Every time you go to the supermarket, have a look at some of the things that you buy. You’ll be amazed by just how much packaging goes into modern products nowadays, with the boxes, the wrapping paper, the labels and so on. Most packaging is unfortunately thrown away in the rubbish bin when the product is consumed and it almost inevitably ends up in landfills where the plastic and the other non-biodegradable material remain in the landfill for many years.

Of course, as a consumer you have a choice. You can opt to purchase products with less packaging and there are also “no frills” products that keep packaging (and costs) to a minimum. Read the rest of this entry »

Most of us are very much aware that exhaust fumes from cars have an adverse effect on the environment by contributing to air pollution. Yet many also feel that there’s not much that can be done about it especially in Malaysia, surely we need to take the car to get from one place to another since the public transport in this country isn’t that great and it is too hot and too dangerous to cycle like the people in many European countries.

While it would be best if Malaysians considered other forms of transportation instead of the car, I am sure we all realise that this won’t always be practical. There are, however, some changes that you can make to your car and your driving style that should reduce your petrol consumption or the amount of damage done to the environment. Read the rest of this entry »

In this blog post, we would like to introduce readers to some of the initiatives that are taking shape across the world in an effort to create greater awareness about environmental initiatives and hopefully show some good ideas that are being done elsewhere in the world. We’d like to start first with a short history lesson.

The Kyoto Protocol, an agreement made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005. Without getting into too many details, the overall principle of the Kyoto Protocol is recognizing that the threat of climate change is a global phenomenon which requires a global response from all parties.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, many nations have made the commitment to reduce their carbon emissions by switching to cleaner technologies or enacting legislation to discourage energy wastage. Read the rest of this entry »

While we have tried to make a case for cutting down on meat consumption elsewhere in this blog, we can also do our part for the environment by being more careful about what we eat. However, some foods are inherently less ethically prepared because they either involve cruel preparation methods or the eating of species that are already in danger of extinction, further putting pressure on the survival of these species.

The following list of foods should be avoided whenever possible: Read the rest of this entry »

Most of the energy sources that we use in modern life involve creating pollution in one form or another. In Malaysia, most of the electricity is generated by burning coal and oil which creates substantial amounts of air pollution. Hydroelectric power is cleaner but also has an environmental impact as it involves clearing forests and building huge dams in order to create enough power for a city. While Malaysia does not use nuclear power, spent nuclear fuel is also a great source of pollution, and one which stays poisonous for hundreds and even thousands of years. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve talked about green travel in a previous blog entry and gave some suggestions on things that you can do to incorporate some of these good practices into your travel. Fortunately for Malaysians and tourists to the country, the Ministry of Tourism is promoting an excellent scheme aimed at boosting the rural economy of the country.

The Homestay Programme is essentially a scheme that allows individual households to set up a home-based enterprise by providing tourist accommodation in the home. All participants in this scheme must be registered with the Ministry of Tourism and submit to quality assurance checks and conform with some basic rules and regulations so that high standards of the accommodation and the safety of all participants in the scheme is assured.

There are many benefits Read the rest of this entry »

While many non-governmental organisations have been talking about the threat of global warming for many years, it has proved to be a surprisingly controversial topic, with political and business interests arguing both for and against global warming. However, in 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), set up by the United Nations, essentially concluded that global warming is very real and much of this has been brought about due to human activity. In fact, it was shown that the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide is now the highest it has ever been in the past 650,000 years.

Some predictions have estimated that the average temperature of the world could increase by Read the rest of this entry »

Of course, unless you have completely not been reading the newspapers or watching television, you would know by now that the USA has voted for the first African-American President in its history. However, taking away all the hype, the politicking and the glamour of the political process, and not forgetting that this is truly a historic moment in American politics, we should note one point that may have been overlooked.

In the recent US elections, energy policy and the environment were a key feature in the manifestos of the presidential candidates. Since Barack Obama is the President-elect, Read the rest of this entry »