By TP Lim
Plastic bags are very useful things! They are great for carrying shopping home, they make great rubbish bags, and they are FREE! I also need them for picking up my doggies’ poopies when we go for walks.
Yet, I am already convinced of the importance of reducing the use of plastic bags in Malaysia. Here’s an extra reason in the Malaysian context – they choke up our drainage systems and cause floods. Due to the non-stop developing of our nation (how is it that they never ask us whether we want to slow down our development in exchange for keeping our green lungs?), vast numbers of trees (we are talking millions here!) are being chopped down every month to make way for development of housing estates (ironically, often touted as eco-friendly GREEN environments by virtue of adding some landscaping to replace the 100 year old forests being destroyed ) and shopping malls (oooh, we love them! More plastic bags!).
Without the roots of the trees to soak up the rain water, the water just runs over the conrete/tar floors and into the drains. These drains were never built to cope with that level of water, and they over flow BIG TIME! Have you noticed the roads flooding whenever there is heavy rain. We are so used to seeing them that we think that it is normal. IT IS NOT NORMAL for drains to over flow! IT IS NOT NORMAL for drains to over flow! Ok, you get the point.
With plastic bags choking up the drains (you only need to look into any monsoon drains to confirm this fact), the flooding problem becomes even more acute.
If we continue to pile on the plastic bags into the drains (they take hundreds of years to disintegrate; so you are effectively choking up the drains for your great grand children as well), you can bet your bottom dollar that the day will come when the flood water will start entering your house too! And think of all that mad traffic jams caused by flooding!
So please join www.projectdailymillion.com and be counted as one of the 1 million malaysians who pledge to reduce/reuse/recycle at least one plastic bag per day. Don’t be a computer activist! Do something! When we all do our little bit, we save one million bags each day! 365 million bags per year! Imagine all those bags in the drains!
Carry your own re-usable bags everywhere you go… sure beats trying to sweep flood water out of your front door or being stuck in yet another traffic jam caused by flooding.
We all get back what we give. Malaysia needs you to do your part now. Thank you Malaysians!
The No Plastic Bag Bazaar poster
The Recyclists are back with the 2nd installment of the No Plastic Bag series of events! Our aim and greatest hope is educate and promote a greener lifestyle while raising funds in support of projects by the Furry Friends Farm (FFF) and the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS).
Mark your diary now!!
WHEN? August 31st, 2009
WHERE? Noble Banquet, No 235, Jalan Bukit Bintang
WHAT TIME? 12 – 6pm
This one-of-a-kind National Day bazaar features activities such as:
* Pre-loved items up for grabs at a steal!
(expect to find desirably affordable treasures form our very cool vendors)
* A variety of green products for you
* Celebrity-donated items for up for auction!
* Raffle draws
Let’s celebrate a greener future this National Day in hope of a greener and more environmentally conscious humanity at Noble Banquet!
Confirmed participation from our celebrity friends:
The Recyclists are working together with event partner ThreadsZoo to put together the best ingredients of a green bazaar experience for everyone.
A little preview on the exciting vendor list at the bazaar..
Just Life, Tiny Tapir, Forest Voices, This Wonderful Life, The Light Show, Jumble Station, Lah Lah Land, Cerita De Beca, Oh Popsicles!, Ladies In The House, Bag2bag, JP Beads, Vavavoom, Afternoon Tea, Teenstation, Deoldies and more!
So? Bring your boyfriends, girlfriends, families & colleagues down to Noble Banquet this national day, mark your Aug 31st!
Tags: Amber Chia, Bazaar, Harith Iskander, Janet Lee, Malaysia, Nell Ng, Recyclists, Threadszoo, Xandria Ooi
By Delia Quigley
The ancient Chinese created the Five Elements, fire, earth, metal, water, and wood, to explain the interconnectedness of all life. When used to balance ones diet and for healing purposes these elements provide insight to the workings of the internal organs, the body parts, one’s emotions and surrounding environment. Understanding the elements can be a language of sorts, one that can explain the meaning of specific symptoms before they degenerate into full-blown dis-ease. I suggest you read Paul Pitchford’s book, Healing With Whole Foods, for a more comprehensive view of the elements.
In regards to food preparation let’s consider Fire element as it corresponds to the months of summer. Fire element governs the heart and small intestine, and the bitter taste of fresh greens strengthens these organs. Late summer brings Earth element into play, which governs the stomach and spleen. The taste for earth is sweet as found in whole grains, vegetables and fruit. With the days hot and damp I wanted to prepare something light, appetizing, pleasurable to the taste and balancing to the governing summer elements. With this in mind I used the sweet taste of millet to create vegetarian burgers and topped them with the pungent bitter taste of chive pesto.
Millet is a gluten free seed with the consistency of cooked grain. It is easy to digest, supports stomach and spleen, is beneficial to the kidneys and helps to create an alkaline condition where there is to much acid. I like to make millet mashed potatoes from the recipe below and serve with sautéed vegetables and lentils. The next day I mold the remains into millet burgers and serve with the pesto surrounded by lightly sautéed vegetables and a green salad to complete the meal.
Millet Burgers w/ Spinach Pesto
Makes 6-8 burgers (good to freeze)
Make sure to soak millet, as you do your other grains, for 8-12 hours before cooking. This helps to remove the phytic acid and make it more digestible.
1 cup millet, washed and soaked 8-12 hours, drained
3 cups water
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 cups cauliflower florets
2 tbs. butter or sesame butter
1 egg (optional)
sesame seeds
1. In a medium saucepan combine the millet, water, salt, and cauliflower. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until all water is absorbed, about 30 minutes.
2. When done add the butter, stirring well.
At this point you can mash the millet with a potato masher and serve as a side dish.
3. Otherwise, allow to cool, then break and egg into the mixture and mix it into the millet thoroughly.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Spray a baking pan with oil and place each burger on the pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
6. When done remove from oven and divide onto individual serving plates. Top with pesto and serve.
Chive Spinach Pesto
2 cups fresh chives, roughly chopped
4 cups fresh spinach, washed and dried
1-2 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts
1/2 cup avocado or extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste.
1. In a food processor puree the nuts until fine, but not paste.
2. Add the garlic and chop a bit more.
3. Add the chives and spinach and drizzle in the oil as the processor is running.
4. Add the salt and mix well. Great topping for pizza.
Delia Quigley is the Director of StillPoint Schoolhouse, where she teaches a holistic lifestyle designed to achieve optimal health and well being, based on her 28 years of study, experience and practice. She is the creator of the Body Rejuvenation Cleanse, Cooking the Basics videos and classes, and Broken Bodies Yoga. Delia’s credentials include holistic nutritional counselor, natural foods chef, yoga instructor, energy therapist and public speaker.
Quigley is the author of seven books on health and nutrition, including:The Body Rejuvenation Cleanse, The Complete Idiots Guide to Detoxing Your Body, The Everything SuperFoods Book, and Empowering Your Life With Meditation, available on Amazon.com. To view her website go to: www.deliaquigley.com
Article courtesy of www.care2.com
By Annie B. Bond
Most modern synthetic cleaning products are based on age-old formulas using natural ingredients that were passed down through the generations because the chemistry was right. Going back to the original naturally derived ingredients is a way to make cleaning products that work, don’t pollute and save you money. Most are found in your kitchen cupboards. Mix and match with well-chosen and environmentally friendly green cleaning products found in health food stores, and you can easily and simply transform your home into a non-toxic and healthy haven.
Non-toxic cleaning can give you a deep feeling of gratification in knowing that your family’s health is protected, and that your home is a place for your bodies to rest and recuperate rather than promote harm.
Making your own nontoxic cleaning kit will take you no time at all with these simple, straightforward directions, and with this kit you will be supplied with enough cleaning product for months of cleaning.
As an added bonus, ounce for ounce homemade cleaning formulas cost about one-tenth the price of their commercial counterpart—and that includes costly, but worthwhile essential oils, and concentrated, all-purpose detergents for homemade recipes.
Today we look at two household cleaning products:
CREAMY SOFT SCRUBBER
Simply pour about 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl, and add enough liquid detergent to make a texture like frosting. Scoop the mixture onto a sponge, and wash the surface. This is the perfect recipe for cleaning the bathtub because it rinses easily and doesn’t leave grit.
Note: Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable glycerin to the mixture and store in a sealed glass jar, to keep the product moist. Otherwise just make as much as you need at a time.
WINDOW CLEANER
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon liquid detergent
- 3 tablespoons vinegar
- 2 cups water
- Spray bottle
Put all the ingredients into a spray bottle, shake it up a bit, and use as you would a commercial brand. The soap in this recipe is important. It cuts the wax residue from the commercial brands you might have used in the past.
Article courtesy of www.care2.com
- Go vegetarian twice a week. Eating one or two vegetarian meals a week is a good choice for the environment, as farming animals produces surprisingly large amounts of air and waste pollution, and causes 80 percent of the world’s annual deforestation. It also requires large amount of water, and livestock worldwide consumes half the world’s total grain harvest. This is why choosing organic meat and dairy products raised on sustainable farms help the environment.
- Compost your food waste. One quarter of the average binful is made of organic waste, which means that all vegetables and fruit trimmings can be composted on a garden compost heap, and the rest via your local council or recycling agency: that’s leftovers, food that’s gone off, trimmings and food you don’t want. It can include bones, dry foods and cooked foods.
- Don’t throw your cooking oil down the sink. Whenever small particles or grease are washed down the drain, they solidify and attach to the inside of the pipes. As more and more particles of grease flow down the drain, they gradually accumulate and can form a large mass. This mass eventually clogs the pipes, blocks the wastewater flow and often results in an expensive backup or a public sewer spill. To be eco-friendly, carefully pour used oil into a strong sealable container, such as an old plastic jar with a lid and dispose of it in the trash can.
- Say no to packaging for fruit and vegetables. Instead of throwing out food packaging every time you do shopping, buy unpackaged fruit and vegetables by going to the vegetable counter or grocers and choosing to clean them up by yourself.
- Rethink how you buy milk. If you buy milk from the supermarket, it’s very likely that it will be in a Tetra-Pak carton or a plastic milk bottle. The Tetra-Pak cartons, because they are made of different materials fused together, are very hard to recycle, and plastic bottle require lots of energy to be recycled. An alternative is to buy your milk in returnable, reusable glass milk bottles from a milkman or local dairy – check in your local area to see what’s on offer.
- Recycle your booze. Be green about your boozing and opt for organic and local wines over imported bottles (food miles apply to drinks as well) and while you are at it, recycle all your cans and bottles!
- Think twice about ready meals. Ready meals are basically food that ends up being cooked twice, which is a waste of energy. Then think of all the packaging and the cheap ingredients used (meaning they are more likely to come from intensive farms) and you’ll see that it’s more eco-friendly (and healthier and cheaper) to cook from scratch.
- Cut back on meat when you’re eating out. The Eat Less Meat campaign is calling for a 15 percent reduction in meat consumption over the next 10 to 15 years. Farms are a major source of pollution and tropical forests are cut down to raise beef.
- Say no to foil. Instead of regular aluminum foil, buy recycled foil to wrap food in. Recycled foil uses a twentieth of the energy needed to produced a regular foil.
- Say no to all packaging
- Most food-packaging material uses some petroleum-based plastic. Look for minimally or unpackaged items instead, for purchased brands that use bio-based instead of petroleum-based plastic. Bread, rice, pasta and grains can all be bought at pick-and-mix places and stored into reused bags.
- Bring a cloth bag to the shops instead of using plastic bags. An estimate 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. That’s 1 million bahs used per minute and less than 1 percent of those are actually recycled.
- Buy your water in bio bottles. Bio bottles are made from corn but could also be made from potatoes, rice or beetroot. The corns goes through a fermentation and distillation process and is reduced to an acid, which is then moulded into bottles – which means that after use they can be composted.
- Cook at home more often. Reduce global warming and improve air quality by staying home to eat and lowering your car emissions (if you have to drive out and eat)!
- Buy dolphin-friendly tuna. Tuna has been linked with the killing of dolphins, as they swim alongside tuna and then get caught in the nets. Although new measures have been bought in, around 1,000,000 dolphins are still killed every year.
- Avoid single portions. Even if you live alone, you don’t need to buy single portions of convenience food; they are ecologically unsound as they use up excess packaging.
- Don’t waste food. It sounds obvious but don’t waste the food you buy. Use it, cook it, freeze it.
- Buy eco-food. As in, buy food that have less of an impact on the environment, such as rice, fruits and vegetables, compared to meat and dairy.
- Shop by foot not by car. If you can reduce the number of times you go shopping by car, by either walking or getting public transport, you’ll help reduce the effects of global warming and air pollution.
Compiled by Janet Lee. Source: The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Green Living by Anita Naik
