Showing posts with label MPSJ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MPSJ. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

A letter to the Municipal Council (MPSJ)



As I accumulate all the recyclables that I can, I wondered whether if it would be a lot easier to have a community recycle bins nearby, especially at my apartment area. I also considered the potential of the 'wet' food waste that could be good compost fertilizers. The only problem is space. Having to live in a compact apartment makes my salvation to the environment, almost impossible!!!. So I wrote to MPSJ, thanks to their helpful website. I made a suggestion that there should be some recycle bins at my apartment and there should be a separation between the 'wet' rubbish and the 'dry' ones. If the rubbish are separated, then waste management would be easier to be handled. The 'wet' rubbish could be collected to make compost while the 'dry' ones could be sorted out for recycling. I had that idea when I was watching TV the other day about waste management on a talk show with Aziz Desa. The guest , an officer from waste management company said that if the household waste are mixed together, then it would be very impossible to separate the recyclables from the non-recyclables. Even the 'wet' rubbish could be separated to organics such as food waste from the non-organics like medicine or toxic waste. It sounded so simple, right? So with that suggestion to the municipal council, I waited impatiently for their reply-hoping that maybe they have some sort of program that are already running that I didn't know of. Three days later, I received not e-mail but snail mail from the public relations of MPSJ. The letter was very brief.

It wrote:

"For your information, the council have already provided recycle bins in places nearby your area, like the one near the park. You may send the recyclables to those places. For making compost, you do not need a big area to work with but you can create compost in garden pots or plastic bags."

I was not satisfied by the reply. Yeah, they did answered my queries, but it didn't solve the problem. The recycle bins are a 5km away! I want it to be just below my apartment so that everyone in the neighbourhood could do their part. Another thing is, I am not interested in making compost, I am interested in giving away my fresh organic food waste to some garden nursery or anyone that would want to make compost. Rather than throwing it all away to the landfill and promote toxic gas emissions. By that letter, I was a little disappointed that the council did not show any extra effort on assisting their fellow residents that are offering ways to help the environment. At the same time, I thought maybe there are not enough awareness in the community or in our society. "Where there is demand, there is supply.."Maybe there isn't enough people that are writing to the council about how to take care of the environment. Maybe individual effort is not enough. We need a community.

For you who have read this post, I would really like to hear your opinion. Is there something else that I should do instead?






Wednesday, May 21, 2008

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.



Earthweek - A Diary of the Planet