ECO-LOGIKAL

To celebrate Malaysia's Independence Day on Saturday, August 15th the Malaysian Association of Georgia will host its annual Malaysia Fest at Zoo Atlanta.

With Zoo Atlanta as a venue, event attendees will have a unique opportunity to observe Southeast Asian wildlife exhibited there and to enjoy a simulation of the tropical Malaysian environment. In addition, this year's Malaysia Fest is a "green" event, featuring wildlife conservation efforts, recycling, and low carbon initiatives by event hosts. The event will make use of recyclable materials and will use as few non recyclable materials as possible.

The festival has two main components: exploration of the Zoo's exhibits during the day (10 am - 5 pm) with children's activities and cultural activities and events, and an evening on the Panda Veranda with a Malaysian-inspired earth-friendly, completely vegetarian buffet and a recreation of Malaysia's most well-known Night Market, Pasar Malam.

This event is open to the public. For more details and to purchase tickets, please visit www.Malaysia-GA.org. Zoo Atlanta will be open to the public for normal business hours during the festival.

http://gogreenintown.blogspot.com/2009/07/annual-malaysia-fest-celebrates-culture.html

Wild Asia, AMP Radio Networks and Friends of Kota Damansaracelebrated World Environment Day with a massive Tree Party which tookplace on 21 June 2009 at Kota Damansara Community Forest in KotaDamansara, Selangor!

Tree Party was a green success!

On June 21st 2009, a collaborative effortbetween Wild Asia, AMP Radio Networks and Friends of Kota Damansara(FOKD) saw the success of "Plant-a-Tree for the Planet" Tree Party heldin Kota Damansara Community Forest (KDCF) in conjunction with WorldEnvironment Day (WED).

The main highlight of the day was the tree planting activity, seeing radio announcers from participating radio stations such as ERA, MY FM, hitz.fm, MIX fm, LiteFM, SINAR, XFM and THR Raaga planting trees with corporate and individuals who pledged trees in contribution to Wild Asia's Plant-a-Tree programme.Our previous Tree Party '08 saw 70 trees pledged; this year we garnered300 tree pledges! AMP was very enthusiastic and positive on theoutcome. "The public is much more enlightened about conservationefforts nowadays because the efforts have been more systematic. Backthen, efforts was concentrated mainly by NGOs, now we havebroadcasters, different organizations and associations involved in oneprogramme- the impact is more extensive," said Hani Azlan, thepublicist for AMP.

The event posed a platform to engage thepublic and local community on safeguarding our green spaces byutilizing the area. Kota Damansara is indeed a unique place as it islocated in an urban area and is being protected from development.Friends of Kota Damansara (FOKD), a residential community set up toguard the forest and to raise awareness on the need to have green lungswithin cityscapes.

When asked about what the public can do forthe environment, Adrian Yeo of Malaysian Youth Climate Justice Network(MYCJN) piped, "Every little effort by every individual is helpful.Fantastic be it tree planting or recycling at home - we have to thechange agents, to see the change we envision. We have to adopt a newlifestyle, more carbon efficient- tree planting is a good way to start."

In most cases, at the end of an event we see anaftermath of rubbish as the consequence of public irresponsibility. Thetree party was unique in the sense that all waste generated was weighedand calculated to understand the impact such an event can have on theenvironment. Truly, this event was the first of its kind in Malaysia.

Wild Asia, AMP Radio Networks and FOKD would like to extend our gratitude to our sponsors, Pepsico(M) Sdn. Bhd., Loving Hut Café, Mary Kay, Malaysian NatureSociety(MNS), Discovery House Kids Training Centre, Corezone, Elevyn,Bandar Harapan, Hi Tech Waste Management Sdn. Bhd., Hutan Kanan TapakSemaian Sg. Buloh, BECOME, Velocity Media Sdn. Bhd, Pal Associates as well as to our volunteers and the organizations involved for making this event, a true success!

http://wildasia.org/main.cfm/pat/Plant-a-Tree_For_The_Planet_-Tree_Party

The guilty secrets of palm oil: Are you unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the rain forests?

Does your shopping basket contain KitKat, Hovis, Persil or Flora? If so, you may be contributing to the devastation of the wildlife-rich forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, where orangutans and other species face extinction as their habitat disappears.

Report by Martin Hickman

It's an invisible ingredient, really, palm oil. You won't find it listed on your margarine, your bread, your biscuits or your KitKat. It's there though, under "vegetable oil". And its impact, 7,000 miles away, is very visible indeed.

The wildlife-rich forests of Indonesia and Malaysia are being chain-sawed to make way for palm-oil plantations. Thirty square miles are felled daily in a burst of habitat destruction that is taking place on a scale and speed almost unimaginable in the West.

When the rainforests disappear almost all of the wildlife – including the orangutans, tigers, sun bears, bearded pigs and other endangered species – and indigenous people go. In their place come palm-oil plantations stretching for mile after mile, producing cheap oil – the cheapest cooking oil in the world – for everyday food.

It's not that people haven't noticed what is going on. The United Nations has documented this rampage. Environmental groups have warned that what we buy affects what is happening in these jungles. Three years ago, Britain's biggest supermarket, Tesco, was persuaded to join the only organisation that just might halt the chopping, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

In his globe-trotting Tribe series two years ago, the TV explorer Bruce Parry was visibly moved by the sad fate of the Penan, a forest-dwelling tribe in Borneo. Most recently, the BBC's prime-time Orangutan Diary showed the battle to create fresh habitats for "red apes" orphaned by deforestation, principally for palm oil.

But if there's plenty of evidence of the devastating environmental effects of palm-oil, little of it can be seen on the products in Britain's biggest supermarkets.

Until now, the best estimate of the number of leading supermarket products containing palm oil (Elaeis guineensis) has been one in 10, the figure quoted by Friends of the Earth in its 2005 report, "The Oil for Apes Scandal". After a two-month investigation, The Independent has established that palm oil is used in far greater quantities. We can reveal for the first time that it is confirmed or suspected in 43 of Britain's 100 bestselling grocery brands (see box, right), representing £6bn of the UK's £16bn annual shopping basket for top brands. If you strip out drinks, pet food and household goods, the picture is starker still: 32 out of 62 of Britain's top foods contain this tree-felling, wildlife-wrecking ingredient.

It's in the top three loaves – Warburtons, Hovis, and Kingsmill – and the bestselling margarines Flora and Clover. It's in Special K, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, Mr Kipling Cakes, McVitie's Digestives and Goodfella's pizza. It's in KitKat, Galaxy, Dairy Milk and Wrigley's chewing gum. It's in Persil washing powder, Comfort fabric softener and Dove soap. It's also in plenty of famous brands that aren't in the top 100, such as Milkybar, Jordan's Country Crisp and Utterly Butterly. And it's almost certainly in thousands of supermarket own brands. Yet none of these manufacturers can prove their supply is "sustainable".

What, then, is "unsustainable" palm oil? Step one: log a forest and remove the most valuable species for furniture. Step two: chainsaw or burn the remaining wood releasing huge quantities of greenhouse gas. Step three: plant a palm-oil plantation. Step four: make oil from the fruit and kernels. Step five: add it to biscuits, chocolate, margarine, soaps, moisturisers and washing powder. At breakfast, when millions of us are munching toast, we're eating a small slice of the rainforest.

From outer space, borneo and sumatra resemble giant emerald stepping stones between Thailand and Australia. Reaching the heart of their still-massive jungles takes days of boat trips and trekking. Gibbons hoot and long-tailed macaques squawk. Mongooses and pangolins scamper through the undergrowth. Large-beaked rhinoceros hornbills soar above the forest. The huge green and black Rajah Brooke's butterfly flutters by.

These rainforests are honeypots for flora and fauna, among the most biodiverse places on Earth. Consider the figures. Sumatra – the size of Spain, owned by Indonesia – has 465 species of bird, 194 species of mammal, 217 species of reptile, 272 species of freshwater fish, and an estimated 10,000 species of plant. Borneo – the size of Turkey and shared between Indonesia and Malaysia – is even richer: 420 birds, 210 mammals, 254 reptiles, 368 freshwater fish and around 15,000 plants.

All these species evolved to live in this unique forest environment. The Sumatran rhino is the smallest, hairiest and most endangered in the world; the Sumatran tiger is the smallest tiger. The black sun bear, with its U-shaped patch of white fur under its chin, is the smallest bear. Some of them are curious in the extreme: the bug-eyed western tarsier; the striped rabbit; the marled cat; and the tree-jumping clouded leopard, which feasts on pygmy squirrels and long-tailed porcupines.

Of all the animals, though, the most famous by far is the orangutan (or "man of the jungle"). With its orange hair and long arms, the orangutan is one of our planet's most unusual creatures. And one of the smartest, too. The Dutch anthropologist Carel van Schaik found that orangutans could perform tasks which were well beyond chimpanzees, such as making rain hats and leakproof roofs for their nests.

The primatologist Dr Willie Smits estimates that orangutans can distinguish between 1,000 different plants, knowing which ones are edible, which are poisonous, and which cure headaches. In her book Thinkers of the Jungle, the psychology professor Anne Russon recalled that one orangutan keeper took three days to solve the mystery of who'd been stealing from the fridge. It turned out that an orangutan had been using a paperclip to pick the lock of its cage, then hiding the paperclip under its tongue.

Along with chimpanzees, gorillas and bonobos, orangutans are great apes, sharing 97 per cent of their DNA with humans, having split from us a mere 13 million years ago. They exist only in these forests of Borneo and Sumatra, and it is their arboreal nature that leaves them so vulnerable to deforestation. Between 2004 and 2008, according to the US Great Ape Trust, the orangutan population fell by 10 per cent (to 49,600) on Borneo and by 14 per cent (to 6,600) on Sumatra. As the author Serge Wich warned: "Unless extraordinary efforts are made soon, it could become the first great-ape species to go extinct."

Native people too, known in Borneo as Dayaks, are under threat. About 10,000 members of the semi-nomadic Penan tribe survive but their traditional lifestyle – which includes harvesting the starchy sago tree – is being felled.

A researcher with Survival International, the London-based human-rights organisation, returned to the UK last month with transcripts of interviews with the Penan conducted deep in the jungle. According to one headman, called Matu, hunters were increasingly returning empty-handed. "When the logging started in the Nineties, we thought we had a big problem," he complained. "But when oil palm arrived [in 2005], logging was relegated to problem No 2. Our land and our forests have been taken by force.

"Our fruit trees are gone, our hunting grounds are very limited, and the rivers are polluted, so the fish are dying. Before, there were lots of wild boar around here. Now, we only find one every two or three months. In the documents, all of our land has been given to the company."

"There were no discussions," said another Penan. "The company just put up signs saying the government had given them permission to plant oil palm on our land."

Indonesia is trying to crack down on illegal foresting, but corruption is rife hundreds of miles from Jakarta. Satellite pictures show logging has encroached on 90 per cent of Borneo's national parks – and according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): "New estimates suggest 98 per cent of [Indonesia's] forest may be destroyed by 2022, the lowland forest much sooner."

In its 2007 report, "The Last Stand of the Orangutan", UNEP warned that forest rangers were outnumbered and outgunned by logging guards with military training and automatic weapons – and faced "high and sometimes lethal risks" in confronting them. The programme's executive director Achim Steiner wrote: "The driving forces are not impoverished farmers, but what appears to be well-organised companies with heavy machinery and strong international links to the global markets."

In its own way, palm oil is a wonder plant. Astonishingly productive, its annual yield is 3.6 tonnes a hectare compared with half a tonne for soy or rapeseed. Originally found in West Africa, palm oil is uniquely "fractionable" when cooked, meaning its properties can be easily separated for different products. Although high in artery-clogging saturated fat, it is healthier than hydrogenated fats. For manufacturers, there is another significant benefit. At £400 a tonne, it is cheaper than soy, rapeseed or sunflower.

Some 38m tonnes of palm oil are produced globally, about 75 per cent in Malaysia and Indonesia. Borneo's 11,000 square miles of plantations produce 10m tonnes a year while Sumatra's 14,000 square miles yield 13m tonnes.

Since 1990, the amount of land used for palm-oil production has increased by 43 per cent. Demand is rising at between six and 10 per cent a year. China's billion-plus population is the biggest consumer, importing 18 per cent of global supply. About 16 per cent arrives in the EU.

In the UK, almost every major food manufacturer uses palm oil, among them Kellogg's, Cadbury, Mars, Kraft, Unilever, Premier Foods, Northern Foods and Associated British Foods (ABF). Companies typically say they are working to source sustainable supplies – and insist their use is "small", "very small" or "minute".

The US household giant Procter & Gamble, which uses palm oil in detergents, shampoos and soaps, says: "P&G uses very little palm oil – about 1 per cent of a worldwide production of palm and its derivatives." One per cent of global production is 380,000 tonnes a year. P&G says it hopes to source a sustainable supply by 2015 – six years' time.

Right now no multinational can vouch that its supply is sustainable. The Anglo-Dutch household giant Unilever, the world's biggest user of palm oil, is swallowing up 1.6m tonnes a year, 4 per cent of global supply. It admits the product causes huge damage, but believes it has a solution. Together with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Unilever set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004. For its first four years – to the frustration of green groups – the RSPO talked, devising eight principles and 39 practical criteria designed to protect native peoples, plantation workers, small farmers and wildlife.

Forty per cent of palm-oil suppliers are now members of the RSPO and it hopes all of them will eventually join. Members promise not to chainsaw any virgin forest; but they are still allowed to chop down "degraded forest" – where some trees have been felled – preventing other trees from re-growing and animals from returning.

Palm-oil plantations are barren places. When vast blocks of palms are planted in straight lines, stretching for mile after mile, 90 per cent of the wildlife disappears. In the words of Junaida Payne, of WWF Malaysia's Sabah office, they are "biological deserts".

Jan Kees Vis, Unilever's director of sustainable agriculture and chairman of the RSPO, says it is "not realistic" to halt palm-oil expansion, but believes much growth can be achieved by raising yields. The best plantations currently yield 10 tonnes per hectare, but in the future this could hit 18 or even 50 tonnes, he says.

The best plantations can obtain RSPO certification for sustainability – but only 4 per cent of global supply (1.5m tonnes) is currently certified sustainable. The first shipment arrived in Rotterdam last November and costs about 35 per cent more than normal supplies. Another scheme, Green Palm, is already bringing prices for RSPO supplies down further, adding just 5 per cent to the cost.

Unilever has publicly committed to sourcing only certified palm oil by 2015. Premier Foods has a date of 2011, United Biscuits 2012. Most companies, however, including Cadbury, Kellogg's, Nestlé, Mars and Heinz, have given no commitment to switch to an RSPO-certified supply. They merely say that their suppliers are members.

As Vis puts it bluntly: "The volume of certified palm oil traded is disappointingly low so far; the reason for this being that many companies are not prepared to pay a premium for certified oil."

Environmentalists fear that the RSPO is itself greenwash, cover for a programme of vicious and unrelenting deforestation. Even the RSPO concedes that its members have subsidiaries who plant palm oil, and who are not bound by – and do not abide by – its rules.

As if this were not enough, in the rush to replace diminishing fossil fuel, palm oil is being mixed into petrol. The EU Biofuels Directive aims to put biofuels in 5 per cent of all fuel pumps. Destroying peat forests for palm oil is especially bad for the climate, as these semi-saturated soils are dense "carbon stores" which release colossal quantities of C02 when they are burnt to make way for palm oil.

In its "Cooking the Climate" report, Greenpeace calculated that the burning of South-east Asia's peat forests – largely for palm-oil plantations – spewed 1.8bn tonnes of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere: 4 per cent of global climate-change emissions from 0.1 per cent of Earth's land. According to Greenpeace forest campaigner James Turner, "The destruction of these forests is a really serious cause of climate change, but some companies are still trying to look the other way. It's time for them to cancel contracts with the worst suppliers, because purchasing power is a highly effective tool in changing this industry."

Conservationists are increasingly wondering whether the wholesale destruction of rainforests to make margarine is the most striking of all examples of environmental lunacy. It isn't just destroying one of the last great wildernesses, its rare animals and some of the remaining people whose ways are at odds with modern living. It also threatens to damage our own lives in the West.

Deforestation causes 18 per cent of Co2 emissions, according to British government figures – a key element in the rising temperatures that in coming decades will alter our world for ever. No one can be exactly sure what climate change will bring but, in Britain, we can expect more flooding and winter gales, drier summers, water shortages, and more food poisoning and skin cancer. The sea will not just sweep over Bangladesh and the Maldives, but possibly threaten low-lying parts of Britain, such as London, too. Meanwhile, millions of people in developing countries with failing agriculture could migrate to northern Europe.

The wealthy Western countries who have already felled their own forests (woods once covered Britain from Cornwall to Caithness) may have to pay more and more to protect those that remain in other parts of the world. At the Copenhagen summit in December, Britain and other countries will press for REDD (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation) – essentially a scheme for funding jungles in developing countries.

In the meantime, forest campaigners hope that big companies will come under increasing scrutiny over palm oil. The Unilever-backed RSPO wants them to commit to a sustainable supply. Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace say palm-oil use should be reduced or phased out altogether. A few have already done so – PepsiCo, for instance, is phasing out palm oil from its remaining two products. United Biscuits says it has reduced palm oil in Digestives by 65 per cent and in McCoys by 76 per cent since 2005.

So far, companies have managed to avoid much scrutiny over the havoc palm oil is wreaking. For now, it is "only" the native peoples, the orangutans and the other animals of the rainforest who have experienced the most profound changes. They are losing the habitat that they thought would be around for ever.

"When I was a young girl I used to be so happy walking in the forest," one Penan woman told Bruce Parry after trekking overnight to pass on her message. "I used to sing while I was looking for sago. I loved to hear the sound of the wild peacocks, the hornbills and the gibbons, and when I looked at the forest it was lovely."

Palm oil facts

90 per cent of Sumatra's orangutan population has disappeared since 1900. They now face extinction

90 per cent of wildlife disappears when the forest is replaced by palm, creating a biological desert

98 per cent of Indonesia's forests may be destroyed by 2022 according to the United Nations

43 of Britain's 100 top grocery brands contain or are thought to contain palm oil

THE United States House of Representatives has passed the Waxman-Markey Bill for the introduction of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (or Acesa) amid talk of mandatory energy-efficiency requirements for lighting.

How will this affect industries exporting products and services to the US and other regions with similar policies on energy and climate change?

Countries with the buying power can also dictate what kind of products they want in their country in relation to environmental protection.

This leads to manufacturers, mostly in developing countries, clamouring to meet the environmental protection requirements.

More than five years ago, the European Union came up with directives on Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS). These directives require electrical and electronic products sold in the EU to comply with minimum-content rules for six hazardous substances and the waste management system of the EU, which is founded on the Polluter Pay Principle or the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

Electronic and electrical product manufacturers in Malaysia immediately sought assistance from the then available experts to help them comply with these two directives and most may have succeeded.

If you notice a wheelie bin logo on electronic or electrical appliances, it may have complied with WEEE and RoHS requirements. But who’s to verify that in Malaysia?

In the case of the US, laws may be passed which impose mandatory energy efficiency standards for household and industrial appliances.

How will industries in Malaysia cope then? Are there guidelines available to facilitate compliance with these standards? Does the US recognise Malaysian standards of energy efficiency?

Will exporters carry out testing in Malaysia and re-testing in the US? This incurs extra cost to exporters. How will exporters recall products that do not comply with mandatory requirements?

The answer to most of these questions may lie with the national standards body, that is the Department of Standards Malaysia. Standards Malaysia has developed standards in areas related to greenhouse gases, alternative energy and energy efficiency. Most of these standards are copies of international standards and thus are generally accepted for use by many countries.

Among these standards are: MS ISO 14064-1:2007, which details principles and requirements for designing, developing, managing and reporting organisations or company-level GHG inventories; MS ISO 14065-Greenhouse gases — requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition; and MS 1525: 2007 — code of practice on energy efficiency and use of renewable energy for non-residential buildings and performance standards for refrigerators and fans.

We hope that these standards and similar ones will be used by government agencies such the Energy Commission, agencies under the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism, Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and Ministry of International Trade and Industry as mandatory standards or to verify claims on energy efficiency, carbon footprint claims and greenhouse gas validation.

We believe many universities in Malaysia have access to research findings regarding the impact of climate change on Malaysia. Sharing these findings with the public and all policymakers would hasten efforts on climate-change mitigation and help Malaysia move into the green revolution and green economy.

The shift towards a green revolution and economy requires education for sustainable development, including training in new job skills and manufacturing systems.

In December this year, leaders from all UN member countries will meet in Copenhagen for negotiations over climate change, and again next year to discuss biodiversity issues.

Let’s push our leaders to ensure that Copenhagen becomes the turning point for ushering in a global green economy and revolution.

RATNA DEVI NADARAJAN, for Malaysian Association of Standards Users

http://twosen.com/2009/07/06/green-economy-ensure-our-products-meet-world-standards/

Multiple Award Winning Toyota Prius To Finally Be Sold In Malaysia? These Pictures Suggest So

The car of choice among “green, tree-hugging” celebrities is finally about to make a debut on our shores after years of waiting. Or that’s what these photo’s of the Toyota Prius seem to suggest. Taken by ZTH reader xbalance2002 and posted at the Random Car Pics segment, the picture is said to be taken close to the Toyota HQ in Shah Alam. As discussed here in the forums: Random Car Pictures

There is no word yet on whether or not the Toyota Prius will be officially introduced but if it is, it will signal the start of a green era in our local motoring scene with the Honda Civic Hybrid already making waves with its new, low price thanks to certain tax exemptions for Hybrid vehicles.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in 2007, the 2008 Prius is the most fuel efficient car sold in the U.S. The EPA and California Air Resources Board also rate the Prius as among the cleanest vehicles sold in the United States based on non-CO2 emissions. The UK Department for Transport reported the Prius is tied as the sixth least CO2-emitting vehicle on sale in the UK. By early 2009, 1.2 million units of the Toyota Prius had already been sold with the US being the largest market. Whether or not it will actually be sold here in Malaysia remains to be seen.

Thanks to xbalance2002 for the great picture

http://www.zerotohundred.com/2009/auto-news/toyota-prius-to-be-finally-be-sold-in-malaysia-these-pictures-suggest-so/

100 Civic Hybrid owners cuts down 100 tonnes of carbon footprint a year
June 26, 2009

 
Petaling Jaya, June 26, 2009 – Green is the new black! The colour of environment is certainly the hottest new accessory one can wear this season especially when you ask the 100 2nd Generation Civic Hybrid owners in Malaysia today. The environmentally-friendly Civic Hybrid that was officially launched back in August 2007 has reached a milestone ownership figure of 100 just recently.
For each of these Civic Hybrid owners, they can certainly be proud of the fact that by simply driving the car, they are each reducing their carbon footprint by 1 tonne a year. Collectively, they take credit for the 100 tonnes lesser carbon footprint that they leave behind as compared to driving a normal (combustion) car.

 
One of the first 100 owners of the 2nd Generation Civic Hybrid, Michelle Lu and her husband Jack Ma said that it makes them feel good knowing that they are helping the environment by using a hybrid car. “The Civic Hybrid is good for the environment and it uses less fuel,” they said.
Ironically the Civic Hybrid was not Lu’s top choice when she was shopping for a car but she gave in to her husband’s selection. She soon changed her mind after driving the Civic Hybrid for less than two months. Lu agrees that it has It definitely exceeded her expectations is more than I expected and definitely and is good value for money.
“When we first got the Civic Hybrid, our friends asked us why, because like myself, they too have the perception that it is a low capacity car with only a 1.3 litre engine and has no power. My perception has definitely changed now. I am very impressed as there is pick-up and it gives good speed performance. In fact, it drives like a 1.8L vehicle and it is so much smoother and quieter,” Lu said.
Ma, a Professional Engineer with Master Degree in Civil Engineering and has passed all papers in CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) said the Civic Hybrid makes perfect sense to him both from the technology advancement and monetary aspects.

 
The environmentally friendly hybrid engine is economical on fuel consumption, giving more mileage per litre and its regenerative technology harvests energy usually lost in braking.
Without sacrificing on either appearance or performance, the Civic Hybrid can give up to 31 km/litre mainly due to its Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system that works cohesively with a 1.3 litre 3-stage i-VTEC engine. It reduces fuel burning and thus, reducing the amount of CO2 emitted into the environment.
Globally, the Civic Hybrid has been receiving overwhelming response as individuals and corporations began to proactively playing a part towards a cleaner and greener earth. Some companies are seeing the excellent benefits that the Civic Hybrid offers especially when they have a policy in place to reduce CO2 emissions and be an all around greener company. In the United Kingdom, British Airways and Ikea are examples of companies that have shifted their fleet of vehicles to the Civic Hybrid in their commitment towards meeting the highest environmental targets in lowering their vehicle emissions.
Commenting on the achievement of the 100 Hybrid ownerships, Mr. Toru Takahashi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia said, “Honda is committed to continuously developing technologies which are gentle on the environment yet fun to drive. We are the pioneer and the only car marque currently to offer hybrid vehicles to Malaysians because we believe Malaysians are environmentally conscious and appreciate the advanced technology available in reducing CO2 emissions. We hope with the recent reduction in taxes for hybrid vehicles we will see more motorists opting for green vehicles as price is no longer prohibitive.”
The 2nd Generation Civic Hybrid is popular with married urbanites aged 30 to 49. It is designed and built for the modern and forward thinking personalities while appealing to tech savvy individuals as it captures the essence of dynamic and stylishness.
In Malaysia, Honda has committed itself to continue its efforts to educate and build awareness of the hybrid technology in our country. The urgency to promote advanced technology that will reduce fuel consumption is a worldwide need to decelerate climate change and also lessen dependence on fossil energy.

The Civic Hybrid 1.3 litre 3-stage i-VTEC + IMA is sold for RM129, 980 in Malaysia.

http://www.zerotohundred.com/2009/auto-news/100-civic-hybrid-owners-cuts-down-100-tonnes-of-carbon-footprint-a-year/

The Lions Club of Penang Gold Cost; with the endorsement from Penang State Government under Jawatankuasa MMK Belia dan Sukan will be organizing the bicycle ride theme MERDEKA RIDE 2009 : Go for Green on 16th August this year at Padang Polo in conjunction with Malaysia 52nd Independence Anniversary. Hence, the Merdeka Ride name was chosen.

The objective of this ride is to encourage the participation of cycling in Penang and creating awareness of cycling for health among all communities. It is inline with the pace of promoting Penang as an eco environmental friendly destination for local Malaysian and foreign visitors.

There will be 2 category of ride open for registration. For family members, the organizers have arranged a 15km smooth route ride. And for those who are looking for more adrenalin challenge, they could sign up for the 52km professional ride incorporating hill road challenge. No matter which ride they take part, both will be fun for all cycling enthusiasts and supporters to join. Both category are not competition based. So, there is no winner or loser for those who is fast and those who is slow.

For the 15km ride, cyclist will start their journey at Padang Polo and will make a checkpoint stop at Light Street (in front of Padang Kota Lama) before proceeding the balance of the journey. While for those on the 52km ride, their checkpoint stop will be at Queensbay Mall.

Merdeka Ride : Go for Green 2009 will be a fantastic opportunity for everyone to gear up their bikes, put their feet on the pedals, feel the breeze, and journey through the heart Penang. Cyclist or those from outstation will have a chance to enjoy and grasp the sense of Penang through pedal power on two wheels.

For more details, please visit www.merdekaride.net

http://lydiaong.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/merdeka-ride-go-for-green-2009/

Today, Yik Hoe, his wife (Lee Ping) and me took some time off from the busy city life and made our way to Kota Damansara Community Forest to show our support to the Tree Party 2009 event organised by Wild Asia.Net. Our main reason there was actually to enter the "Take a Picture for Conservation" photo competition There were 2 themes for the competition; Nature and Candid Moments. Well we entered both.

We left Bandar Sunway slightly over 8.20am but unfortunately got held back by a police road block. Apparently at this very morning, there was cycling race in front of us and the police were stopping the traffic on the highway to make way for the cyclists. Well, there goes our breakfast time.

Lucky of us to get a 'police escort' all the way to Damansara. Now I really know how it feels like to have a police escort So cool.

Finally, we reach Kota Damansara Community slightly past 9.00am. The place was quite hard to find as the map on the Wild Asia.Net website was not really accurate. Anyway, we were there on time.

We registered and paid our entrance fees. RM30 for a good cause. A small price to pay to help create awareness on the environment.


After registration, I had a little chat with Adrian, of Malaysian Youth Climate Justice Network (MyCJN). Good to hear that more and more youth are getting more aware with the impending situation which we will have to endure in the future if we do not do anything now. Change has to happen and it has to start now. Adrian mentioned about Climate Refugee Camps. Quite an interesting perspective to ponder on. Imagine hundreds of millions of refugees flocking to our country not because of war but because of the menacing environmental changes caused by uncontrolled and unmonitored human activities.


As much as I like to continue the conversation, I had to make my way to start snapping away.

So enjoy the shots I took.


Tree Party 2009 activities. Planting plants and partying? No idea how it will mix, even though I am a conservationist by degree, I have never come across this approach.


To some, a hole in a ground is association with death or remorse, in this case, its about giving life and hope.


Look our hands are dirty Proves that we were working HARD.

Pink Doing Green.

Shots of kids trekking in the jungle. The trek was not really a tough one, just nice for the kids to have a good dose of environmental education while sweating it out and enjoying the fresh air. It was nice to be with nature again. I miss those days in Danum Valley, Lahad Datu, Sabah. Brings back good memories.
Ray of sunlight gleaming through holes in a leave.


These are the 2 photographs I have submitted to enter the competition.

Nature Category

Caption: Nature's Heart

Candid Moment Category

Caption: The best investment a father can give to his son. Planting a tree of life.

http://fotogelafer.blogspot.com/2009/06/21062009-take-picture-for-conservation.html