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.

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!

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

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/

Use of Micro-algae to treat Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Is it not obvious that most of us know that wastes from industrial estates are dangerous to our environment especially to the aquatic lives!, in the same manner, the production of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) channeled into small rivers from palm oil industries, is significantly harmful to our environment because of its high level of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) that affects the natural life cycle of living things.

POME flowing into water source.

Raw POME

The problem comes when POME seep into the soil and end up flowing into nearby clean rivers. Its high BOD and COD content causes POME to consume oxygen in the river which results in insufficient oxygen content to aquatic plants and animals which crucially need oxygen in the first place. Not to forget its high Total Suspended Solids (TSS) will contaminate the natural water source and its full smell is bad enough to make everyone dizzy, hence causing water and air pollution.

Looking at the graphs of annual Malaysia palm oil exports below, it is just impossible to stop our industries from producing oil because of its effect on our environment but we need to find a solution to the problems its production brings on our already stretched environment.

With this in mind, in one of the project I participated in under the title, “Multi-Functional Chamber for Algal Growth, Maintenance & Recovery”, we cultured algae to determine its potential as waste remedial agent and as an alternative source of biodiesel. The latter objective is an additional advantage of micro-algae as the treated cells can be converted to lipid to produce biodiesel. Particularly for this project, we focused on how to grow, maintain and recover algae in a laboratory setting in POME, but first we carried out few experiments of growing algae in sea water as the main medium. This is because we must study the behavior of the microalgae before introducing it to POME, which is easier if we carry it out in sea water. From our experiments, the results gained clearly showed that microalgae have big potential to treat POME by lowering its BOD and COD content.

cultured micro-algae

Take a look at the result below. Is there any argument that can prevent us from not taking this opportunity to use micro-algae to treat POME, besides we need not even to worry about the cost of micro-algae because they are in abundance all over Malaysia. Our main task is only to make it work. 

Parameter	Range	Before treatment	After treatment with algae
COD	15,000-100,000 mg/L	65,271.7 mg/L	11,238.88 mg/L
BOD	10,250-43,750 mg/L	24,116.66 mg/L	5716.230 mg/L

Do yourself a favor to save your environment when you are still alive.

Save the Tigers!

I recently went to a socializing event for 'green' enthusiasts in KL called Green Drinks KL. It is held every month (typically towards the end of it) at the Mulberry Restaurant and Bar, Ming Annexe Building in Jalan Ampang, KL (location may change from time to time). My brain would like to take itself off the usual green building stuffs – so this kind of activities is like a mind intellectual retreat – for me anyway :P

Introduction to Green Drinks KL

Green Drinks is a gathering for anyone interested in creating a more sustainable world, exchanging ideas and hearing different perspectives about the social and environmental challenges we face. The concept began in the UK in 1989 and over the years has spread far beyond London to over 650 cities worldwide! 

You can find out more at https://www.facebook.com/groups/51963358529/

There’re always new topics discussed every month. My previous visit was quite interesting. I just want to share with you the topic presented on the tigers in Malaysia and MyCAT – The Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (I'm not always about the building you know).

Tigers have lost 93% of their habitat in the last 100 years, and we have lost 97% of tigers worldwide. I think we have about 500 tigers (wild) left in the country and MyCAT is trying very hard to protect them! 


You can check out their website: http://malayantiger.net/v4/mycat for more information.

Tiger poaching and smuggling is the number one factor that is causing the loss of our tigers. One of the cool things they have planned to address this issue is the Citizen Action for Tigers programme! Basically, MyCAT helps volunteers (which is us) to do their part for the wildlife. The programme includes CAT Walks, whereby volunteer can prevent poaching by their mere presence and additional watchful eyes at poaching hotspots on weekends. It’s kinda like your usual trekking activities – but with a more noble purpose! If volunteers encounter any suspicious activities, they contact the Wildlife Crime Hotline, managed by MYCAT, and they can relay the information to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP).



Call MyCAT to find out more! Save the tigers!

Carbon- friendly Home

Hello!

Global warming is not someone else problem as all of us are responsible on it. Little practice could give a small change for us to save the mother earth.

In the previous entry, we had shown you the guidelines to implement green features for your home which is here, thus today, I want to share with you how to make your home a carbon-friendly home.

The tips are as follow:

1.      Use climate-friendly appliances

Buy an energy- efficient refrigerator, washing machine and air conditioner. You could help to save the mother earth by reducing nearly half a tonne of CO2 a year! House appliances with “Energy Star” label are recommended if you don’t know what type of machine to buy.

2.      Click it off

Switch off television, computer, radio and DVD player when you want to go out or go to bed. Leaving them on standby mode can chalk up a hefty electricity bill. Such a waste, right?

3.      Never dump, compose!

More than a third of food waste is biodegradable and could be composted. It provides clean and odourless environment once it is loaded in composting bin. It also benefits you in term of economic as it is converted to fertiliser. Yeay, no more ride to plant nursery to purchase fertiliser. Save money on petrol as well as compost! Where could you get the composting bin? You can always make the bin by yourself as it very easy to do so, just Google it up. Or I might tell you how to do it at the next entry.

Source: http://www.compostbinsthurstoncounty.com/

4.      Planting habit

As all of us know, trees and plants absorb Carbon Dioxide (CO₂). Therefore, start gardening and plant your favourite trees. You might not realize that you are reducing the impact of global warming.

5.      Light up efficiently

Switch to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) which is originally qualified for ENERGY STAR label. CFLs use 75% less energy compared to traditional incandescent bulb and last longer (6 times).  In addition, it produces about 75% less heat, so it’s safer, save energy cost with home cooling and reduces 0.08 tonne of CO₂.

It is simple and easy to do, make it your habit, it will eventually become a second nature to be eco- friendly. So, change your lifestyle from now on, and Go Green instead.

If you feel heat, it might come from you, therefore, Don’t Complain, Make A Change!