Here are a simple breakdown of our well loved sustainable things Malaysians use everyday that are eco friendly. An Australian buddy pointed out that the choices are kinda quirky, but darn interesting.

1. Sweeping the floor with a natural fiber brooms

These brooms are usually make from corn fibers

The Penang Island Municipal Councils cleaning the streets with
Lidi Brooms (brooms made from the spine of the coconut leaves)
after the Tsunami aftermath

2. The 3-in-1 motorbike experience …. cheaper and more efficient than a Prius, trust me, although not as safe

Sorry about the quality of the picture, but look at the way this man is putting his 2 children in such danger. Click on the link to read about the dangerous things motorbike riders do in Malaysia.

3. All You Can Eat Durian Buffet. By not cooking, these guys are using no fuel, thus in their own way, saving the environment. And since the diners don’t use plates or utensils, there’s not much water needed to clean as well. Check out the All You Can Eat Durian Buffet article.

4. LRT trains – which translates to less cars on the road

5. Eating with our fingers and using banana leaves as plates. Less chemical dish washing liquids polluting our waterways.
Note: Try using enzymes as a washing detergent for your utensils and plates

6.Tiled or marble flooring in Malaysian homes. Malaysia is a tropical country and anything that helps cool the house without electricity is very welcomed. Stone and tile radiate coolness, and this is what really helps. Also, this type of flooring is so easy to clean. Just use a broom and a mop, and you are ready to go! (See how to use your garbage to make cheap and cheerful enzymes floor cleaners)

Malaysians love their houses top-to-bottom tiled all over

Another example of a house with tiled flooring

A tiled kitchen flooring

The Plot Building Washroom with tiles all the way up to the ceiling.
The Plot Building was an old bungalow house at Bangsar.
Click on the image to see more pictures of how they design the entire space
to make one beautiful area, yes, with lots of stone flooring!

7. Solar water heaters

If everyone used a solar water heater, they would save and use less electricity to heat up their bath water.

8. Drinking and eating straight from a coconut

Here’s my then 2 1/2 year old kid eating straight from the coconut.
No need to juice nor wash any juicer machine. Healthful and good for you.

Mark Boyle, a year into his no money spent experiment

I came across this article recently and I knew from the get go, I have to share it with all of you. It’s something I could probably see myself doing at a smaller scale, just not as drastic or as dramatic as this guy.

Armed with a caravan, solar laptop and toothpaste made from washed-up cuttlefish bones, Mark Boyle gave up using cash

He finds clothes in the bin and grows his own food: Meet the man who has spent NOTHING for a year

Bike Pro Centre’s Dec 30th 2006 party. No bikes were harmed or harassed to accommodate the awesome bands!

If you live within bicycle commuting distance to your work, biking has several advantages to offer. Why not consider commuting by bicycle. Even if you choose a bike as you way of commuting on the nicest days of the year, you can do your part in reducing our dependence of petroleum products and reducing pollution.

Biking to work is a great way to get exercise. Why should you pay to go to the gym and ride a stationary bike when you could get a better workout free by just biking to work? If you fear that the distance is too far, try commuting using the bus and your bike. This works well for persons that live a distance from the bus stop or work away from the closest stop.

If you plan to bike to work, there will need to be some preparation that you make. You will want to have a way to carry your gear that is needed for work and anything you pick up that needs to be brought home. Messenger bags are one great option. If you have a laptop that you need to carry back and forth to work, a laptop messenger bag can offer a waterproof option that also protects your computer from and scrapes or scratches.

You may also want to pick up a few extra messenger bags for the bike. They are nice for spur of the moment purchases such as sale digital cameras or transporting items you will need when you get home such as ATV parts.

As we spend more time on our planet we realize that resources are limited. There is no endless supply of gasoline available. We all need to do our part in conservation of natural resources for the generations that will follow.

Besides conserving resources, biking to work saves money. A commuter that switches two days a week saves 40 percent of his commuting fuel bill. If you bike daily, you can save 100 percent of that fuel bill. If you begin with a used bike, you will have almost no investment in your commute. In addition to saving money, you keep your body in shape.

Thre’s an amazing biking community in Malaysia. And they have a blog for people who bike to work. Check them out at http://cyclingprofessionals.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, in Singapore, the bicycle community has this blog http://cyclinginsingapore.blogspot.com/

The Australian website you should check out would be http://www.cyclingresourcecentre.org.au/24/Ride_to_Work

The American website would be http://www.bikeleague.org/

Carin Froehlich has help from her granddaughter
Ava as they hang some laundry in the front yard of her
residence in Perkasie,  Pennsylvania, November 12, 2009.

Here are some bread statistics you may not know.

• Most bread makers add calcium propionate into their bread to inhibit the growth of mould. Recent studies in Australia has shown that this additive can cause aberrant behavior  in children. To find out more go to Is your bread bad for you and your family?
• The biggest bread purchasers are Malays. Presumably because bread is cheap and can feed large families at a go. Doesn’t this make you worry for the little kids who eat bread that has the additive calcium propionate has in it?
• 2 out of 10 bread are not sold. The costs of the unsold breads are transferred to the consumers by the bread makers by charging more per bread. (Why can’t they make less and thus charge us less for bread?)
• Unsold old bread (yes, those with calcium propionate  as well) are sold to animal farmers as cheap feed.

Info from an employee who works with Gardenia Bread Malaysia and from www.crimetimes.org/03a/w03ap9.htm

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Additional reading about additives

Is food making people around you crazy?

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My favorite picture

One of our friends and former Internet Marketing student of my husband took us to this amazing National Geographic store at Vivocity Singapore last Sunday. It’s like being in a museum. Or at a Indiana Jones movie set. This non profit organization store offers a wide range of shopping experience, ranging from clothes to books to artifacts. Vincent, our friend bought a huge, huge map!

There’s a climate control chamber that you can step into to see how long you can withstand the cold. It’s like a simulator where you can test to see how long you can stay at the North Pole or something. Frankly, I don’t like the cold, don’t like the feeling of my ears and fingers feeling frozen, so I didn’t try out this cold room chamber. I’ve lived in Kansas where it snowed every single year, and every winter, I just look forward to snuggling in my toasty electric blanket in my bed room with cable tv turned on to some cooking channel.

They have got great stuff for the outdoorsy adventures and the armchair adventurers.  The stuff so cool, my dad would have salivated at every Big Boy toy there is at the store, and promptly buy everything in there as well! They’ve got all sorts of super duper gadgets for kids as well. Stuff even Einstein will be proud of.

I like the National Geographic organization because they continue to inspire people all around the world to do better for our planet, while in the process, educate people on what needs to be done. I’m passionate about environmental issues and this organization cares too, so I luv em.

If you happen to drop by Singapore, go visit this wonderful place. If you want to know more about this shop, there’s an excellent write-up on this at http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/5848/national-geographic-store-at-vivo-city-in-singapore.html

I’ll stop here and let the pictures do the talking.

ps Vivocity is a crazy cold place. It’s tropical weather outside, but be sure to bring a sweater to the shopping mall as it’s freezing inside. You’ve been warned!