Now, we know that barbecues are popular social activities enjoyed by many people around the world, including Malaysians. Of course, the traditional way of making a barbecue is by using a simple barbecue grill where you put the coal and whatever fire starter you normally use, get the flame going before putting the meat on the grill. If you’ve already been reading our blogs regularly, I’m sure you can already guess what we’re going to say – yes, burning coal or any other substances in the open environment is going to contribute to air pollution. So, is there any way to still enjoy this social activity without doing harm to the environment?

As it turns out, yes there is. We’ve actually seen a news article about a solar grill for sale from this article, although the price of 150 British pounds is probably too restrictive for many. Read the rest of this entry »

Ho, ho ho – it’s NESH style! Christmas is always an eagerly-anticipated one for many of us. This year, all staff at NESH gathered to rejoice in the festivity with the highlight of the night, our very own SWISHING PARTY!

Recycling is one of the buzz word in the 21st century & it is absolutely applicable to fashion. So, to add merriment to this joyous occasion, we recycle from our wardrobe & that’s SWISHING PARTY is all about! Here’s the rule of the game: Read the rest of this entry »

We’re pretty sure not many people like to talk about it or even think about it, but the fact remains that waste management is actually a pretty complex problem. Specifically, what do you do with the waste products that humans and other animals generate as they go about their daily lives? Is there even a use for them? In actuality, waste management is not a “waste” of time and has become quite serious business accounting for billions of dollars around the world.

Waste management is becoming more important with each passing year for a very simple reason – the population of humans on the Earth is growing, and living standards are improving, all the time. And where humans go, the capacity to generate waste products follows them. Yet not many know this but the waste that we generally flush down the toilet can actually be very useful if it is harnessed in the right way. Read the rest of this entry »

Every now and then, we come across some good ideas for helping the environment from around the country. In this article, we write about Water Watch Penang (WWP), a non-profit organisation set up as part of the Sustainable Penang Initiative under the auspices of the Socio-economic and Environmental Research Institute (SERI) of Penang. The organisation supports many water related activities including research and consultation with the state government on water related issues but, we think more importantly for the readers of these blogs, it also is involved in educating the public on water related issues. In fact, the organisation is headed by Prof Dr Chan Ngai Weng, a renowned and very passionate Malaysian expert on water issues.

In fact, the organisation’s activities, while noble, are quite accessible to members of the public. For instance, you can purchase a water education VCD from their website here, which is an excellent way to educate members of the public on water education and conservation issues. Read the rest of this entry »

Driving around the Klang Valley region, we have noticed that there are a minority of people who are actively exercising at various spots around the city. Exercising is of course good for the body and the mind and we would encourage all readers to exercise as much as is possible around their daily schedules since it leads to better health overall.  But it remains puzzling to us why there are some people who go jogging in heavily polluted areas, alongside the cars and motorcycles on a congested road, for example.

Apart from the danger of getting into an accident thanks to a wayward vehicle, engaging in physical activity near sources of pollution can be extremely harmful to health, enough to totally negate the benefits of exercising in the first place. Even worse, this kind of activity may Read the rest of this entry »

In keeping with the spirit of finding novel uses for common household items, we dedicate this article to your common table salt. Most houses use salt purely as a food additive, you definitely need some salt (but not too much) to make your home-cooked meals tastier and better. Some of the more outgoing readers, or those who have done a lot of camping, know also that salt can be used to get rid of leeches and other garden pests like snails and slugs.

The following tips were taken from the Salt Institute’s web page (yes, there is such a thing). We found some amazing facts about salt from this page as well. For example, did you know that there are believed to be more than 14,000 different uses for salt? Many of these uses were discovered over the ages and transmitted especially from old wives’ tales, but most of us have probably forgotten about many of these uses as we started using more specialized (and expensive) chemicals instead. Let’s refresh your memories by listing some of the ways in which salt can be used productively around the house: Read the rest of this entry »

In the spirit of the gift giving season, we’ve already talked a bit about some ideas for green gifts for your family and friends. We also feel that some of you are going to want to give some gadget gifts anyway, especially for your more technically-inclined friends. We were looking around on the Internet to see if there are any green gadgets that you can give and, in fact, there’s a huge market out there for green gadgets but there is an advantage and a disadvantage to picking out a green gadget.

The bad news is most of these gadgets are probably not available for sale in stores in Malaysia, so you’re going to have to order them from international sites and wait for delivery. The good news is that some of these are pretty cool – at least, we think so! Read the rest of this entry »

In these blogs, we are constantly exploring great ideas on saving the environment from around the world and introducing them to readers for educational purposes and to gain some ideas of how readers can live in a more sustainable way. One of the latest great ideas we have seen comes from the United Kingdom.

The British government has only recently implemented initiatives to encourage developers and homeowners to purchase zero carbon houses. All zero carbon homes built and sold in the United Kingdom will be exempted from stamp duty, which can be considerable, up to 500,000 pounds and any homes sold for above that amount will see a 15,000 pound reduction in the stamp duty bill. And in 2016, legislation enacted will force house builders to only build zero carbon houses from that time onwards. In response to this initiative, a major housing developer in the UK, Barratt Developments, has unveiled plans for their design of the zero carbon house. Read the rest of this entry »