECO KIDS COLUMN 19-YEAR-OLD INVENTS OCEAN CLEANUP ARRAY (Source: Inhabitat.com) 19-year-old Dutch inventor Boyan Slat has unveiled plans to create an Ocean Cleanup Array that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world’s oceans. The device consists of an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms that could be dispatched to garbage patches around the world. Instead of moving through the ocean, the array would span the radius of a garbage patch, acting as a giant funnel. The angle of the booms would force plastic in the direction of the platforms, where it would be separated from plankton, filtered and stored for recycling. At school, Boyan Slat launched a project that analyzed the size and amount of plastic particles in the ocean’s garbage patches. His final paper went on to win several prizes, including Best Technical Design 2012 at the Delft University of Technology. Boyan continued to develop his concept during the summer ...

PENCINTA ALAM JUNE 2013 GREEN LIVING COLUMN REMOVING WEEDS THE NATURAL WAY The rainy season is upon us again, and it usually results in an increase in weeds. The use of chemical weedkillers and herbicides, however, has been linked to water and soil pollution and the deaths of insects, frogs, toads, birds, tree shrews and even companion animals such as dogs and cats. How, then, do we remove weeds without resorting to chemical weedkillers?  Here are some safer ways of removing weeds and preventing weeds from growing: (1) Spread layers of wet newspaper on top of areas where you do not want weeds to grow. This prevents sunlight from reaching the soil and thus inhibits the growth of grass and weeds.  Old garbage bags, pieces of tarpaulin or old carpet and shower curtains work as well. However, this method can be rather unsightly, so you may wish to restrict this to the insides of flowerpots, borders and in the spaces between plants. (2) ...