“Going Green” is the in thing now with Taiping Municipal Council. The Council, with the support of non-governmental organisations (NGO), educational institutions, the private and corporate sector, statutory bodies and the town’s civil society councillors, jointly launched a recycling campaign and exhibition at the Zoo Taiping and Night Safari Pavilion recently.
In conjunction with the World Recycling Day, the event was held to promote recycling awareness, keep the town clean and maintain its image as a prime local and international tourist destination.
In addition to the dictum of “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”, the occasion also encouraged the public to “Rethink or Think before Discarding”. For a start, all local NGOs, civil society groups, businesses, government bodies and related groups in the town were encouraged to place specifically designed recycling bins to separate recyclable wastes like plastics, paper, glass and metal.
Council President Dato’ Abdul Rahim Mohd Ariff said, “We’re ever ready to help promote activities, events and campaigns on going green and recycling, as they’ll help to safeguard the environment and instil good habits.”
Campaign organising chairman, Tan Kim Seng explained that the idea was to educate the public to recycle their waste in a proper manner. “For instance the Zoo here doesn’t allow non-biodegradable packaging like styrofoam to be brought in by visitors into its premises,” he added.
Shan Poornam Metals’ senior executive programmer, Govind Raj, urged the recycling of electrical and electronic appliances which were not in use or discarded like personal computers, televisions, radios, refrigerators, washing machines, air-conditioners, printers, mobile phones, DVD/VCD players and batteries. The full recovery e-waste company is one of the exhibitors present.
“What we can provide is proper disposal methods and safe management so that the so-called waste products can be recycled, manufactured and put to good use again,” he stated.
The event also hosted a nature and environment themed children’s art exhibition. Among the other exhibitors were aluminium can demonstrating specialist Looi Kok Heng, Bengkel Semangat Maju Taiping, Department of Environment, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Department of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism, Taiping Community College, Jabatan Kesihatan dan Klinik Kesihatan Ibu dan Anak, Legal Aid Department and Malaysia Co-operative Societies Commission.
Nirmal Ariyapala
