Green Ways we can impart to our children

Today, 5th June is World Environment Day, lately I stumbled upon some really interesting articles and people who are doing their bits to conserve the earth.

You can check out some of these articles here:

1) Start 'em young, says filmmaker in Parenthots

2) Little deeds that add up in The StarOnline

3) Rules not in place in TheStarOnline

4)Climate-saving tips in TheStarOnline

Indeed, I agree with one of the interviewee, Mr. Lu Chen Pin said, we have a lot to learn from our parents and older generation on conservation efforts. 

Before this the Reverse-Osmosis(RO) water disposal(the filtered waste water) in my house is left to flow away when my small bucket is full and we did not replace another bucket to refill the water, then my dad suggested why not get a bigger bucket for this purpose...little things like this..I am sure many of us would have thought of it..but how many of us really put it into act.

I think many of us(myself included) needs a lot of constant reminders, ideas, and innovative campaign etc to really be in the "green: mode automatically...we are far behind compared with many western countries like Sweden, Germany and etc in this field...but slowly or steadily(hopefully quickly) we Malaysians shall pick up and play our part as well.

For me, what I have practice or make it habit:

1) Power off, and pull out the cord as well(for me) the unused power outlets (no more standby mode)

2) Full load laundry or handwash for urgent(soiled or stained clothes for e.g.) laundry

3) Switch off the air-cond after the room is cool or don't use it at all during cooler nights

4) Not using the hot water pot(erm after it got spoilt from frequent on and off :P ), but boil as and when I need

5) Buy local products/vegetables and fruits

6) Use Reusable shopping bag (put it in my office drawer, in the car and at home) whenever possible

7) Read, read and adopt more green efforts ( I think this is important..there are just so many innovative and clever green ideas adopted by many people)

8) Go paperless as much as possible, read newspaper online, use double-sided and two pages in one printing etc

And which I like to do soon:

1) Grow some herbs(basil, mint) and plants(chilli etc) at my small balcony- I used to grow mints, basil and pumpkin and believe me...it's pesticide-free and TASTE REALLY GOOD!

2) Separate the bins- paper, plastic, glass -label it and get DH and KY do the same

Note: KY is good at picking up our action now..she would switch off the fan herself (without being told) after she wake up and throw rubbish at the designated place

3) Bicycle..hmm..perhaps in our city drivers it's bit hard..but hmm..this can be one good outings with kids

4) Experiment with DIY household non-toxic cleaners (using baking soda, vinegar and etc)

What other green ways we can practice and thus impart to our children? Care to share?

Hear from you folks!

Cheers! Have a green day everyday!

 

Going Green: Creative and Green ways to wrap your presents.

Many of us tends to give presents at certain time all year long whether is for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines Day, Christmas, Full Moon, housewarming or just simply for the fun of it without celebrating any special occasions.

For me, whenever I receive any gifts with nicely wrapped up presents, I would try to open it with care and try to keep the wrapping papers for other usage whether to wrap another presents to be given away or to wrap up some empty tissue or other boxes to make it into a nice container for storing stationeries and stuff.

And the best of all, I love to think, try and experiment with creative and green ways to wrap or present my gift to others. Some of these I learnt from some eco-friendly website, and some of it is from my own creation.

Enjoy!
Wrap your gift with a beautiful cloth like Japanese does. They call furoshiki. The receiver can use the cloth for other usage. They have very lovely ways of wrapping their wine, books and etc. It is a traditional art which I am sure your friend will treasure it as much as the contents of your gift.
Wrap your gift with similar theme. For e.g. for your friend who likes cooking, perhaps giving her a set of cooking sets wrapped with table-cloth or apron will be a wonderful present.
Send e-cards instead of paper card. If not use your creativity to print a greeting cards with your pictures and calendar on it. This way, it won’t be just another paper wastage that the receiver will bound to discard sooner or later.
Make greeting cards which act more than greeting cards. Make it into a picture frame, a calendar, a toaster, or even with recipes or poems on it.
If you receive a gift that you don’t actually use it, pass it on to someone who needs it or can make better use of it, you can even make it as a gift exchange during Christmas or etc.

These are just some of the few ideas I have tried or like to try someday…hope you all will like it and invent more of these creative and green ways to send a gift to someone! Let your creative juices flowing and let the other person surprised and influenced by your “green” effort!

Happy Green way of Life!