Making things right this time.....

So with this blog I commit myself to recycling! Sounds corny isnt it?

Being me, I wouldn’t make any move till I check the net to find out about how to recycle. I get useful resources from countries that are well aware of the environmental issue such as US, Japan and Australia. Unfortunately Malaysia has not many website that are dedicated to recycling. When I googled the keyword "kitar semula" the first hit is kitarsemula.com website (http://www.kpkt.gov.my/kitarsemula/ ). Eventhough it has a some fancy website with the typewriter thingy going on, I am not impressed or satisfied by the site because it is not updated. The last input was 2002. That’s how old the National Recycling Day campaign was, I think? But at least I have the info of companies and the agency involve in the recycling program…and also the recycling centres.

I found that it the MPSJ website ( please visit www.mpsj.gov.my) , the municipal council for my area is more informative and also active. Kudos to MPSJ for a very compact website! I decided to write in and request for recycling bin at my apartment. Well it won't hurt to ask. Giving the reason there are many housewife that have no transport to travel to the nearest recycling bin. They officer replied my email but unfortunately said that they were out of stock and they will place a recycle bin if any company or organization that want to give up the bin. I was quite disappointed because the reply sounds like they do not have any budgets for recycling bins. But anyways, it didn't spoil my spirit. I just have to find the nearest recycling bin at my home. Thanks to MPSJ again for giving the info on the charts and schedule.

Recycle Bin in My Neighbourhood
From Left: Paper, Glass, Plastic, Aluminium

By now I have collected some recyclables in a large laundry basket.( No, I don’t have specific sorted bins yet) And they are ready to be sent for recycling. I found one recycling bins near the park by the mosque ( see pic below). Funny thing was I didn't notice it was there, when I have passed that area every other day for almost 5 years here. So I sorted them out, and put them in the respective bins. Mission accomplish. Felt better already! Next step...to shop for a recycle bin to put under my kitchen sink.

Rubbish Attitude...Rubbish Minds...

p

pPreviously, the idea of recycling had been in my head but it never launched into reality for me. This is because, I didn’t made enough effort and I was being ignorant. Sure, I did collected empty plastic bottles, empty glass jars and newspapers but I didn’t allocate specific bins to put the recycle materials. They were always on the kitchen floor by the sink. So when I want to clean my kitchen, or any part of my apartment the plastic bottles would go in the black garbage bag and off it goes to the large garbage bin. I also felt that because there were no recycling bin in my area, I made an excuse not to recycle.

pBut lately the issue of lack of landfills and waste increase in our country called Malaysia has got me thinking. How did it become that way? As I take a walk around my neighbourhood, I see rubbish were thrown every where and it gets worse during the school holidays. Aren’t we trained to be clean at all times in school and especially at homes? If we are trained to be clean in the house, what about outside our homes?If we are not trained to care for the cleanliness, then how can we care for the environment??? I wonder if there is no intervention to this habit and attitude, what would the world looked like for our children? This scenario had made me feel bad and formed a lot of negative energy about the place I reside. The lack of civic-mindedness in our children and also adults means there is lacking of education and information about the environment we are living in. If there is, the information is not emphasized or not being updated.

So with this problem at hand, the most logical thing for me to do as an individual and as a member of
the community is to initiate the awareness within my home and family. Nevermind what my neighbours are doing. Nevermind if there is no recycle bins at my apartment. We simply cannot point fingers to the the government for not providing enough or blaming our neighbours for not teaching their children about cleanliness. It must start within the parameters of our home. I have a positive feeling that if I start recycling then others will follow. Well we'll see.

Say no to rubbish Attitude

Welcome to my Blog about Beginners in Recycling...

pHow it started out?

I love to surf the net and searching for useless information. I usually surf the internet to find information or to fill my curiosity about a particular thing. One day I wanted to start a little garden in my small apartment space. I found a site that that showed how to make self-watering container using plastic PET bottles. I liked the idea and searched for more website that offer great solutions and ideas about gardening using recycled materials. While my little garden is still under construction, I have collected many plastic bottles, and other containers as well. Then I realized I consumed a lot of recyclable materials, and yet I did not recycle them. I felt guilty about not caring for the environment and I didn’t even know where the nearest recycling center is. So I guess by writing to this blog, I am making a commitment to recycle! Here goes! And wish me luck...