Dear good people,

I've written to lowyat management this morning suggesting a dedicated branch for environment and conservation issues. This would augur well with forumers who love nature and we all can discuss about heritage, recycling, helping poor Orang Asli, pollution .... etc. A speedy response was provided by lowyat staff and I was recommended to start a thread in this LYN branch to see how much support there is. Nothing is promised but the staff was kind enough to consider a new dedicated branch if there is traffic for it. This is fair.

So, to kick start the thread. I figured all of us are individuals and locals in our town or region all over the country. So, everyone has a good story to tell. You know hidden spots around our turf and who are the culprits who show dis-respect to the environment.

This is how you can support & contribute to this thread ....

1. Highlight great examples of recycling and conservation (pics would be great)
2. Highlight bad examples; I know this won't be a problem, Msia is riot with it
3. Post pics of deforestation, pollution, dirty places, unhygienic practices, poverty ... etc
4. Post great stories about how you go about on a holiday that brings economical spread to rural communities
5. Post good and bad businesses you know that save or spoil the environment
6. Let us know any mind-opening eco-projects by your school, college, society or company
7. Any sad stories, individuals or families that need help
8. Suggestion on things for forumers to do to lessen the burden on Mother Nature
9. Ideas on sustainable energy, going green and anything that helps reduce the usage of natural resources

Remember, this is an educational thread and one that feeds on intellectual curiosity. No arguments please. If you want to dispute a forumer, good manners is always in style. Everyone will respect you for that. One person's treasure may be another person's thrash. No one is absolutely correct, or wrong. Take criticism with good humour.

Lastly, puh-leasseeee keep this thread clutter free. Please don't re-quote long long posts; everyone knows what's written in previous posts, why repeat and take up space. Your post should be short, sweet and interesting. Pics would be great. Hopefully, if this thread survive infancy and live thru adulthood, we can all meet up someday somewhere and organise a happening go-green program. Who knows.

Let the thread begin ........

This post has been edited by Traveltwiddle: May 13 2008, 05:38 PM

Hey, welcome !

See, I know each of you have little eco-secrets tucked somewhere but willing to share with like-minded people. Yes, REACH.org does a good job in trying to replant. However, I do hope they'll receive more sponsors, especially money to buy fertiliser. The problem with rainforest is RAIN (ironically). For millenia, rain has washed off all nutrient from the ground, leaving only clay. It's a long story. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'd elaborate.

It's sad Malaysia doesn't have a battery recycling program. There's nothing much to do but to use less batteries, toss used ones in the bin or wait for a recycling program to arrive. Hope this can shed some light on the proper way to dispose battery - wasteonline.org

Once again, thanks for your kind support.

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Added on May 13, 2008, 5:37 pmHi KVR,

I'd just edited the thread head posting to include "sustainable forum", see item 9; if this is what you mean. I am all for it. Anyway, the "sustainable" term covers a large area ... energy, tourism, biofuel, agriculture, human resource .... etc

Simply put, if it helps the environment or conservation, this is the thread. Thanks for the reminder.

This post has been edited by Traveltwiddle: May 13 2008, 05:40 PM

Hi everyone again,

It's great to know there are people like you who take the environment seriously. I hate to browse thru all previous posts (I suspect eveyone too, especially when thread start to grow by the pages) and usually dive straight to the latest post. For easy disgestion and to help new comers ease in, I've compiled some good points gathered so far .....

Web peeks

- REACH.org / tree planting
- Pangea Day / worldwide film sharing

Interesting conservation & wastage reduction ideas

- add "Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail" to save paper; by rourou
- "we have set some recycle bins in the office for paper and aluminium cans"; by rourou
- "I don't leave tap water running when not using such as when i am brushing my teeth turn off tap"; by Moogle
- "web sites designed with black backgrounds help conserve energy"; by Moogle
- "stop using fax, start using emails; by temptation1314

Keep it coming!

This post has been edited by Traveltwiddle: May 14 2008, 05:20 PM

Here's the latest updated list ....

Web peeks

- REACH.org / tree planting
- Pangea Day / worldwide film sharing
- Turtle conservation program

Interesting conservation & wastage reduction ideas

- add "Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail" to save paper; by rourou
- "we have set some recycle bins in the office for paper and aluminium cans"; by rourou
- "I don't leave tap water running when not using such as when i am brushing my teeth turn off tap"; by Moogle
- "web sites designed with black backgrounds help conserve energy"; by Moogle
- "stop using fax, start using emails; by temptation1314
- "canvas shopping bags are in the trend right now and they're all so cool"; by routou
- "N please try not to use plastic bags"; by proclaimer

As for "stop using aircon" and CFC, I think the topic deserves more discussion. Generally, CFC usage for car, building and home refrigeration has been phased out since 2000. CFC is claimed to damage the ozone layers of north and south pole causing the ice caps to melt. If CFC is not use, some other man-made gas is still in use but researchers have not caught up with it yet. BTW, the ozone layer has not healed since the world stopped using CFC. Sigh* As for home frigdes, I'm thinking, if all of us buy new energy saving fridge, in a long run, it'd help save the environment. It's bit more expensive though. Similarly, Phillips energy-saving bulbs are 300% more expensive than the usual filament bulbs. Generally, fridge use very low energy. The problem is, people open it too often and too long. A lot of energy is needed to re-cool again.

Say, what do you guys and girls think? Can all of us do without air-con in car, office, home and for food preservation?

This post has been edited by Traveltwiddle: May 16 2008, 11:48 AM