America buying trash?

I have just discovered from watching a video "Trashed" that country like America imports trash into their country from Canada for a fee. What attracted my attention was that people are able to find fresh produce in garbage! Think about the hungry children in war torn countries.

Are you throwing away what you shouldn't? Maybe this trailer from "Trashed" will remind you what you have been throwing.



If a developed country like America would consider cutting down tress to create landfills for trash imported from another country, I wonder if it is because they are looking into developing bioreactor landfill. What's the difference?

In traditional landfill, like what we have in Malaysia, waste is dumped and buried. In the absence of oxygen, the waste decomposes very slowly. The same process occurs in bioreactor landfill but gallons of water per day are injected into the waste "cell" to facilitate the growth of bacteria.

The water used will be recirculated through the "cell" and this additional step makes organic material such as paper, food scraps and wood decompose more rapidly. When the waste decomposed, methane is produced and the gas can be "captured" to be used as fuel. Another advantage of bioreactor landfill over traditional landfill is that since the waste decomposes rapidly, this free up more space for incoming waste.

All landfills, traditional or otherwise, have some risks factors. They include:

1) the escape and combustion of gas
2) collapse of waste and decomposing material
3) leachate of potentially hazardous liquid into water sources.

So, it is still your call. You can:

1) start reducing by buying less
2) find ways to reuse before discarding
3) recycle whatever is possible
4) keep throwing, thinking that it will land elsewhere
5) be motivated to act reading "Letter Written in Year 2070".

MyKad Recycle Rewards Community Programme

I have been given a task by the community in the neighbourhood I am part of. I am looking for someone to collect the organic waste we have collected after cleaning up the park.

I know for a fact that some recyclers use organic waste to run their paper mills and may be willing to pay for them. It's great if I can locate one near Bandar Sungai Long. The fee we can collect from recycling can be used to organise activities we have in mind.

My search for "organic waste for fuel malaysia" brought me to Eco Web. From there, I search for companies in Malaysia and discovered that Brunswick Industries Sdn Bhd is running a "MyKad Recycle Rewards Community Programme" as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

This means that as long as you are a Malaysian with MyKad, you will be rewarded with "nRinggit" for turning in your recyclables. You can use your "nRinggit" to redeem shopping vouchers, electronic or electrical product and even cash.

So, where can you send your recyclables to? They have a niffy box on the left hand side of their website for you to enter your postal code to locate the recyclers nearest you. Sadly, the participation level of recyclers towards this programme is low and I discovered that only 3 companies in Perak are participating.

Not one to give up, I browsed Kementerian Perumahan Dan Kerajaan Tempatan website, which is one of the links posted there. I made a few calls and discovered that you can get a free copy of "Kitar Semula Directory" that lists recyclers at the following address:

Ministry Of Housing & Local Authority
Pusat Bandar Damansara
50782 Kuala Lumpur
Cik Tahlia: Tel No: 03-2099 2370

So, what are you waiting for? Spread the news about "MyKad Recycle Rewards Community Programme". Look through the directory and inform the recyclers in your locality about your interest to participate and get them involved.

You can participate through any of these programmes:

1) As an Organisation Member by involving your company.
2) Encourage your family, friends and neighbours to join you as Individual Member.
3) If you have the venue and human resources to collect and sort recyclables find out if you can join as an Operator.

Can't draw? Can't sew? Can't stick? Can write?

I have written a lot of suggestions on this blog for going green through:

1) providing crafting ideas and links to free tutorials
2) creating practical cost saving solutions
3) highlighting inspiring ideas from successful entrepreneurs

But if you have not being inspired because you can't draw, can't sew, and don't enjoy sticking, here is what you can do. Write to your heart's content and I have just the right motivation for you to start. You can be paid for doing it by blogging!

What can you get paid to write about? Here's the answer...



And if you would like to spread some words about are keeping the environment green, do some research and blog about:

1) conserving energy and natural resources
2) gardening
3) going organic

Why bother? Upload a picture of yourself or your love ones or pets on your blog profile. Each time you start to write think about the healthy environment and the lovely things you can get with the money you are working on receiving. What can you get them or yourself?

Stop dreaming and get on to writing!



Here is another incentive for you once you have started your blog.



I am looking at my picture and thinking about what I will soon be getting...

A mess? Get organised with some waste.

These are empty bottles from the Propolis that my family have been taking. I have decided to use the bottles for storing seeds to be given away and I have even managed to design a holder for them. But what can I do with the caps, rubber pumps and glass tubes?



I have been wondering for a while now until I came across this bunch of leftover crayons I have collected over the years. Looking at the discoloured mess, I can understand why my children have not been using them.



Now I know how I can get them to once I have removed the glass tube from the rubber pump and pull it out of the bottle cap.

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Push the crayon into the rubber pump and it will extend its length and form a very handy holder for the crayon.



Once the crayons have been pushed into the rubber pumps, leave them on. When the crayons are stored this way, they will not be pushed too closely together and be discoloured.



Watch my daughter at work with her "new" crayon.



It is great to be able to tear her away from watching cartoons and playing console games with stuff that would have been thrown away.



Can't find those rubber pumps? If you are ready to melt your crayons, you can create art and very cute refrigerator magnets with them.

Now let's see how I can organised those odd pencils, colour pencils, pens and pencil leads with some Tetra Pak drink cartons I have collected from my son's recent birthday party.



Though I managed to sort and segregate them with the drink cartons, they topple over easily. I managed to find a 27x12.5cm platic tray...



... to hold all 12 of them and Mummy's dream of some semblance of tidiness came true.



Extend the life of those short pencils by getting yourself a pencil holder. The one shown here is beaded.



Might as well also work on oranising the pages torn off old school exercise books. This I managed to do with a basket that came with a hamper we received.



I have managed to rejuvenate most of my "have been hanging around". So now, it is down to the bottle caps and glass tubes. Maybe I will have the answers for you in my next posting.

As for the bigger stuff that you have been amassing, I have that covered in the following topic:

Maximize your stuff? First rework your storage.

Planting trees? Get 10 free!

Thinking of planting trees but you have no idea how to go about it? If you are living in America, you are in luck because all you have to do is be a member of The Arbor Day Foundation and they will send you 10 free trees, guaranteed to grow in your area or they will replaced them free.



On top of that, you will also receive:

1) A Free Copy of The Tree Book, your expert guide to tree care and conservation.


2) Arbor Day Foundation's bimonthly publication.
3) Member Savings of 33% - 56% on the purchase of trees, plants and bulbs.

The annual subscription fee is USD10 but if you are a member of Woodmen of the World, you need only pay USD7.50.

If you are living in Malaysia and thinking of planting timber trees commercially, you can look into getting an 80% or 90% loan for your venture from "The Forest Plantation Loan", offered by the federal government. This is a 15-year programme to ensure that there will be enough raw material supply for the plywood, veneer and furniture making factories in the years ahead.

The loan is not open to applicants who intend to grow oil palm trees and species of high commercial value you can consider planting are:

Kelempayan
Bantai Binuang
Rubberwood
Khaya
Acacia mangium

If you opt to plant rubber trees, you will have to be able to fund 10% of the investment in your plantation. Eligible participants will receive RM5,400 per hectare. Applicants for other kind of timber trees must be able to fund 20% of the investment and if eligible, will receive RM3,200 per hectare. You will start repaying the loan once your trees are mature enough to be harvested. The payback rate of 3.5% is not compounded.

Need more information about trees before you take the plunge commercially or for a greener environment?


Maybe The Tree Guide posted by Arbor Day and the tree database from World Agro Forestry Centre will help you some.

Plants? Let's eat them.

I have been reading in the newspapers that vegetables we frequently consumed have been found to be highly contaminated with carcinogenic pesticide residues. Though the findings done by the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia were later refuted, I still have my doubts when my vegetables taste more bitter than they should. I wonder if it is because of my greens shopping habits. It could be that I have not been soaking them long enough...

While I am figuring that out, I am also looking into other options; like growing my own! To have a wider variety, let me see if I am able to generate the interest of my "common backyard" neighbours to join me in this green effort. First, I will have to convince them that it is easy with this "Plant Propagation by Leaf, Cane, and Root Cuttings: Instructions for the Home Gardener" article.

So, what can we grow? I am sure we will all decide on something after going through "Plants of the Future". We can also consider root planting from bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes; so, no more throwing that partly rotting whatever. Just try planting them. Does not matter that it will rot further when it will organically fertilise our greens, right?

Talk about root planting, it is time to be friendly with the cook at the Char Kueh Teow stall if I want to get hold of some clam shells.

No recycling bins? Stop complaining.

Are you complaining that there are no recycling bins in your neighbourhood? Do you know that you can do something about it? If you are able to find a suitable venue in your neighbourhood, then this is what you have to do if you live in Malaysia.

If you are living in America, you are in luck. The Coca-Cola/NRC Recycling Bin Grant Program is on to promote and support community recycling in the U.S for the collection of beverage container recyclables. Just send in your on-line submission by Friday, October 26, 2007 and if you are selected you will get:

1) Recycle bins of your choice
2) Expertise on how to set up recycling programs from the National Recycling Coalition

Where can you install the recycling bins? Just think

1) Sporting events
2) Music venues
3) Schools
4) Commercial locations
5) Non profit organizations
6) Government buildings

Love reading information like this? There is more posted at

Need green fund? Look for "birds of a feather"

Looking for beach glass? Tumble yourself some faux.

Walking along the beaches while on holiday in Pulau Redang, I was very attracted to the sea shells and dead corals that have been washed ashore. I also discovered many colourful pieces of broken glasses.

They have been washed and tumbled by the ocean and sand for so long that they are frosted and smooth on the edges. They are so beautiful that it is no wonder some crafters, like Cindy Kuhn, have collected to use them to create jewellery. Cindy said that the chance finding of a beautiful piece of sea glass in one of the rare colors can be as rare as 1 in 10,000 pieces found. And that is why it makes the finding such a treasure and so valuable.

Don't be disheartened, especially if on top of that, you live miles away from the beach and do not see yourself going to one soon enough to collect beach glass to work out your inspiration. You can try making artificial or faux sea glass with a rock tumbler.

All you need to do is to follow the instructions for polishing rocks that is supplied with your rock tumbler. But instead of rocks, placed small pieces of colored or clear glass in any thickness into the barrel and fill it up with water. Add some grit which can be three to four spoonfuls of common sand. After tumbling for a few hours, turn it off to check if all the sharp edges on the glass are smoothen. Continue to tumble still you are happy with the smoothness and roundness of the edges.

If you prefer neat clean cut or symmetrical shapes, you can learn from WikiHow, "How to Cut a Glass Bottle". Try cutting thick glasses into evenly sized squares, then tumble them till you get cubes with smooth edges. A perfect material for mosaic art work, don't you think so? And remember to follow the code of ethics and never pass your tumbled glass off as natural sea glass.

Now that I have you interested in investing in a rock tumbler, you may as well learn Rock Tumbling Basics, to fully utilize it.

Holes in clothes? Good for framing.

Way before my marriage, I used to crochet baby clothings for my friends, nieces and nephews. Sadly, when I have my own kids, I never got around to creating for them. However, two of the pieces that I have handmade were returned to me so that my children could appreciate them too.

Now that they have outgrown them, I wonder what I should do with them. Unraveling them to create something new would be such a waste as they were created for my first born nephew and niece who are now in their twenties.




I recall one of my former teachers kept a "My Baby's First Year" book where she kept records of her only daughter. She has even kept her baby hair and a tooth. She brought it to school as she would like one of my classmates to calligraph the notes she has written in pencil on it. She would like to present it as a 21st birthday present to her daughter. Isn't that a grand thought? I think I should keep these pieces and maybe frame them up as keepsake.

And talking about calligraphy and framing; I read in the newspaper recently that Calligraphy art teacher, Husain Omar, framed his work with songket fabric. So, incorporating this idea, a little write up about the keepsake can be useful if there is a stain or hole on the material that you intend to keep. If Calligraphy is not your forte, print out a photo of the child wearing that piece and place it over the unsightly spot. If I can find my mom's old clothings, maybe I can use the fabric as bases for family photos and have them framed. Imagine what an ice breaker it will be for visitors if I can find a photo of her wearing the base... oops, I mean the clothes.

I noticed that most of my Malay friends who have children tend to enjoy sewing for them. So, if this idea of framing keepsakes with some notes appeals to them, they will be pleased to know that this Calligraphy art teacher plans to conduct free Calligraphy classes in Jawi. Husain Omar can be reached at 012-344-0066 for details. Check with him to see if it is an offense to use Jawi this way!

Want this project handmade all the way? Following are some free tutorials I have discovered:

"How To Make Picture Frames" from FrameCo provides pictures of tools you need and ways to save on the material you will be using.

How to Picture Frame, A Nine Step Tutorial from Framing4Yourself.