Recycle is a Need and a Deed

P.A.S.S. On the Spirit of Recycling

2009-04-03T16:12:00.010+08:00

Thought we were gone for good eh? Well, we're popping in again to give you guys an update on the latest in our journey of recycling!

After crunching a lot of numbers, we found out that we actually have a considerable amount of funds left over from what we'd raised from sponsors to get the campaign going, and also proceeds from our Tupperware sales. And so it was decided that we would pass on the spirit of recycling by donating the surplus funds to charity - namely, Pertubuhan Amal Seri Sinar Kuala Lumpur dan Selangor (P.A.S.S.).

P.A.S.S. a non-profit organization formed in 2003 by a group of public spirited Malaysians, and they aim to play a proactive role to spread out its existing recycling network in Klang Valley not only at an environmental friendly standpoint but also for charity. For more information about P.A.S.S.'s contributions to society and how you can help contribute, please visit www.recyclecharity.org.

On 26 March, a few representatives went to the P.A.S.S. factory in Hulu Langat to present the cheque for our donation to the president and founder, Dato' Eadon Ching, and also to learn more about P.A.S.S. You know what's coming next, don't you? :D

Yup, that's the entrance to the P.A.S.S. factory! Looks more like a island resort, doesn't it?

We had an interview with Dato' Ching when we arrived, but more on that later. First: a tour of the premises!

Recyclables collected are segregated according to type for easy transportation. Check out one of us campaigners being dwarfed by the mountain of trash on the right.

As you can see, this is the room designated for electronic recyclables. If you've got any old desktop computers or TVs lying around at home, you know what to do :)

Dato’ Ching guides us through the process of recycling in his factory. Amazingly, the entire factory was free of the stench that usually knocks you out cold when your friendly neighbourhood garbage truck rolls by.

Here we have piles of clothes collected being sorted out. Yes, they take old clothes too!

Not only did Dato' Ching (he's the gentleman in the middle) receive a cheque for the amount of RM 5,844 donated to P.A.S.S., he got an official campaign booklet and his very own campaign T-shirt as well!

All together now: Aww...... This is Lucky, the recycled dog. No, not recycled that way... it was taken in by P.A.S.S. after it's owner didn't want it :(

Dato' Ching shows his gratitude by presenting us with this scroll of appreciation.

And finally, as promised, our aforementioned interview with Dato' Ching.

Campaigners (CA): How did you come about in getting involved with this?
Dato' Eadon Ching (DC): Started off in 1998. In the early 90’s I got involved in charity. So in 94’ I ventured into basic recycling industry. I was very aggressive and active. Expanded my networking & set up the industry. “I do what I’ve done”. I was born with the mission to clean the earth. All this is not pre-planned.

CA: How is the market of recycling?
DC: People are more aware now. We (P.A.S.S.) interpret this market to be a social enterprise where we are self reliant and support ourselves financially. Some organizations are doing recycling on ad hoc basis. People are busy at home so collection is done weekly. In these 5 years, we have done a lot of networking. Most important in this market is to make it easier for people to do recycling. Everybody can do charity. Making people more caring, greener, and cleaner, touches their hearts to recycle more. Earning money from recycling is not an issue for Malaysians but accountability of recycling for charity.

Go Green, Recycle for Charity. (P.A.S.S.’s new tagline)

Things you don’t want is not trash; have the habit to give it away to charity. P.A.S.S. is doing personal collections weekly at various places during weekends to relate with the public (to show gratitude, support and relay messages to the public). I am now trying to promote ZERO waste. If there are big items, can call P.A.S.S. for pick up, and it is free! Gradually, people are starting to accept recycling in their lives. Helping the Government to save money by ZERO waste. In 5 years, [we can] help the government save RM7 million.

CA: How do you support this business?
DC: Sponsored by myself in the beginning until it was stable.
The money is used to finance manpower, transportations, [and donated to] charity (RM 10,0000 - RM 20,000 a month) by selling recyclable items (paper, glass, aluminium, etc).

There are plans to plant trees in Batu 14 Puchong School. The purpose is to instil a good seed into the students of going GREEN as this is to educate them regarding the earth and also what they can do to preserve if not save the earth.

P.A.S.S. is does not limit their obligations to just stick to one sort of charity but rather spreading out and sourcing out which needs are in urgency and immediately needs to be met. Asides from the usual donation to charity homes, P.A.S.S. is committed to look into those organisation that has single parents and would like to support them, looking also at schools such as the one mentioned in Puchong, I feel that they do not have trees around, and by contributing money to them to plant trees, is a very good idea.

It is very peaceful to bring people back to nature. Having some green around like what I do in my workplace is very calm and soothing feeling. It will bring the person into a mood of relaxation in the midst of working rather than not having any trees and it is all hot and stuffy.
When doing charity, it must be something that really touches my heart first. It has to move my heart to be able to give rather than doing it mechanically of the gestures of just giving. It won’t make any good if the giving is an act and not generated from the heart.

Normally, the monetary forms of donation do not reach the right people in most charities; that’s why I will go to the needy and give it to them personally rather than going through a third party. It is more fulfilling to be able to see that the money reaches the right person in need immediately rather than wondering whether in the end it would reach them.

CA: Are your family members helping you out?
DC: My wife is the operations manager for P.A.S.S. My daughter is 16 and still schooling. I am not sure whether she would want to venture into what I am doing now. Let’s see in the future.

CA: What are the challenges you face?
DC: Biggest challenge is human capital. Recycling is a tough job. People who recycle (he has done his research) 30% have the heart to practice recycling but 70% only do it out of convenience. PASS collection is 5 times more at the end of the year. There are 40-50 staff working for PASS only and most of them are senior citizens. It’s not easy to get honest people to run this. At times, my workers have to work over-time and those drivers of the lorries to do collection have to leave by 5 a.m. It is a tough job and at times, the will be multiple collection from the same area due to the overwhelming collection in that particular bin.

CA: How far do you see this succeeding? What is your dream?
DC: It’s a long way to go. I’m just a small “fly” looking at the population in Klang Valley. My dream is not only to recycle but to GREEN the earth. I’ve set up 2 more companies: GREEN EARTH MISSION and GREEN EARTH SOLUTION.

When you plan or green the place you feel that you are back to nature. Besides, people do not feel like throwing rubbish when there are trees in that area and this is a strategy I use. For example, the junction at the traffic light where the market is placed, I set up a recycling bin there and plant trees there to reduce people from throwing rubbish. Even in front of the gate here, it used to be a dumping side for household waste, but I took the step to plant trees and flowers and the result is, people stopped throwing their rubbish there.
[The concept of] “Harmonious with Nature” is something to be considered and to be in line with. With that, I also hope to inspire other NGOs to go green starting from any contacts and the network that I have.

CA: Did the current economy crisis impact P.A.S.S.?
DC: Yes, people are more prudent where they spend wisely, so they have fewer things to throw. Even the price of sending items away for recycling and reprocessing has dropped. In some instances, for certain recyclable items, the price has dropped by as much as 300%, where if an item used to be sold at RM1, it is now RM0.20.

CA: What do you think about Earth Hour 2009?
DC: It’s a good idea. The 988 radio station interviewed me and the segment will air at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning. This is a good encouragement to see people start caring for the earth and yes, I will also participate by switching off my lights on the designated time – 8.30-9.30pm.

Apart from that, recycling is also the most efficient way to green the earth even though switching off the lights would help. If one person can plant a tree a week, it would make a difference in a large scale but starting off by planting once a month is also a good start. With that in my mind and heart, I am moving into more of this kind of works by promoting the planting of trees.

*****

We'd like to give P.A.S.S. a big thank you for supporting us in this endeavour of ours, and also to Dato' Ching for sharing his knowledge about recycling and so much more with us. In this day and age, it is truly heartening to know that there are people who very much care about Mother Earth, and those in need. Kudos to Dato' Ching and P.A.S.S., and all the best in your future activities!

The Grand Finale

2009-02-01T00:05:00.021+08:00

Aaaand here we are to give you the 411 on the final day of our campaign! We made sure our campaign was packed with activities of all kinds up till the final day so that we could really say that we went out with a bang :)

The final day dawned with the Aluminium group finally making their mark on the campaign with their ‘Alugami Challenge’, an interesting hybrid of a workshop and trivia challenge. FYI, 'Alugami' comes from the words 'Aluminium' and 'Origami' combined. Yeah, we have lots of witty names like that hidden up our sleeves.

First, participants were taught how to make handicraft out of aluminium cans, such as multi-purpose containers, ornaments and a whistle.

Next, those who could successfully blow on their own aluminium whistle were given the chance to answer yes/no questions related to aluminium by throwing aluminium cans into bins labeled as such. Participants who failed to answer the questions were eliminated in stages until finally...

... the proud winner of the ‘Alugami Challenge’ was crowned!

Next, one of our tireless sponsors, Justlife was again on hand to give a public talk about the wonders of garbage enzyme at DK ABD, presented by the Biodegradable group.

The CEO, Ms. Callie Tai spoke about climate change and how using garbage enzyme could help reduce the effects of climate change, while another Justlife rep, Ms. Connie assisted.

Ms. Connie also enlisted the help of an audience member with a live demonstration of garbage enzyme in the making, and of course, he enthusiastically obliged. Time for a close-up:

Yup, that's exactly what it seems to be - a whole lot of fruits, vegetables and molasses. Hard to believe that all this will help save us from the horrors of climate change, eh? For more information on garbage enzyme and the long list of things it's useful for, head on over to http://www.justlifeshop.com/changeclimate/pages/ProjectC.php.

Meanwhile, the fun continued at Canteen 2 with the appearance of several of our very own TARC TT Nite finalists! They shook things up with a couple of performances, which we've dutifully captured on video :) Here's one of the videos we've got:

That's not the only one! For the rest of the TT Nite finalists' performances, click here, here and here. And performing wasn't all they did while they were there...

... because after their performances, the Electronics & Batteries group joined in the fun by hosting a game called ‘Catch Me’ together with the TT Nite finalists. The winner was declared the one who can manage to catch the most unused CDs in the fastest time!

Finally, three experts from local arts and crafts centre Epal showed TARCians how to transform old clothes into exclusive and presentable new accessories at the Clothing and Textiles group’s TRASHION booth. The two-hour demonstration attracted many who were interested in going D.I.Y. with their own old clothes!

The end is near for the Chronicles of Recycling is a Need and a Deed. But before that, the prize-giving party of a closing ceremony:

Oh yeah, you know you stuck around for the prizes :D The closing ceremony was where we announced the winners of all the various contests we had during the three-day campaign. Here we have the Head of the School of Social Science and Humanities, Mr Lee Hwee Chuin with the winners of the Clothing and Textiles group's "Trashion Anything" contest...

... with the winner of the Aluminium group's "Guess the Cans" contest (who seems to be having a blast chillin' with the Aluminium Lady, we might add)...

... and with the winner of the Plastic group's "Guess the Bottles" contest.

But what everyone was really waiting for was - what else - the announcement of the winner of the Nokia 5610 Music Xpress mobile phone! Ms. Nellie Abdullah, Environmental Coordinator from Nokia, made a call to the randomly picked winner while everyone present held their breath, expecting to hear a phone ringing...

... but the winner was unfortunately not on campus grounds (don't worry, she got her phone eventually!). Well that was anticlimactic. But not to worry, Ms. Nellie made the spontaneous decision to give away a Nokia 6500 Classic to a randomly drawn winner who had to be present at the closing! Yes, we all shrieked when we heard that too. Our sponsors are totally awesome, no?

And that guy in white would be the lucky audience member who walked away with the Nokia 6500 Classic.

After that, Ms. Nellie gave a speech on the importance of recycling mobile phones, followed by...

... Mr. Lee's closing speech. And we know what comes after the speeches...

... the mandatory presentation of, uhh, recycling bins...

... and souvenirs. Here, the leaders of all 5 groups present a souvenir from all we campaigners to our fearless and feisty campaign advisor, Ms. Lim Siz Siz.

And that's it for Recycling is a Need and a Deed! Before we take our final bow, we'd like to express our deepest gratitude towards all who supported us during our journey:
All of you kind sponsors on our sidebar (to the right, to the right), especially our main sponsor, DiGi and our co-sponsor Nokia...
All students and staff of TARC who participated in our campaign and encouraged us to do better...
Last but not least, our campaign advisor, Ms. Lim Siz Siz, who guided us through all crises and hailstorms with a smile on her face :)

Though it may be the end of the campaign, we'd like to encourage everyone to make recycling a part of your lives, as it is truly a deed that needs to be done. If you need tips on where and how to start recycling, keep your eyes peeled for our official campaign booklet, which should be reaching households in Setapak right about now.

Once again, thank you, goodbye and recycle-lah!

Day 2 - Of Celebrities, Bento and Hamsters

2009-01-29T19:55:00.016+08:00

Where else but at "Recycle is a Need and a Deed" can celebrities, bento and hamsters fit into the same sentence? Indeed, Day 2 of our campaign had all that and much more going on. We did say we had an interesting campaign :P

First up: the celebrities. On the second day of our three-day campaign, the Clothing and Textiles group drew crowds with their "Trashion Police on Go" game, hosted by local artiste Jym Chong Jing Yi and famed MY FM DJ Gan Mei Yan.

Here's Jym, appropriately dressed up as - what else - a cop, complete with handcuffs and all! Not only did he come dressed to impress, he kept the crowd entertained whilst waiting for his partner-in-crime to arrive. We know you love him as much as we do.

A few lucky TARCians are persuaded by Jym to be the Trashion Police's makeover subjects later on.

One thing's for sure, Gan Mei Yan knows how to make an entrance :) After keeping TARCians on their toes with anticipation, she finally arrived in style at the Canteen 2 foyer, and of course... the crowd went wild.

Wasting no time, the two Trashion Police got down to their mission of giving the selected TARCians makeovers using old clothes....

... and not to forget, accessories provided by the Clothing and Textiles group. Don't take our word for it, the Trashion Police themselves are quoted as saying accessories are an essential part of one's outfit!

Jym and Gan were in charge of giving a pair of students a full makeover each, and at the end of the makeovers, the crowd of TARCians watching would get to vote for the makeover they liked most!

What, you didn't think we'd call it a makeover without having the participants go through hair and makeup too, did you?

Here are all the participants post-makeover, and the happy winners with hampers in hand! Pretty snazzy, no?

Fans of Jym were in for a real treat that day, because not only did he host "Trashion Police on Go", he was back after a quick wardrobe change to perform a few songs and hold an autograph session! In case you missed it, here are some of the songs he performed, brought to you exclusively by us awesome campaigners on this blog :)

"Happy Birthday" by Jym Chong

"不可以不是你 (Bu Ke Yi Bu Shi Ni)" by Jym Chong

(Psst... if you find the quality of the videos not to your liking, click the song titles to see the videos in YouTube and hit 'Watch in high quality' :D)

Celebrities were not the only thing keeping TARCians occupied at "Recycle is a Need and a Deed" that day, as 17 December also happened to be the unprecedented "Bento Day", an effort by the Plastic group to raise awareness about the harmful effects of polystyrene, and to encourage TARCians to use “bento” – i.e. reusable plastic containers instead of harmful polystyrene lunchboxes when having food to go. Or, as we normally call it, tapao.

The mascots of "Bento Day" dressed up in full Japanese garb and went picketing around campus. Remember: polystyrene is evil. Use bento.

Other than that, the Plastic group also organised a game - the "Lunch Hunt" - along with their sponsor Tupperware. Using the cool collapsible Tupperware containers we introduced to you some time ago, participants would race against each other to see who could eat food packed from Canteen 2 the fastest.

Eating chap fan (mixed rice) has never been so exciting and suspense-filled before. Phew.

And here we have the winners of the "Lunch Hunt" with our ever-present mascots! Everyone's a winner as we hope everyone who participated walked away with knowledge about how reusable plastic (like Tupperware) helps save the environment.

And last but not least, the Electronics and Batteries group had an interesting demonstration on how you can provide homeless hamsters with a very green home if you happen to have a couple of old computer monitors lying around. We're talking, of course, about their PC-to-hamster cage demonstration.

Hands-on is always the best way to learn, don't you think?

Voila! Who needs fancy tunnels and colourful plastic cages when you can impress both your hamster AND your friends with your skillz at turning trash to treasure?

And that's it for the highlights of Day 2. But before we end this post to go recycle something, we'd like to give a shoutout to...

... our tireless campaign mascots! Yes, we have quite a few of them.

Sure, they've been known to get a little loopy and crazy under the stress and the hot weather on occasion...

... but most of the time they have been a lot of help, meeting and greeting TARCians at various locations all over campus...

... and always taking the opportunity to stage photo ops with "fans" of theirs. Many thanks to the mascots for drawing visitors throughout the duration of our campaign!

Coming up: what went down on the final day!

The Grand Tour

2009-01-11T02:35:00.000+08:00

As promised, here's the long-awaited tour of all the booths. Because we used up all our blood, tears, and sweat into making our respective booths extraordinary and impressive during the event, it is only fitting that we brag about the end result of our artistic powers and hard work here.

We start off with the Aluminium group's exhibit, the RARE Factor. In case you were wondering, RARE is derived from the group's tagline of 'Recycle Aluminium, Rescue Environment'. Totally fitting, no? And now for the pictures:

Behold the entrance to the RARE Factor house. Our Vice Principal, Mr Chan Kum Wing boldly steps into the future of our world plagued by global warming.

As they entered, visitors were greeted with a clutter of newspapers, plastic bags, tin can and whatnot, scattered all over the place. Icky. But that’s exactly how the Aluminium Group wanted people to feel - this is the 'Rubbish' section of the exhibit, showing visitors how our world would look like if we continue our littering ways.

The whole place was plastered with mahjong paper that was peppered with colourful pictures of our dying earth.

Moving on... this adorable piece of shit belonged to the Biodegradable group and it was found sitting at the entrance of the booth. If you’re wondering, S.H.i.T. stands for Stay Healthy in TARC. Not, you know... the other type.

Because they support everything that is biodegradable, the Biodegradable group were seen fervently promoting the wonders of garbage enzymes.

Bottles containing the enzymes were on display as well. Many were curious of the smell; after all, it is rotting waste, but surprisingly, the smell was actually quite bearable. Visitors were told to open the bottle with the blue cap at their own risk though.

And now we come to the Clothing & Textiles group's 'Trashion' booth. It had adorable tiny garments hanging from the canopy. Pouches, mobile phone accessories and bags made from used clothes were sold at very affordable prices at the 'Trazaar' section of the booth.

What’s more, those interested in buying the handmade goodies could customize their items to their liking by selecting their preferred colour, alphabets, and patterns!

This poor guy was roped off in his own Trashion Scene Investigation corner, waiting for the Trashion police to investigate his, er... death. We're guessing he was a victim of lack of recycling used clothing, the most likely motive being apathy.

Next up, the Electronics & Batteries 'Easy & Breezy' booth. Check out this cool Recycle Area where visitors dropped off their old, unwanted electronics!

Here's MY FM DJ Gan Mei Yan, fascinated by the Nokia Integrated Kiosk, one of the attractions in the booth. Visitors could drop off their old mobile phones and in return, Nokia would plant a tree all the way in Indonesia under the 'Recycle a Phone, Adopt a Tree' programme!

This is one of the props found in the E&B booth. Yes, a CPU casing turned barbeque pit. We know we rock.

And finally, the Plastic group's booth. This is the entrance to the Hell section of the Plastic booth. Plastic waste was strewn all over this section in hopes of annoying the visitors, really. How else could we contrast it with the Heaven section then?

Speaking of which, here's the Heaven section. There was a table, chairs, curtains, and even a baby cot made up entirely of plastic bottles! What the Plastic group was trying to convey: plastic can be a blessing or a curse, depending on which type you use - the reusable kind, or the disposable kind which we throw into the trash, and ends up killing some poor sea turtle somewhere along the line.

At one corner of the Plastic booth, Tupperware products could be found selling like hot cakes to students and also the staff. Few could resist the discounted prices offered by our sponsor Tupperware.

And that's it for le Tour de Recycle campaign. Stick around for updates on Day 2!

Ready, Set, Recycle!

2008-12-28T11:41:00.017+08:00

Hi there! In case you were wondering what happened to us... we're still here. Our apologies for keeping you waiting so long to hear about what happened during our campaign. Christmas shopping took up a bit more of our time than we'd expected :P

The big day for us campaigners finally dawned on 16 December 2008, and all of us were scurrying around the Canteen 2 foyer making final preparations for the launching and for our own respective booths as well. Cue the pictures:

Breezy... er, busy bees at work...

More busy bees...

Busy, busy... You get the idea.

The excitement was building up in the air as everybody was anxiously awaiting the launching ceremony. Finally, the launching ceremony started at 10 a.m., starting with speeches from the Very Important People:

The Head of the School of Social Science and Humanities, Mr Lee Hwee Chuin...

Mr Philip Ling, the representative from our awesome main sponsor, DiGi...

... and last but certainly not least, the Vice Principal of TAR College, Mr Chan Kum Wing.

After that, the campaign was officially launched as the VIPs each took one of the five recyclable elements and threw it into a ~~magical~~ bin...

... and watched as a seriously polluted "earth" sunk down into oblivion (see it? it's the black one on the left!) and a healthy, green "earth" rose up to replace it, signifying the change and transformation recycling would bring to our lives. Nifty, no?

What launching ceremony would be complete without a celebrity performance? Never one to disappoint, we shook things up with a performance by none other than Malaysia's own hip hop/canto-pop band, Manhand!

Von and gang rocking out as only they could with "Cool Planet".

Rap for the environment yo.

Manhand had a very busy day indeed, performing not only once, during the launching ceremony...

... but twice, once after the launching itself. Being the real sports they are, they didn't stop there...

... having an autograph session for their fans...

... sneaked a few photos with their fans in between...

... hosted a game session with TARCians...

... and finally, scored an interview with one of the hosts of ASTRO Channel 304, Jiayu Entertainment's infotainment programme 'Mary Go Round'. For all their tireless enthusiasm that day, we campaigners are truly grateful. Want more of Manhand? Catch up with them cool cats at their official website, www.manhand.net.

Speaking of 'Mary Go Round', two of the programme's hosts were there too, picking up right where Manhand left off.

They hosted another game session with TARCians, this time requiring participants to let loose their creativity and use accessories to customise their very own reusable tote bag. We hear lots of bling was involved.

The best part was when the hosts went around asking students for their opinion on recycling, and recording Chinese New Year wishes from them as well! A little birdie told us that the segments would probably be broadcast during the first or second week of January, so those of you with ASTRO satellite dishes at home, you know what to do :) In the meantime, find out more about 'Mary Go Round' and its four Marys at http://www.jiayu.tv/program/marygoround.htm!

We still have lots more to share with you, so stay tuned! Up next: a tour of the booths together with the VIPs!

Stay Tuned...

2008-12-18T05:52:00.004+08:00

Hi again! We're still incredibly busy preparing for the last day of our campaign so we can't stay for long, but we'll be back before you know it to tell you how it all went down. For those who missed it, our campaign's been a hit so far! Just look at all the cheering people:

They cheered on the first day....

... and they were still cheering on the second day!

Wanna know who they were all cheering for? Well, you'll just have to keep refreshing this page till we update it in a short while :D Better yet, why don't you drop in if you have time today? It's the last day of our campaign, which means it's your last chance to catch us, our quirky mascots, booths and all before it all goes away tomorrow. Remember, the time: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., the place: Canteen 2 foyer and Dance room. What are you waiting for? Chop chop!

Our Apologies

2008-12-17T08:15:00.004+08:00

...... for over-promising and under-delivering on our campaign.

First things first: we mentioned previously that the 2008 Project Superstar finalist Chee Shih Hau would be making an appearance at our college on the 17th of December. However, due to unforeseen circumstances this will not be happening as scheduled, and we deeply apologise to anyone who was hoping to see him perform.

Next: Remember how we promised that a "White Coffin" would be revealed on the 16th of December? You probably don't remember seeing it around if you visited us yesterday. Again, due to unforeseen circumstances, the "White Coffin" concept was scrapped minutes before our opening ceremony and was not displayed to the public. But just in case you're really, really, REALLY curious, here's a sneaky peek at what it would've looked like:

Again, we apologise if anyone was disappointed, but as quoted by one of our favourite lecturers, "There is an opportunity in every crisis." We'll not let small bumps in the road like these stop us, so please do join us at our campaign from now until the 18th of December at the Canteen 2 Foyer because we still have many surprises up our sleeves!

It's Go Time

2008-12-16T02:39:00.004+08:00

This is it. After weeks of hectic preparation and frazzled nerves, we campaigners are proud to announce that the launch of our campaign, "Recycle is a Need and a Deed" is coming in just a few hours! As it is, we think it's high time we let you all in on the highlights of the campaign over the three days, that is, if you don't already know:

16th December 2008 (Tuesday)
10.00 a.m. - Performance by Manhand at opening ceremony
12.00 p.m. - Mary Go Round

17th December 2008 (Wednesday)
12.00 p.m. - Trashion Police on the Go with Gan Mei Yan & Jym
1.30 p.m. - Autograph session with Jym
2.00 p.m. - Lunch Hunt game

18th December 2008 (Thursday)
12.00 p.m. - Performance by TARC Talentime Nite finalist
12.30 p.m. - Garbage Enzyme talk show

Remember, you can also drop off your old phones or accessories for recycling at the Nokia Kiosk, and you can also purchase Tupperware at discounted prices during the campaign! We look forward to seeing you there!

It's All About the Enzymes

2008-12-16T01:30:00.005+08:00

"Garbage enzyme? What on earth is that?"

"Nope, never heard about it…’’

"I suppose people drink enzymes, but garbage enzymes…?"

Yeah, these are just some of the typical responses we get when we try to extol the many benefits of garbage enzyme.

So what exactly is garbage enzyme? To put it plainly, it's a multipurpose liquid that has many (many!) uses ranging from cleaning your kitchen to reducing pollution to killing mosquitoes. And it also recovers the ozone layer, lowering global temperatures in the process. We're serious!

And if all that isn't enough, it is unbelievably easy to make. All you have to do is literally take some of your kitchen trash, leave it alone for some time, and ta-dah!! You have yourself a bottle of garbage enzyme! OK, maybe it doesn't go quite like that, which is why instead of letting you listen to us ramble on, we have an expert to tell all y'all exactly how you go about making your own garbage enzyme and why you should start making it now.

Remember our sponsor Justlife, who helped us kick start our campaign with the Most Natural Face Search event last month and came in for the "Earth Saving Diet" public talk just last week? They're coming in again to share the wonders of garbage enzyme with all of us at the "Garbage Enzyme" public talk at the date, time and venue as below:

"GARBAGE ENZYME" PUBLIC TALK
Date: 18 December 2008
Time: 12.00 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Venue: DK ABD

Please come prepared with your own kitchen waste. No, we're just kidding about that :D In fact, everyone who attends the talk will be given a free bottle of garbage enzyme! Come join us this Thursday and see how you can help save the earth by digging through your trash!

Three Days of Anticipation

2008-12-15T19:40:00.012+08:00

The pre-event publicity preview for "Recycle is a Need and a Deed" started last Tuesday, 9th December and ended on Thursday, 11th December. If you’re thinking, Huh? Another pre-event? Well, it’s all part of our persistent efforts to keep you guys hyped up of course! Besides, the actual campaign will finally be happening tomorrow so keep your eyes peeled for it.

For those who came, a big ‘Thank You’ and fuzzy warm hugs for your patronage! For those who unfortunately missed it, the following pictures will serve as a recap of what happened during the pre-event. Now let’s begin:

The aluminium lady resurfaces! This time guarding the entrance to the booth. Or so she would like to think.

This time around, Aluminum Man (or Trans-Alu as he calls himself) made an appearance as well. =)

In the booth, an old monitor fought for its life to become...

…a hamster cage. Is that the work of a genius or what? Actually it’s the labours of the Electronic & Batteries group. Now you know what to do with that old monitor rotting away under your table huh!

The Aluminium group and their RARE Factor exhibition that will be held in the DancE Room during the event. Do visit them tomorrow and be prepared to be wowed.

One of the campaigners from the Biodegradable group explaining the benefits of using the biodegradable box to a visitor.

For RM 2, it’s a small price to pay to save the environment! What’s more, it comes with a spoon and a pair of chopsticks for your convenience. They will be selling more of these nifty boxes during our event tomorrow so do come and support this cause, okay?

A stunt by the Clothing & Textiles group urging students to recycle their old, unwanted clothes. It’s brutally easy to make new products out of old clothes. You just need a little effort and creativity. But of course, if you’re too ~~lazy~~ busy, come this Tuesday, head on down to Canteen 2 to check out the various items made from old clothes that are on sale.

Games that were organized by the Plastic group were generously sponsored by Tupperware and our dearest Canteen 2. In this game, contestants were asked to run around college to tapao the required food using the Tupperware container and the winners walked away with a brand new Go Flex Tupperware!

Random students were grabbed to participate in our Q&A session and in return they received a bottle of Zheng Green Tea along with a better understanding of our campaign, of course.

The mascots preparing to set off to rouse the students! We guess many of you are familiar with the yellow guy there - the Biodegradable group's Banana Man!

Throngs of students came flooding into the booths throughout the event. We sure hope they left with their curiosity stoked.

Even our dear ol’ Head of School, Mr Lee came to show his support for his students (us!).

Here’s Mr. Lee again with his Tupperware purchase while posing with Aluminium Lady.

On another note, our supervisor, Ms. Lim was astounded by the contents of this ‘White Coffin’. Hehe. Do come by to find out for yourself what this coffin holds!

After three days of blood, sweat, tears, and less than perfect weather, our pre-event finally came to a close and it can be summed up in three words: very very tiring. All of us campaigners put in our best and now we can only strive to do better for the campaign tomorrow how ever exhausted we may be…simply because we can.

You in front of the monitor reading this, we would like to invite all of you to the launching of our campaign that will be happening tomorrow, 16th of December (Tuesday), 10a.m. You might very well get a glimpse of Manhand performing live for us during the launch!

See you there!

Recycle a Phone, Adopt a Tree with Nokia

2008-12-13T06:24:00.008+08:00

Ah, cellphones. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. We all live like our cellphones are permanently attached to our fingertips, but what happens when the cellphones grow old and die, so to speak? Away they go into the trash, into the landfills and eventually leaking harmful heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium from their circuit boards into the ground, poisoning our water supply. Yes, your beloved cellphone could end up killing you if you'd ever dare throw it away someday.

Well, we campaigners think feeling guilty about using cellphones is no way to live, therefore we're happy to let you guys in on our solution to this problem. Enter Nokia, our co-sponsor for "Recycle is a Need and a Deed". Y'know, only one of the world's leading cellphone manufacturers... high chance you're using one of their cellphones now... that's the one.

Yep, phones can be recycled too! The "Recycle a Phone, Adopt a Tree" programme is Nokia's way of getting people to do their bit for the very, very sick Mother Nature. It's all really simple. Instead of throwing away your old cellphone into the trash, or letting it sit around and get dusty, why not drop it off at one of the Nokia Kiosks at selected outlets in the Klang Valley listed here? The best part is, you can drop off ANY model or make of cellphone, and even accessories such as batteries, chargers and headsets!

And now for the "adopt a tree" part of the programme. NEWtrees is a joint-venture between WWF, Nokia and Equinox Publishing which aims to replant trees in the Sebangau National Forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Through this project, when you recycle a phone at a Nokia Kiosk, you will be able to "adopt" selected trees by tagging them with your name and monitoring their growth via GoogleEarth.

Seeing your tree in Google Earth is really easy. If you already have Google Earth installed on your computer, skip step 1 and go directly to step 2. If you don't have Google Earth (or aren't sure)...
1. Download Google Earth here: http://earth.google.com/intl/en/
2. Once you have Google Earth installed, click here to download "NokiaTakeBackNL.kmz" to your desktop.
3. Once you've done that, click here for step by step instructions on how to view your tree(s).

We've saved the best bit of information for last ;) During our campaign from 16th to 18th of December, there will be a Nokia Kiosk at TAR College where you can drop off your old phones when you come to visit us! Even better, you stand a chance to win one of these:

Introducing... the Nokia 5610 Music Xpress phone! Everyone who drops a phone off for recycling is automatically entered in a lucky draw to win this phone, which will be announced at 4.30 p.m. on the 18th of December. Even if you just recycle phone accessories, you'll get an environmentally friendly tote bag too! We bet you're even more stoked about our campaign now. :D

For more information about the "Recycle a Phone, Adopt a Tree" programme and the Nokia Kiosks, log on to http://www.nokia.com.my/nokiakiosk.

"Earth Saving Diet" - The Eye Opener

2008-12-12T07:18:00.008+08:00

As mentioned previously, one of our sponsors, Justlife came to our college yesterday to give a public talk on the "Earth Saving Diet", and boy, was it ever an eye opener for all of us there.

In case you were thinking that diets, global warming, the destruction of the environment and all that are topics that are only talked about by scientists and other "old people" who're out to scare us, you couldn't be further from the truth. The destruction of the environment is something that affects ALL of us - yes, us college peeps too, and we have to do whatever we can to solve this problem. The proof is in the two young speakers who came yesterday, both of which spoke passionately and knowledgeably about how our actions are killing ourselves despite their age.

This is one of the speakers for the day, Yvonne (she's a college student too!)...

... and here's the other one, Mei Lee!

An audience member shares her thoughts on being a vegetarian.

So you might be wondering by now what on earth does being a vegetarian has to do with saving the earth. Well, before that let us scare you properly into hearing us out with this clip of how rising global temperatures of anywhere between 1 degree Celsius to 6 degrees Celsius would change our lives forever.

Scary, isn't it? Here's how our meat-based diet is hurting the earth, and ourselves:

1. Vast amounts of rainforests are being felled as we speak, and for what? To free up space to breed cows. Which will end up on your dinner table as part of a hamburger.

2. The world's oceans are being "fished to death", and by that we mean on the point of ecosystems collapsing, just because... well... we want to eat fish, and we want to eat it NOW.

3. Oh, now this is the interesting one. People are being deprived of food in Third World countries because we eat a lot of meat. *gasp* No way. How does this work again?

Well, imagine a plot of land with lots of wheat on it. Normally all these wheat could feed, say, 24 starving people. However, because we need to feed the cows before we eat them, the same plot of land with lots of wheat on it can only feed enough cows to eventually feed only 2 starving people. To make it simple, the animals that we eat are eating all our food.

We could go on and on about this topic, but we're not really the experts. And we still have to go prepare to wow you guys with our campaign next week. Heehee. So to find out more, do log on to http://www.justlifeshop.com/changeclimate/pages/ProjectB.php. See you next week at our campaign!

The Campaigners Revealed

2008-12-10T06:30:00.012+08:00

After months of concealing our identity *cough*, we're finally ready to reveal ourselves as the brains behind this campaign!

Behold, the organising committee of "Recycle is a Need and a Deed", otherwise known as APR2 & AMS2 08/09 of TAR College...

That's our campaign advisor/lecturer, Ms Lim Siz Siz. She's the only one who's not... colourful in this picture :P As you can see, there're five groups of campaigners according to colour - orange for Aluminium, green for Clothing & Textiles, red for Electronics & Batteries, purple for Biodegradable, and pink for Plastic.

Can't see our faces? Worry not, we have individual group photos as well!

First up: the Aluminium group, awesome in orange...

Next, the Biodegradable group, all royal in purple...

The Clothing & Textiles group, making others green with envy...

The Electronics & Batteries group, stopping traffic in red...

And last but not least, the Plastic group, lookin' pretty in pink.

Finally, here's a shot of our fearless leaders with our fearless lecturer:

Now that you've seen us, we hope to see you... at our campaign! Remember the date: 16th to 18th of December 2008, 10a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at the Canteen 2 outdoor foyer!

Change Your Diet and Save the Earth

2008-12-10T00:04:00.005+08:00

Raise your hand if you like to eat hamburgers. Many hands in the air, we suppose?

OK now raise your hand if you like to destroy rainforests. Not quite as many hands up now, we think...

Unbelievable as it may seem, destroying rainforests is exactly what we're all doing every time we consume a burger. 55 square feet of rainforests, to be exact. Which also means the end of half a ton of trees, seedlings, seeds, insects, birds, reptiles, mammals, fungi and microorganisms.

The truth is that our eating habits are a major contributing factor to global warming, which is why the organic retail franchise Justlife has launched a series of projects under its "Climate Change" program which calls for everyone to get involved in curbing global warming.

Project B in particular encourages everyone to switch to meat-free diets in order to save Mother Earth from stress due to the processing of meat-based products. Very interesting indeed for us burger-hungry people. ;) Log on to www.justlifeshop.com/changeclimate/pages/ProjectB.php to find out more about Project B!

We could all learn more about how simple things like changing our diet could help save the earth, so come join us at the "Earth Saving Diet" public talk Justlife will be organising!

"EARTH SAVING DIET" PUBLIC TALK
Date: 11 December 2008
Time: 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Venue: DKABD, TAR College

As always, we promise you won't be disappointed! Hey, anything that links hamburgers to melting icebergs is sure to be interesting :D

Behind the Scenes with Electronics & Batteries

2008-12-05T01:01:00.007+08:00

Ever wonder what is it we do to publicise and prepare for our event?

Well, today we'll take a peek at the Electronics & Batteries group while they slave over publicity materials for.... um.... we can't tell you yet but you'll get to see it eventually. :)

In a circle we sit, at work for the Publicity & Promotions department...

We all take our work very seriously.

OK, maybe not that seriously. Time-out... strike a pose!

What did the keyboard ever do to deserve a hammer to it?! Well... visit the Electronics & Batteries booth from 16th - 18th December to find out!

Shiny..... Any guesses what they're making with all this... this... shiny stuff?

Yes, we're not going to show you what the completed product looks like 'cause we're just that mysterious. To find out what keyboards and shiny stuff have in common, remember to join us at 'Recycle is a Need and a Deed' from 16th to 18th December at the Canteen 2 outdoor foyer and the dancing room!

The Collapsible Miracle of Tupperware

2008-12-04T03:13:00.010+08:00

Hello there. Today, we interrupt the usual event updates with a short commercial break. Ahem.

Presenting the plastic ware empire that can be found in more than 100 countries across the globe - Tupperware. For those who don’t know what Tupperware is for some odd reason, it is a company that manufactures plastic wares ranging from storage boxes and water containers to can openers. Tupperware is known for their high quality plastic ware, innovative designs, and of course, a lifetime guarantee on all of their products.

So, in line with our recycling campaign, we're encouraging all of you out there to reduce your plastic waste i.e. plastic bags, plastic straws, and especially those polystyrene boxes used to tapao your food. And what better way to do that than to bring your own Tupperware along each time you want to take-away! What’s that we hear? The container's too bulky? Cannot fit into your bag? Well, fret not. Because Tupperware came up with a collapsible container! Here are a series of pictures to demonstrate how the collapsible container works:

This is how the container looks like originally.

A gentle push is all it takes to begin the transformation.

And it gets bigger…

…and bigger…

…and finally to its full size.

See? One less polystyrene box used.

For those who have yet to own this collapsible miracle, stop kicking yourselves because Tupperware will be selling the above container along with other products during our campaign from the 16th to the 18th of December. What’s more, they'll be selling them at discounted prices! Don’t you just love that word?

TARCians Trash It Up!

2008-12-03T01:53:00.019+08:00

After laying low for a couple of weeks after the previously blogged event, we campaigners surfaced again to stir things up a bit from the 25^th to 27^th of November. Campaigners from the Clothing & Textiles group set up a registration booth for their Trashion Anything Designing Competition at the Canteen 2 foyer. Whazzat you say? Well, the mission, had TARCians chosen to accept it, was to design an outfit out of old clothes and submit their masterpieces on the 11^th of December. After that, students and staff alike will be able to vote for their favourite design at the Trashion Booth at the Canteen 2 outdoor foyer from the 16^th to 18^th of December.

During the 25^th to 27^th of November, visitors were treated to demonstrations; both live and recorded, basic information on recycling clothing & textiles, as well as witnessing a teaser of hand-made items on display. Everyone from the Trashion team put their heart and soul into this pre-event booth. Here’s the preparation process, told in pictures:

Work in progress...

Putting up event details onto the board.

What can you do with a pile of old clothes? .... Miracles, that's what :D

Campaigners getting down to work. Who says guys can't sew?

Tadah!! Aren't those absolutely precious?!

After hours of grueling preparation, we present to you the completed boards:

Remember to join us from 16 - 18 December!

Get your hands on those adorable handmade items at the 'Trazaar'!

Stay tuned for the highlights coming your way from 16 - 18 December!

The title says it all - Turn Trash Into Fashion = Trashion!

Sign to show your support for recycling!

Besides having a booth at Canteen 2, the Trashion team also mobilised their mascot who roamed the college. Presenting... the Trashion Police!!

Hold it right there, fashion criminals!

Those are fake guns, rest assured! :D

The Trashion Police announcing their arrival at Canteen 2. Beware the Trashion Police as they're not done doing their rounds!

Throughout these 3 days, the booth was visited by tonnes of people. It was extremely interesting meeting all kinds of people who were interested in recycling. We have put together pictures of various visitors. We’re not kidding when we said we were visited by ALL KINDS of people. Take a look!

We were paid visits by TARC students......

... Japanese students (gasp!)...

... and Japanese sensei too! Irrashaimase sensei-tachi!

Last but not least, we were visited by...

There are no words to describe this... Just goes to show people from all walks of life (literally!) support recycling! :D

The event ended at 4pm on 27 November, but this is far from being over. Kudos to members of Trashion for making it possible! And to you guys, yes you in front of the monitor, stay tuned for more! It is going to be a very interesting month indeed. And remember - Recycle is a Need and a Deed!

TARC and The Most Natural Face Search

2008-11-23T14:19:00.036+08:00

Last Friday, 14 November, our campaign was kickstarted with an extremely last minute pre-event program at the Canteen 2 foyer where we gave TARCians a teaser of things to come when one of our kind sponsors was on campus.

The organic retail franchise Justlife was there to promote their ongoing contest, The Most Natural Face Search where we, the public, get to vote for the person who is.... well, the most natural both inside and out. Several of the 10 finalists made an appearance at our college for a day of fun and games with our students (read on to see pictures :D) , and if you too can't get enough of the finalists, log on to www.themostnatural.com.my to get to know them better and find out how to vote for the Most Natural finalist! The Most Natural Face Search final will be held at Jaya One on the 29th of November 2008 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Know why you should vote? You'd stand a chance to win 1 of 10 ODM watches worth RM 399! Yeah, we bet that caught your attention, so go click on that link now. :)

Back to the event...

We had exactly 2 days to come up with awesome publicity stunts, booth decorations, and the programme for that day. So, being the ever efficient students that we are (ha!), we got to work immediately. Because we are divided into five groups (aluminium, biodegradable, clothing & textiles, electronics & batteries, and plastic), each group buried themselves in areas of the college, cracking their heads to come up with interesting stunts and materials for the pre-event.

On that day itself, campaigners were seen up and running in college as early as 7am to help set up the booths. Talk about dedication. We know you want pictures, so we'll just let the photos do the talking from now on :)

1, 2, 3, heave! Campaigners pitching the canopy for the event that was to take place outdoors.

This is modern art at its best. An awesome piece by the Aluminium group.

Everyone's hard at work beautifying their own respective groups' softboards.

Another piece of modern art in the making, this time from the Plastic group.

Voila! Introducing the Plasticycle Bin. We crack ourselves up sometimes.

The Electronics & Batteries group bring funky back with their display made out of discarded electronics.

The Biodegradable group, bringing a whole new meaning to S.H.I.T.

And finally, the Clothing & Textiles group show off their creations. Who needs high fashion when you've got Trashion?

Soon after the event kicked off, a bunch of gung-ho campaigners were seen carrying coloured pails walking around college to encourage students to recycle their aluminium cans, plastic bottles, and so on.

All smiles before they set off on their mission to, erm, collect rubbish. Do you know what each colour bin represents which recyclable items? Go find out okay!

A student giving his aluminium drink can to the campaigners. See how easy it is to recycle?

Back at the booths, people were pouring in, much to our delight. Questionnaires were given out to students and they in turn received coupons redeemable for freebies (on a first come first serve basis, of course) after answering all the questions. The questions were not that easy, so those answering them had to go through all the info at our booths to successfully finish the questions. We’re pretty sure they went home with added knowledge about recycling!

Students attempting to answer the questionnaires. Okay... it wasn't that hard, we swear!

Meanwhile, the people from Justlife did a great job pulling the crowd in. Kudos to the emcee who was the perfect example of the Energizer rabbit. He had boundless energy! Some of us felt exhausted just by watching him jump all around the place.

The emcee, bantering with some girls who were brave enough to step up and take part in the games.

The Most Natural Face Search finalists who came hamming it up - from left: Denise, Ivan, Cynthia, Steven, Elizabeth and Vincent. You know what to do :) *ahem*go to www.themostnatural.com.my*ahem*

The event ended around 3pm, and everybody went home tired and sweaty but ultimately satisfied because it was considered a success thanks to the encouraging responses that we got from the students.

It really is uplifting to find that quite a number of youths are interested in recycling to save our planet. Of course, we hope that after our campaign, more students would do their part in preserving the earth through recycling. After all, Recycling is a Need and a Deed!

The Great Recycling Campaign of 2008

2008-11-23T11:34:00.003+08:00

OK, that isn't exactly the tagline of our campaign, but it sure has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? :P

Welcome one and all to the official blog of the ambitious recycling campaign "Recycle is a Need and a Deed", organized by the Year 2 Advanced Diploma in Mass Communication (Public Relations) and Advanced Diploma in Mass Communication (Media Studies) students of Tunku Abdul Rahman College, under the watchful eye of our campaign advisor/lecturer Ms Lim Siz Siz.

As this is our final year in the college, we'd like to end it with a bang by organizing a recycling campaign, making a call to our fellow TARCians to join the effort to save dear ol' Mother Earth. It shows through the selection of our campaign tagline "Recycle is a Need and a Deed", which emphasizes the need for recycling to be a deed every single person on this earth does.

We campaigners are divided into 5 groups focusing on the presentation of 5 different recyclable materials, namely Aluminium, Biodegradables, Clothing & Textiles, Electronics & Batteries and Plastic. Divided though as we are, we're still all working together to put together the most awesome recycling campaign you have seen yet. That's all we can tell you for now. ;)

And now for the most important details of all:

"Recycle is a Need and a Deed"
Date: 16 - 18 December 2008
Time: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily
Venue: Canteen 2 Outdoor Foyer & Dancing Room

Come join us and be surprised! You won't be dissapointed. We promise. :P

Next up: Kickstarting the campaign!