Proactive measures in dealing with e-waste disposal

 

Nowadays, the increasing pile of ICT e-waste has had an impact on environmental conservation issues.

Federal financial officer, Datuk Yusof Saringgit said it was an important measure to address this problem by urging all government departments and agencies to take proactive measures in dealing with the disposal of e-waste so as not to have detrimental impact on the environment.

Yusof said the government itself has issued Guidelines, Circulars and Regulations to assist agencies in implementing the disposal of e-waste in accordance with proper procedures and this can indirectly sustain public services to the preservation of the environment

Dumping, burning, burying and submerging are no longer relevant forms of disposal because these methods contradicted the National Green Technology Policy, he added.

Disposing ICT equipment to landfill sites was no longer suitable because it had a negative impact on the environment and humans.

The ICT equipment contain harmful pollutants such as chemicals, chromium, cadmium, lead, mercury and exposure to these contaminants can cause various diseases including cancer, damage to the nervous system and brain.

As of April 30, a total of 24 licenses across the country have been issued for the full recovery of e-waste and 135 licenses for partial recovery.

He warned that those who fail to comply with the rules and relevant laws can be fined or imprisoned.

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4-wheel drives expedition creates environmental awareness

WRS Four-Wheel Drive has organised a three-day expedition to the Imbak Canyon and Maliau Basin.

More than 60 four-wheel drive vehicles were participating the event and took off on last Friday.

Drivers were flagged off from the compounds of the Menara Tun Mustapha by the Director of Yayasan Sabah, Tan Sri Datu Khalil Datu Jamalul.

Imbak Canyon Conservation Area is located almost right in the heart of Sabah with a total area of about 30,000 hectares and just north of the famous Maliau Basin.

It encompasses two ridge-top Virgin Jungle Reserves plus the Canyon itself and makes a significant contribution to the coverage of protected areas in the centre of Sabah.

Meanwhile, Maliau Basin which is famously known as “the lost world” is the greatest treasure in the southern central part of Sabah, one of the few remaining relatively untouched wilderness area on this Earth and site of the 7-tiered Maliau Falls.

The Maliau Basin Conservation Area encompasses the whole of Maliau Basin itself (390 sq km), plus an additional 198.4 sq km of forested land to the east and north of the rim, including the fabled Lake Linumunsut, formed by a landslide blocking a small tributary of the Pinangah River.

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Going green for mother earth

Every mother deserves the best, including Mother Earth! With Earth Day coming up, the Asianparent Malaysia offers you some tips to pamper our darling Mother Earth by going green!

For a mom, going green is all about sharing easy ways to make a difference in our health, our kids’ health, and the health of our planet. Being environmentally-friendly is good for our home and the Earth.

Moms these days are concerned will all of the chemicals and toxins that are introduced to their children. If you’re committed to a natural, healthy home, find workable tips that can help you keep your home and planet natural and clean.

Going green isn’t hard at all. Here are some small, easy, green choices moms can make in their homes.

Easy ways to go greener at home

Healthy food choices

We all want the best for our kids, but going completely organic can be daunting. The greater the pesticide load, the greater the reason to consider buying organic. Choose organic whenever possible and use a produce wash to rinse pesticides, wax, and other contaminants off of your fruits and vegetables. Try to reduce your meat consumption, especially red-meat.

Conserve water

An effortless way to avoid water wastage is to install low-flow fixtures. Exchange your showerhead for a water-saving variety that saves a gallon of water a minute. A faucet aerator can immediately cut water consumption. Also, conserve water by putting your sprinklers on a timer. Fix leaky faucets. Collect rainwater to water your garden plants as tap water is treated with all sorts of chemicals.

Simply recycle

Each piece of your trash should have a separate destination. Classify your waste into landfill trash, recyclables, compostables, green waste, and old usable items. Create an easy way for everyone at home to sort their trash into one of these five. Label and inform them about these- regular trash bins, recycling receptacles, a bowl for compost items next to the kitchen sink, the green waste bin outside, and a box for donations.

Reuse or repurpose

Every time you buy a used or refurbished product instead of a new one, you’re making sure one less product has to be manufactured, packaged and shipped, and also reducing all the emissions those processes cause. 

For clothes and furniture, check out your local vintage store. Go paperless and pay all your bills online. Put a stop to unsolicited mail. Reuse scrap paper. Print on both sides, or let your kids color on the back side of used paper.

Save energy and fuel

Consider switching to a solar hot water system. You can save nearly 40% on energy costs. Switch light bulbs to CFLs. Preferably switch to energy efficient appliances. Turn off lights when you leave the room. Enjoy natural light and don’t turn on lights at all for as long as you can.

Shut down all appliances when not in use. Drive the speed limit, and combine all your errands for the week in one trip. If possible walk or ride a bike for closer distances.  Try shopping at your local market which sells local produce.

Kitchen

Replace potentially harmful cleaning products with safer, environmentally friendly alternatives while using dishwashing soap, floor cleaner, wood polish, disinfectants, etc. Consider purchasing a water filter to purify the water you drink and use for cooking. Use reusable instead of disposable bags. Buy an inexpensive reusable water bottle instead of plastic disposable ones. 

Bathroom

Replace potentially harmful personal care products and cleaning products with safer alternatives. Your soap, toothpaste, and anything you use on your body regularly should be free from toxic chemicals. Air fresheners, toilet cleaners, tile cleaners, etc. can all leave behind dangerous residues on surfaces and stay in the air for hours.

Nursery

Consider organic bed and bedding to reduce exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals emitted from mattresses. Organic clothes are also recommended because of the heavy pesticides used in cotton. Avoid particle board furniture, new carpeting, and VOC paints. Using cloth diapers takes a huge burden off the landfills, and eliminates your child’s exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.

Laundry

Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot. Save on energy while avoiding the toxins found in dryer sheets when you wash as usual, then line-dry them. Not only will clothes smell delightfully fresh, but the sun even acts as a natural whitener and brightener, even removing set in stains, so you can ditch the bleach and harsh stain removers as well.

Involve kids

To double our efforts in preserving nature, involve your kids too. By teaching them the effects of global warming and other grave environmental issues, they will understand how everyday activities impact the world at large. It’ll be second nature to them when they’re adults and make it easier to pass the same down to future generations!

Source: The Asian Parent

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CM: Exploit oil and gas but mind the environment

There is an air of excitement in Sabah’s oil and gas industry as the State takes an increasing role in the development of this highly lucrative resource. As large oil companies such as PETRONAS, Shell and Murphy Oil plan their business strtegy to make the most of Sabah’s oil and gas, the State Government is losing no time in developing the infrastructure and industrial facilities required to accommodate the business sector’s needs.

“Within the next five years, the oil and gas downstream processing industry is projected to act as a major contributor to Sabah’s manufacturing sector and to the State’s overall socio-economic sector,” according to Chief Minister Musa Aman in his opening speech at the 2nd Sabah Oil and Gas Conference today.

In his speech delivered by Minister of Industrial Development Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, the Chief Minister said the decision by major oil companies to establish large-scale oil, gas and energy projects in Sabah is indicative of the sector’s commercial viability.

Ongoing oil and gas projects in Sabah include the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) at Kimanis, the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline, the 300-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Kimanis and Lahad Datu, the granular urea and ammonia plant (SAMUR) in Sipitang and the re-gasification plant in Lahad Datu. Together, these projects are expected to generate approximately RM18 billion worth of investments and create about 23, 000 jobs.

“SAMUR alone, which will come on-stream by 2014, is estimated to bring in about RM4.5 billion worth of investment value and provide over 2, 000 jobs,” Musa added.

Another ongoing project is the development of the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP). SOGIP is expected to rake in about RM30.6 billion in investments.

According to Tan, the response for SOGIP has been positive with many major investors already showing interest on the development.

The benefits of SOGIP will also extend beyond financial gains, as the development of SOGIP will transform Sipitang and its surrounding districts, Musa said.

However, the Chief Minister stressed that although the government is pursuing a rapid development of the industry, it will not do so to the detriment  of the environment. “We seek the commitment of investors in the various growth sectors to act responsibly not only by conforming to existing safeguards and rules but also to seek new ways and technologies to lessen the damaging impact on the environment,” he said.

About 220 delegates were in attendance at the Oil and Gas Conference. The two-day conference will feature speakers from the industry and is aimed at giving participants an in-depth view of the oil and gas industry in Sabah. - Insight Sabah

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UMS aims to become a ‘Low Carbon City’

In line with the government’s aspiration to reduce the carbon footprint by 40 per cent in 2020, more than 60 per cent of the land area in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is made up of landscaping plants and natural forests to allow for the natural absorption of carbon.

UMS vice chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah said the carbon absorption process would make UMS to be known as a ‘Low Carbon City’ since each road is surrounded with shady trees.

In addition to this effort, the School of International Tropical Forestry (SPTA) at UMS has started stocking and absorption of carbon by tree planting in the university grounds since 2006.

The forest and agricultural trees were planted as carbon absorbers, not only serving as Plants Bank but also used as learning and teaching location besides being a source of income for SPTA. Meanwhile, the agro-forestry at SPTA was seen as a model for sustainable development.

SPTA was praised for its courageous move in choosing Dryobalanops lanceolata (or pokok kapur paji in Malay) as the school’s official tree. Pokok kapur form the rainforest tree community that contributed to Sabah’s economic development in the early 80s whereby Sabah exported logs as construction material to Japan and Europe. However, as the number of pokok kapur is on a decline, the awareness of its importance in terms of economic value and ecosystem function drove SPTA to choose pokok kapur.

Harun also added that in 2012, all first-year students planted their own ‘foster tree’ as a symbolic gesture during the orientation week.

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Sabah makes it to the world records book

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah has made it into the World Guinness Book of Records, thanks to the world record feat of Astro Kasih, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Astro. 

The feat was achieved by more than 139 local and international volunteers who completed 168 hours of consecutive diving in the "Longest Underwater Clean-up" off Tunku Abdul Rahman Park from April 16 to 13. 

In revealing the world record Saturday, Guinness Adjudicator, Kirsty Bennet, said the divers collected a total of 3,008.22kg of rubbish, with the initial weigh-in of 3,171.56kg, from the 224 diving sites involved in the feat. 

"I had to go through the video footages and interview witnesses as I discovered there were incidences of some of the divers losing their nets during their dives," she pointed out, after announcing the successful feat. 

The divers had collected 1,526.12kg of plastic materials, 140.44kg of glass and ceramic, 5.35kg of paper and cardboard, 318.36kg of metal, 335.84 of rubber and clothes and 682.11kg of wood products. 

Astro's Community Affairs Vice President, David Yap, said most of the rubbish were collected near human settlements. 

Bennet hoped Astro would be able to keep the feat as it is the first of its kind to be inserted into the Guinness Book of Records. 

Astro Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Rohana Rozhan, said more than 800 divers applied to take part in the programme and it had been a tough exercise to select the divers. 

"This achievement is amazing, thanks to all the divers who had given us their support in making it into the World Guinness Book of Records," she said. 

The Longest Underwater Cleanup involved divers from Malaysia, France, USA, Lithuania, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Hong Kong. 

Source: Daily Express

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Kasi Beach Clean-Up Project at Tanjung Lipat Beach

Photo: Borneo Post

Kasi (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has organised the Kasi Beach Clean-Up Project as part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as well as a family day for the staff of the company.

100 participants turned up to clean up Tanjung Lipat Beach, from 7.30am to noon on Saturday and managed to fill 250 bags of trash.

Among the participants were members of Sabah Warriors’ Rugby Club comprising  young working adults as well as students from secondary schools like St Michael’s Secondary School and Maktab Sabah.

Kasi (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd managing director, Walter J. Nair praised the participants' efforts and said they were the ones who would make a difference in making sure that the environment stayed clean.

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140 volunteer divers aim Guinness World Record

Photo: astroawani.com

About 140 divers are attempting to create a world record for the longest underwater clean-up programme organised by Astro Kasih under its Corporate Social Responsibility programme, Beautiful Malaysia.

This programme was officiated on Saturday by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman together with Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun at Gaya Island.

Also on hand were Senior Vice President of Broadcast and Operations, Astro, Rohaizad Mohamed and Vice President of Community Affairs, Astro, David Yap.

The clean-up programme will be carried out for a week at 14 dive sites surrounding the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park with the aims to create greater awareness on marine conservation as well as promote eco-tourism among Malaysians.

Guinness World Record officials would closely supervise the 140 divers aged 21-63 from Malaysia, France, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA, Lithuania, Switzerland, Hong Kong and the Netherlands whom would be taking turns to dive to collect rubbish underwater for 168 consecutive hours (night and day).

Astro Kasih has received an overwhelming response to participate in the underwater clean-up with over 700 entries from both local and international volunteers.

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Mataking Reef Day 2013

Photo: matakingnow.com

 

Date : 01 June 2013

 

The Reef Dive Resort of Mataking Island will once again unite with schools, community leaders, local NGOs and local authorities to make the Sabah east coast's aquatic world a better place.

Fun and educational programs await, such as underwater clean-up, beach cleanup, team building challenges and awareness workshops. 

For further information:

Organiser : The Reef Dive Resort, Mataking Island
Venue : Semporna, Sabah
Telephone : 6089-770 022
Fax : 6089-770 023
Email Contact : sales@mataking.com

Source: Sabah Tourism

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Michelle Yeoh urges people to protect the environment and preserve nature

Photo: nationalgeographic.com

Malaysian international actress, Datuk Seri Michelle Yeoh is urging people to play their part in protecting and preserving the nature.

Yeoh who is supporting the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) during her inaugural visit to the Talang Talang Island, said it is important to stress conservation awareness through education.She praised the SFC efforts in protecting the turtles from extinction by pressing for minimal tourism activities on the protected island. She emphasized that conservation and protection should be part of our lifestyle since it is a shared responsibility of global citizens. She also added that she is willing to be the spokesperson for the turtle conservation and research project run by SFC at the Talang Talang Island.

Earlier, she joined the Turtle Adoption Programme and adopted thirteen hatcheries, of which part of them was on behalf of her family members. They were named  Love, Prosperity, Longevity, and Peace. Yeoh and entourage also have released 17 baby green turtles into the sea.

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BEST Society to conserve coastal fisheries in Kudat

BEST Society which is the non-profit foundation of Borneo Eco Tours and Sukau Rainforest Lodge will be working towards the conservation of coastal fishing ground around Kampung Terongkongan in Kudat.

This initiative will include educating the local residents there on the far-reaching impact of fish bombing, and to help restore marine life to allow it to recover from fishing bombing activities in the past. Besides that, they are also aiming to reduce the rate of poverty among the local folk there. BEST Society has offered to commit RM100,000 over the next ten years to work on conservation of the coastal reef fishing ground.

Director-cum-founder of BEST Society and also the managing director/chairman of Borneo Eco Tours Malaysia, Albert Teo said they had decided to undertake the project following a recent visit there, where he learnt about the depressing tale of rampant fish bombing in the area, from a local Rungus couple, Somuil and Norzailly who are operating their homestay outfit there.

“This method of fishing not only kills a large number of fish and other marine organisms in the vicinity but also destroys the physical structure of coral reefs. On average, a one kilogram (35 ounce) beer-bottle bomb can leave a rubble crater of approximately one to two meters in diameter, destroying 50 to 80 per cent of the corals in that area." - Albert Teo

Therefore, BEST Society is welcoming the public, other NGOs and relevant government departments to join in this effort to conserve coastal fisheries and eradicate poverty.

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Do your bit for Earth Hour

TNB workers dropping in their forms, pledging to save energy, during the campaign launch at Wisma TNB in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur.

KUALA LUMPUR: Earth Hour starts at 8.30pm today and Tenaga Nasional Bhd hopes Malaysians will put into action what they have learned about energy-saving.

This is because despite the large number of awareness campaigns about saving electricity, fewer people are putting it into practice each year.

TNB corporate affairs and communications vice-president Adelina Iskandar hopes the trend will be reversed this year and a bigger dip in electricity demand be recorded tonight.

Earth Hour is an annual worldwide event organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), encouraging households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for an hour to raise awareness about the need to act on climate change.

The event, started in 2007, is observed in 152 countries.

Adelina said that during the Earth Hour in 2009, there was a 6% (306MW) drop in electricity usage.

Last year, however, the drop was less than 1%, which is a mere 105MW.

Addelina added that the electricity saved had gradually decreased since 2009, with TNB recording 2% (203MW) that year, and 1% (113MW) in each subsequent year.

“Malaysians cannot just make pledges to conserve energy during Earth Hour.

“Your pledges must be executed because it is only then that awareness is translated into action,” she said after launching the TNB-WWF Malaysia Earth Hour 2013 awareness campaign here yesterday.

She said Malaysians could easily decrease their electricity use by adopting long-term greener habits.

These, she said, included buying five-star rated energy saving appliances, switching off unnecessary lighting and appliances as well as minimising water usage.

She urged people to try to live without creature comforts unnecessary in Malaysia's tropical climate.

“Many of our habits have been formed from watching commercials.

“We feel as though we need a comforter to sleep at night. Then when we feel hot, we turn the air-conditioner on at 16°C.

“In the morning we need hot water to shower because we feel cold,” she said, stressing that reducing energy and water consumption would have a positive effect on demand management.

WWF-Malaysia conservation director Dr Sundari Ramakrishnan was glad TNB was collaborating with the organisation to drive the Earth Hour momentum for the second year running.

Source: The Star

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Moyog Community River Restoration is on Track

Moyog River restoration is part of efforts to keep communities who live nearby its banks motivated in making a difference. This movement which has been started a year ago is on its right momentum with the third activity planned was carried out on Saturday.

The programme was conducted by Community-Led Environmental Awareness for Our River, or CLEAR with the assistance of the Sabah Environmental Action Centre (EAC). A talk on waste management for the Kampung Terawi community and a gotong royong by communities was held during the programme. CLEAR chairperson, Winnie Jimis said they are intend to continue with what they have started since they have received positive reponse from the villagers. She also added a new area under the Divato Village Security and Development Committee upstream of Kampung Tagad will take part in the effort by launching a campaign on river cleanliness next month.

Moyog River is listed as polluted due to indiscriminate dumping of household waste, and can no longer be used as a source for drinking water the way it was in the past. It is also the end point for large drains that flow from shops and housing estates. However, Winnie believed the Moyog River can be restored if they keep running the restoration programmes. Meanwhile, a jetty at Kampung Kuai will be opened to the public for bamboo raft cruising at RM3 per person and another jetty is under construction at Kampung Kodundungan with funding from Penampang Member of Parliament Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

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Malaysia to support Earth Hour campaign again!

 

World Wide Fund for Nature-Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia) executive director and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma said Malaysia will be joining the Earth Hour campaign on March 23, 2013. This is the third time for Malaysia to join this campaign and the switching off of non-essential lights will begin at 8.30pm.

Sharma said  WWF-Malaysia, with cooperation from Universal Music Malaysia, Sunway Pyramid and DiGi Telecommunication Sdn Bhd, will organise an Earth Hour 2013 Band Contest to get more of the younger generation participation. This is an effort to bring environmental awareness through music and the five finalist bands that have the most public votes in the contest will have the opportunity to perform on the March 23 Earth Hour programme at Sunway Pyramid. He hoped this year would see an increase in participation, especially among business communities and the younger generation.

Earth Hour, a global environmental initiative which kicked off in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, is reported to be "the world's largest campaign for the planet", with more than 7,000 cities and towns across 152 countries and territories participating in the annual programme.

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Go for an Environment-friendly Election Campaign

How about if we urge all the political parties and candidates to be kind to the environment for this coming 13th general election campaign? For example, avoid nailing campaign materials to trees. The purpose is to minimize garbage and to inflict as little damage on the environment and trees toward the end of the elections. It is highly encouraged for candidates to practice environment-friendly campaign. It would be great when well-meaning candidates and their supporters be mindful of the environment and use recyclable and biodegradable campaign materials. Among the other environment-friendly campaigning ideas are to prohibit the posting of campaign materials at schools, shrines, pedestrian overpasses and underpasses, flyovers, bridges, islands, highways, waiting sheds, sidewalks, street and lamp posts, and electric posts. All this while people are voicing out for a clean electoral process, therefore why don't we change the face of Malaysia politics with clean elections defined not only by an intelligent electorate, but a trash-free one as well?

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Tips for a Greener Planet

Photo: www.graphics99.com

Composting pail

Replace synthetic fertilizer with compose fertilizer. Compose fertilizer is an organic fertilizer which can be simply produced by outing all food scraps such as banana peels and eggshells into a perforated metal composting pail.

Energy star rated electrical appliances

Energy star qualified appliances uses 10 to 50% less energy. Refrigerator for instance consume a lot of energy. Get rid old electrical appliances to avoid energy hogs.

Fit aerators and taps 

Aerator introduces air into the water stream to maintain pressure. By attaching an aerator to existing modern taps, it gives you a fuller flow of less water.

Go for bamboo floors

Bamboo is more sustainable floor material when compared with hardwoods. Bamboo takes only afew years to mature whilst hardwood  takes 50 to 100 years to grow.

Roof insulation

Insulation is not only limited to cold weather countries. Studies have shown that insulation can reduce 3 to 5 degree Celsius. The rate of heat transfer can be minimized through the insulation materials itself such as fiberglass, rocks and mineral woods.

Avoid paints with high level of VOCs (volatile organic compound)

Avoid using paints that content VOCs because the paint will emit low level of toxic emissions into the air for years of applications.

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Calculate your carbon footprint!

Photo: spinningatthedime.blogspot.com

Did you know that we could affect our environment in many ways? For example when we are driving, flying, heating our homes, even the type of food we eat makes a difference. However, the overall impact of our actions can be measured by carbon footprint. Carbon footprint is single figure that gives us a quick idea of our impact on carbon change. It is important for us learn how to calculate, compare and understand our carbon footprints.

First of all, what does carbon means to us? Most of us will think about carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions which released when we burn carbon-based fuels such as petrol and diesel in our cars. Too much CO2 will cause air pollution hence leads to climate change that we called as global warming. It is because CO2 is a greenhouse gas that traps the sun's heat and keeps the earth warm.

Back with the carbon footprint, it is the amount of CO2 that enters the atmosphere because of the electricity and fuel we use which measured in tonnes. Usually, carbon footprint depends on how much energy we use on the electronics and appliances, what kind of transport we use day-to-day and how often we fly. We use carbon footprints to help us understand our activities impact on the environment thus we would be able to find easy ways to lessen down the impact.

How can carbon footprint be measured? Easy. Just use the carbon footprint calculator to estimate our carbon footprint. Enter details about our home, our travel and our appliances. The calculator will estimate how many tonnes of carbon dioxide we produce each year.

We could reduce our carbon footprint by buying energy-efficient appliances, switching off electronics at the wall, walking, cycling or using public transport and holidaying closer to home. Calculate your carbon footprint now and together we save our environment!

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The Environmental Impacts of Cellphones

With nearly everyone having a cell phone these days, we thought it a good idea to educate people on the true environmental impact that the world's growing addiction to mobile phones is creating. 

Source: epa.gov

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Sabah school to be electricity generated by solar power

BRIGHT: St Michael secondary school students admiring the newly installed solar panels

St. Michael secondary school here in Penampang is the first school in East Malaysia to be fitted with a PV system.

The installation of a 5.4kWh rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system at the school was completed by German renewable energy systems firm Solarsysteme Sachsen GmbH.  Approximately 6,800 kWh of solar energy will be generated per year and helps to reduce the school’s utility costs. The system includes a back-up system: the energy stored in the battery can be used during a power blackout. 

The purpose of implementing this project is to further educate the students on PV’s important role in improving living conditions around the world, as well as displacing the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity.

The project was initiated in October last year is locally known as the “Solar Roofs Project Malaysia”. St. Michael Secondary School  was not only chosen based on its numerous involvement in environmental projects throughout the years,  but the school’s positive spirit and enthusiasm in promoting renewable energy too have been taken into consideration. According to the board of governors chairman Donald Malingan, environmental education in the school helps to create and increase the environment awareness of preserving Mother Nature amongst its students, teachers, parents and the community. From his observation,  Malingan noted that the students have made it a habit to recycle, to turn off the nonessential lights and fans and reduce the water consumption.

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Youths advised to conserve and preserve the environment

Miss Earth Sabah 2012

 

Sabahan younger generation has been urged to participate the efforts in conserving and preserving the environment.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said it was vital as the objective now was not just on environment awareness alone but a collective action from all levels of the community. Previously, he has complimented the organising committee of Miss Earth Sabah, including Mandy Nandu, for organising various environmental green activities throughout the pageant week. He is strongly supported such activities, especially the 'No Plastic Bag Challenge'. The green efforts would definitely spur initiative and creativity to a higher level to save our planet and us, he added. Meanwhile, MNE Production director Mandy Nandu said Miss Earth Sabah 2012 aimed to educate the young girls in Sabah to help create awareness for themselves, their families and the community to be more serious in saving and protecting the environment. She claimed that the drive to stop the unnecessary use of plastics among the public was very challenging however she hoped what the finalists did can be an initial point for a plastic-free lifestyle. Miss Earth Sabah 2012 participants are not only required to attend various environmental activities but are also given the opportunity to practise and voice out their green thoughts and ideas, showcasing and promoting various tourist destinations in Sabah.

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