Focus on going green

I REFER to the report, “Maszlee: Green campaign to target children” ( The Star, Oct 29).

As a consumer advocate, I read this with much interest.

Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the Education Ministry will start an environmental campaign next year involving kindergartens and schools in the Simpang Renggam district.

He said the campaign would focus on the 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) to instil environmental awareness among students.

Dr Maszlee said the ministry would monitor the success of the campaign in schools here before extending it to other schools nationwide.

At present, he said several schools in Sabah and Sarawak had already conducted such a campaign where they turned food waste into compost fertiliser.

Among the programmes in the campaign is turning waste into compost. I like that. It is a good a start.

Saving the environment is a duty for all of us. It is time we did it. You can do your part by changing your living habits.

We can cut down on our energy and water usage, and change our eating habits to conserve natural resources.

We can redesign our homes to be more environmentally friendly.

Change your lifestyle to be environmentally friendly and encourage others to do so too.

It is time that we achieve harmony with nature. Start with switching off household appliances that are not in use, such as lights, televisions, computers and printers.

Leaving devices plugged in can take up “phantom” energy. Even when an appliance is turned off, it still uses power because the applications in the appliance use electricity.

Hand wash clothes in the sink or buy an energy-efficient washing machine that doesn’t use a lot of water.

Use the air-conditioner sparingly.