Towards living green in Malaysia

First of all, I welcome and appreciate the idea of Selangor state government initiative in introducing ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ on every Saturday starting January 2010 in supermarket and participating premises.

This is truly the first step to educate the people to reduce the usage of plastic bag besides being eco-friendly nation. Its going to take some time before people can accept the green living concept. I hope KL will also participate in this campaign, but isn’t it better to make it everyday rather than Saturdays? During my study, we have been told to include the green concept in our design. I know its going to be a benchmark comparing with other products.

I also want to make my life greener as I want to start with 2010 as the year of green living lifestyle. For products design, there are lots of thing that we can apply to make it more eco-friendly. But how about the designer or an organisation? So, there have to be few action that I can follow.

1. Reduce the usage of air condition
That’s the use of Smart Saver and Timer of the aircond. I won’t be using air cond throughout the night. I will just set it for 1 hour, and the remaining, I’ll only use ceiling fan. Cooler temperature will consume more power, so I’ll just set the aircond above 24-26 celcius.

2. Use both side of paper, for print or scribbles
I have a lot of papers in my room and I will not trash them away unless both side has fully occupied/scribbled. Even for printing purpose, for draft whatsoever, there’s no harm for printing on both side.

3. Switch off computer whenever leaving the room
I use to have the habit like leaving the computer on or in standby mode. If I leave the room for lunch or dinner, I’ll make sure to turn it off.

4. Use white background on website design
A research has been done and it prove that LCD monitors requires less power to display white than black background. For CRT bulky monitors, its different where white requires more power. Alright, I’ll change my theme design soon.

5. Go paperless
In today’s world, the technology and internet allow us to go paperless which mean everything can be done online with soft copies. There are email, calendars, chatting, ebook and most of them can be save inside the computer. However, only important documents need to be printed. Always observe and think whether you should print or just email the document.

6. Donate or sell no longer used item
There’s a lot of junks in my room. I can donate or give it to the needy. Its going to be such a waste. Its also one way to exercise amal jariah.

7. Be creative with no longer used item
This is not going to be that hard, during my study years, I’ve always collect unused item to be integrated into my design. I will try to post some photos if I have done some creative project soon. At least five by years end!

These are the seven things that I can try to practice. There’s a lot more but let’s start with something simple first, right?

P/S – can’t wait for Earth Hour 2010 on March 27!