Let’s Recycle!

Long ago, a friend used to tell me about the effort she puts into recycling, by washing every bottle, carton and containers and taking it all to a recycle center. According to her, she even make compost from the fruits and vegetables peels and  used it on her garden plants. She boasted that it helped her give more flowers and the plants looked more healthy since  she began the new habit.

Back then, I thought I would never be able to do that, ever! At that time it sounded really impossible to change the normal behaviour of throwing things. It was easier to make excuses and say it cannot be done as there are no separate bins for recycling.

However, my perception changed after my last vacation in February, this year. I met people who needs what we throw for their survival. I saw that there are creative people who could change it to usable items and there is a market for it. I began to realise that I should be more responsible about the way I live.

Now it’s not a problem for me to wash every bottle, carton and container and take it to the closest recycle centre five kilometres away. Still, there are no separate bins in this neighbourhood for recycling items. So the only option left is to carry it to Tesco Ampang Recycle Centre, which is the closest.

Few months back, on my first visit there, I noticed that those who are receiving the items have some physical disability. From the two young man, one limps and the other one has a bad hand. The old Chinese woman obviously has a spinal problem. But she always seems very enthusiastic in directing people and weighing the loads people bring in. On several occasions I’ve seen her ‘paying’ a small amount of money to those who bring in loads of stuff and people smiling and denying the reward.  Due to language barrier, I could not really understand what was going on until recently.  It seems there is a policy of ‘buying’ materials, if it exceeds a certain weight,  to encourage more people into the habit of recycling. The other thing I realised was that, we are not only contributing for a greener world, but we are helping the disabled people here, with job opportunities and helping to raise funds for projects that would benefit them.

Besides encouraging people to recycle, the Selangor government introduced the “No plastic bag campaign” earlier this year. Since then, most hypermarkets and grocery stores stopped providing plastic bags on Saturdays. Customers are encourage to take “green bags” if not, an additional twenty cent is charge for the bag, on every Saturday.  One may say twenty cent is not much to pay and they would rather pay the extra money and still get the plastic bag. Others would see it an opportunity to change our behaviour and be more conscious of our actions and its impact on our environment.

I decided I would carry my own “green bags” not only on Saturday’s but every day, when I shop. I have some of those reusable bags from the Maldives, yes, the yellow ones that says “Maldives, the sunny side of Life.” On two occasions I was ask, if I’m from the Maldives and is it truly going to sink one day. My answer was “I hope not!”

It’s ironic that our nation is one of the countries that are more vulnerable to global warming and we advocate for a greener world in many international forums, yet we failed to practice, and facilitate the people the very simple means to begin and to make a difference. It’s good to try to be a carbon neutral country, but would it help if we throw things that would harm our seas and the beaches? Shouldn’t we be starting at the very simple, basic level and move forward to harder tasks?

Over the years we had many more seasonal campaigns about environmental issues, but is there a changed in our attitude that shows any consistent progress? People still use iron rods to catch octopus and reef fish and breaks the coral formation in our reefs. We still throw plastic packets, bags and whatever else to the ocean, when we travelled by Dhoni. Most people in the islands still cut all their trees and build their houses just like in the capital island Male’, without leaving any space for greenery or better ventilation or even natural light to filter in their homes.

To do something it’s the people’s attitude that needs to change first. We would change our attitude when we are educated, conscious and understand the importance of doing something. If we really know that what we cannot use  is useful to someone else and by giving away such things instead of throwing, we  are actually helping someone else to earn an income, to help a cause, I guess no one would hesitate to be a part of it.