Sunday, April 7, 2013

Have your coffee now in compostable cup


As environmental advocates, we should always seek ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Of course we always have our little actions that we do on daily basis like turning off our lighting systems, air conditioners, heaters and any other electrical equipment when not in use.

However, we need to ask ourselves, is what we do really enough to contribute to the safety of our environment? Definitely not, therefore we need to step into a larger sphere by using environmentally friendly and sustainable products that reduce the use of fossil fuel and one of the ways to do that is by using compostable cups.

Every day, millions of people around the world take their coffee either in a glass cup or conventional disposable cups. This can either be at the restaurants, public gatherings, hotels, homes and streets. According to my observation, in Malaysia, most people take their cup of coffee at the restaurants and cafeterias and the disadvantage of using conventional paper cup is that it contains plastic lining made from petrochemical products that would produce enough heat energy that can be used for other purposes. Not only that but also the waste collection methods in the above places are not convenient enough as most people tend to throw the rubbish to whom it may concern.

On the other hand, a compostable cup is much more eco-friendly than the conventional paper cups because it is 100% made from natural and renewable plant and trees materials. According to research by Brewster Smythe (2011), the compostable cup is made of paperboard coated with polyethylene to avoid liquid spill. It also uses Polylactic acid (PLA) to create a water proof barrier on the paperboard. With this in mind, we can conserve the consumption of non-renewable petrochemicals to make the conventional cups.




One can argue that we can use recycling as a mean to control the waste but practicing it is still the main problem in the community. Most people mix all the wastes in the same bin without separating the recyclable and non-recyclable materials, hence allowing extra cost and time in managing the waste.

All of us want to do our part when it comes to saving our planet and saving energy. Perhaps asking your favorite coffeehouse owner to offer compostable cups could be another step in the right direction or buying compostable cups to use during any occasion and gatherings would save you the cost and time for waste collection.





Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Philosophy of Sustainability


Just a thought, what is sustainability means to you? How do you actually being sustainable? This simple question could lead to many answers, but I would like to share with you the real philosophy of sustainability that has been taught by my lecturer.

Sustainability have two elements that need to keep and practice which are as follow:
1.      Conservation
o   Consuming natural resources as minimum as possible
2.      Operation
o   Make sure it will not danger the environment
o   Maintenance shall be as less as possible ( Wastes , Cleaning, Painting)

Moving on to another part related to sustainability known as Life-Cycle Analysis.

                                   Construct                                 Demolishing

Start from the construction work until demolition process, do it right!No matter who you are, either an architect, engineer, student or even contractor, please make sure whatever you plan to do and consume, does not give any effect to the future as well as to new generation.

In short, be environmental- friendly.
Another thing you need to practice is by using this brilliant concept. If you’re planning to own a house (you could visit our previous post about green homes) or developing building for others, Please practice this concept which will eventually give you thousands benefits. The concept is called 3P’s (Peoples, Planet, Profit).     
                         
Implement this concept, then you are towards sustainable person!

Friday, March 22, 2013

SWITCH OFF AND SAVE THE PLANET



“Earth Hour” already started since year 2009, namely originated in Australia. For those who do not know, this campaign aims to spread awareness to the whole population on the issue of the world climate change that increasingly towards the end of time. It has been proven with various natural disasters hit worldwide.

And to those with sense of responsibility on environment, it is an opportunity to give some contributions to earth because Earth Hour Campaign encourages the whole world population to stop using electricity as long as 1 hour. Although our contribution only in 60 minutes, it might be giving very big impact to the entire world.


Let’s join in by turning off our light for an hour and save the world. I DARE YOU...

“EARTH HOUR”
SATURDAY, 23 MARCH 2013 
 8.30 P.M to 9.30 P.M



Sunday, March 17, 2013

Water Conservation Infographic

A reader has commented on our previous entry on water conservation and shared with us a very informative infographic - and under the spirit of sharing is caring - here you go.






Original post link: http://www.lochnesswatergardens.com/pondblog/how-much-water/