The National Geography’s earth day run 🏃was extended to Malaysia for the first time this year on April 22, 2018. Around 10,000 numbers of participants made up to the event that day. One of the mission of the run was to refuse the usage of single use plastic which generally the most common problem for most of the marathon activities.
It’s indeed so hard to not realise the amount of single use disposable cup and bottled water being left on the ground or trash can after each run!
We’re lucky this time that water dispenser and reusable water bottles were provided to the runners in supporting this event! Start from baby steps – refill your drinking water.
The event was a collaboration organised with cooperation by Gamuda group and Zero Waste Malaysia was a proud partner for the event. On the day of the event, Zero Waste Malaysia opened up a booth. The booth is categorised into two sections: (1) zero waste products that were meant for sold (which is supplied by Frangipani, Sampah Menyampah and Tak Nak Straw) and (2) zero waste mini exhibition.
The profits from the sold products were later donated to the Zero Waste Malaysia movement in ensuring the sustainability of the movement growth. Zero waste alternatives such as bamboo straws, menstrual cup, reusable sanitary pad, toothpaste and handkerchief were available.
On the other side of the booth, zero waste mini exhibition was set up in order to educate public on the alternatives towards a zero waste lifestyle.
For the toiletries sections, you will spot some zero waste alternatives such as solid soap bar without excessive packaging, menstrual cup and reusable sanitary pad to replace disposable sanitary pads for the menstrual cycle. The exhibition as well provided informations on the alternatives of not using a plastic straw into a “no straw” option or they could choose to use reusable straws ranges from bamboo, paper or stainless steel straw.
The exhibition further discussed on the options that people could bring their own food container, water bottle and cutlery as an option to take out. DIY all purpose cleaner and eco-enzyme from fruit peeled skin were among the interesting elements of the exhibition as we are able to make it ourselves with basic ingredients. This doable options shown to be a great start for the household food waste solution.
Interesting, once the runner finish the run, the organisers had given them banana 🍌
as an instant energy reliever, this situation eventually creates more “waste” in the form of the banana skin which potentially can be turned into rich nutrient fertilizer! Thanks to a quick act by our own volunteer Huay Ping, she came out with idea collecting the banana skin later to drop those banana peeled skin to a community garden located at Bangsar who accept food scraps! So, nothing is wasted!
By the end of the day, the event was a success and Zero Waste Malaysia continued to have a showroom provided by Gamuda Land for the next one month. The showroom acts as an example of a general look on how zero waste home looks like. Hoping to inspire more people on this community!
Contributor: Hamizah
Event date: 22 March 2018