Earth Day 2011

Been away and will blog about it later. It's Earth Day today. I may not be an award winning environmentalist but preserving the Earth for our future generations and teaching our kids to love the world they live in is important to me so I'm stealing some time to write just a little about it.

 

Last year I pledged to:

1. Potty train Baby O. Failed big time. Well, at least we tried. Numerous times. Unfortunately I think she is now traumatised by the whole experience and may take her even longer to be trained! Yikes!

2. Switch off all electrical items when not in use and not leave on standby. Quite a success except for the Astro decoder which they want us to leave on standby mode for updates. Hmm... 

3. Use a tiffin carrier or own containers for taking away food. Done whenever we know that we are going to take away. Other times still rely on the containers provided by the food seller. I must comment though that a lot of them have actually switched to recyclable paper boxes or plastic wares which we can reuse and not polystyrene anymore. Bravo to them!

Other things that we have been doing:

recycle and make our own books and toys.

recycle our milk cartons, egg trays, glass bottles, cereal boxes, etc.

compost though we have unfortunately stopped doing so due to space constrain.

planted own veg though not every plant was successful as everytime we are away even for just the weekend, our poor plants succumb to the heat and lack of water :( We still have sweet potato, ginger, chilli and pandan to harvest from now.

use only one car and public transportation while we still can and don't need a second car.

use our own bags during shopping. I've in fact sometimes swapped a recyclable shopping for my handbag! One size fits all!

This year I pledge to:

1. Continue to try to potty train Baby O.

2. Make my own organic cleaning agent of some sort which does not contain as many harmful chemicals for us and the environment. Am keen to try a soap or shampoo but will have to source the ingredients. 

3. Refashion! Dug out some old t-shirts and hoping to have a chance to make them into something else that can be worn by someone to extend the life of the materials! Very excited about this but just don't know if I'll get a chance to do so. But will pledge to anyway! 

Do you have an Act of Green that you want to share with us? Remember it doesn't have to be something big! Just one small action makes a big difference! Here are some suggestions to get you going:

• Extend the life cycle of a product - re-use bags/ wrapping papers/ use both sides of the paper etc.
• Grow your own fruits and vegetables
• Reduce food waste - buy only what you need/ clear refrigerator before buying more food/ ask for less (rice/ noodles etc.) when ordering if you know you can't finish it
• Reduce use of air-conditioner by drawing the curtains to keep hot air out
• Recycle old cell phones and electronics
• Collect rain water to wash the car, water plants, etc.
• Car pool instead of driving alone
• Pay bills online
• Ask more people to join in the pledge!

MOMMade: Homemade Guess Who Lift-The-Flap Book

Can't think of anything easier to do than this with Baby O. A personalised lift-the-flap book! Got the idea from the Playhouse Disney channel where at the end of one of the programmes, the viewer was asked to identify which cartoon character it is by revealing only a partial body part. Immediately went scrap hunting after that. 

This is what we used: 

Old magazines with relevant pictures - we used AstroView for Baby O's favourite cartoon characters. Other option would be pictures of animals or vegetables and fruits.

Used envelopes

A booklet - one made of relatively stiff paper would be ideal. Otherwise I suppose old exercise books/ diaries would work too!

Scissors

Glue

Pen

This is what we did:

1. Look for and cut cartoon pictures out in old magazines. Trim to fit booklet.

2. Cut used envelopes big enough to cover the cartoon pictures with about one centimetre extra as the flap.

3. Mark and cut holes to reveal only certain parts of the picture as a clue for the child to guess who (or what) is behind the flap.

4. Glue the flaps down adjusting the hole(s) ensuring only the selected parts are covered or exposed.

5. Decorate if desired.

Honestly no rocket science involved. You don't even have to be able to cut a straight line! Here are pictures of some of the pages:

Lift the handy flaps for clues!

The many ways to use see-through envelopes!

Incorporating some numbers

And some shapes!

Baby O was really good with this little game of 'Guess Who?'. She could identify most of them easily. The best part is, even though she already know the answers to some of them, she will still go back to the booklet and lift the flaps again and again! 

You know, we can buy less and be more green if we really want to!

Children Toys in Malaysia

No wonder they say raising kids are expensive! Look at the price of children toys and clothes here in Malaysia and you will know why. For a good quality toy here, you will easily need to fork out hundreds (maybe even thousands! I'm not kidding and we are not even talking about the iPads and Wii!). Comparing dollar to dollar, you can easily get three toys for £20 in the UK and £50 can go a loooooong way! Second hand items still in very good condition sell at merely just a few pounds!

One example is the Leapfrog activity table. In the UK, a new one is selling for £35.75 while in Malaysia, it is selling for RM238.00! Dollar for dollar, can you imagine paying only RM35.75 for this item?? Even after converting, it is still shockingly more expensive in Malaysia!

Comparing second hand ones, one was recently sold for RM69 in Malaysia while it is common to see one sold for less than £5 on eBay! Some were even sold at their original list price of only £0.99!

Some solution to this:
1. Extend life of toys by buying second hand or hand over toys to younger children or donate to a charity. Only problem is second hand toy shops are a rare sight in Malaysia and we don't have many relatives to hand us down items while most friends are still keeping theirs for their third, fourth and fifth child  :(  Those willing to sell me second hand items, I'm willing to have a look! Those wanting to have more space at home, send your unused children toys and clothes this way please!

2.  Home made. Sure bought toys come with lots of sounds and lights but when a toy is crafted together at home, there is a sense of pride and achievement not to mention the special bonding session while sparks of creativity fly all over the place! Besides, it is fun, easy, doesn't hurt the pocket as much and green! Check out lots of ideas online or some of our little projects: play dough, five little freckled frogs, marble run and others which I will continue to post here.

3. Exchange. If you can find people who are willing to exchange toys with you for a few weeks or so, this is a great way to save and try 'new' toys on both sides. Just need to place your trust in each other to keep the toys clean and return them in one piece but don't have high expectations when dealing with curious toddlers. Though it is not easy to break the mental barrier of parents here regarding hygiene etc. it may be worth a try! Start with some small inexpensive ones first and if it doesn't work out, you can always scrap the idea.

4. Review. If you really need to purchase toys, spend some time reading reviews online before your next purchase to know what toys are suitable at what age to get the best mileage and have your money well spent. Hopefully I can help by putting some review posts up if I get a chance.

Any other suggestions out there??

MOMMade: 'Marble' Run [Homemade Children Craft]

Saw this marble run toy on a friend's Facebook photos and thought we can do something similar to this at home! Spent a few minutes brainstorming for a homemade version and then off to scavenge for the parts in the recycling bin!!

This is what I used:
1 empty cereal box
3 toilet rolls
Marker pen
Super glue/ glue gun
Craft knife
Scissors



This is what I did:

1. Draw an outline on the cereal box with the marker and cut it out with the craft knife.

2. Cut a hole on the top of the cereal box using the craft knife to insert marble through.

3. Cut the toilet rolls in half. Place and mark where to place the toilet rolls on the cereal box.

4. Make a crease on one side of the toilet rolls using the side of the table so they hold better.

5. Put glue on the creased side and paste them on the markings. Use as it is or decorate with paints or stickers etc.

After testing it a few rounds, I extended the last roll so it goes right to the end.

 I also cut a little opening at the exit so it is easier to remove the 'marbles'.

 I tried looking for some marbles in the supermarket to use this new toy but couldn't find any. The crystal beads I have were kind of hazardous as they are small. Our plastic bottle cap collection worked but doesn't provide the same feel as a round item. So I made some using aluminium foil! Just tear some pieces up and squash them into a ball! Doesn't have to be perfectly round. The aluminium 'marbles' can be of different sizes and you can make as many or as little as you want whenever you want them!






This is what I encountered:
I placed the rolls too near initially and the 'marbles' just jumped right off the first roll so I had to remove and place the rolls further apart.

This is what I will do next time:
1. Use either blue tack or not-so-sticky tape to put the toilet rolls in place and do a trial run first before actually pasting them on permanently with glue.

The best part about this toy is:
Promotes creativity and helps develop child's motor skills!
It took us only half an hour to construct!!
The parts are easily replaceable!!!
Cost is extremely low!!!!
It is green!!!!!



Caution:
We were so excited with our new toy that we played with it past Baby O's nap time window which was a disaster as she completely did not want to nap after that resulting in an overactive and cranky little toddler!!

Now this simple and easy one is done, time to brainstorm a more complicated one like this:

Potty Training 101

It’s been exactly three whole months since I pledged on Earth Day to potty train Baby O. In the last three months, I have been on and off going about looking for the first item you need to potty train - a potty. Little did I know that it takes a bit more effort than anticipated. The potties that I have spotted are either waaaay too expensive or not suitable for Baby O’s age. The branded ones cost an arm and a leg - BabyBjorn (RM179), Fisher Price (RM169/ RM199). I am certainly not going to spend RM199 for a ‘throne’! Next in line will be the Mothercare potty at RM70. The local brands like Sweet Cherry around the range of RM20 seems great but they are too small/ low for Baby O’s age. I was excited when I spotted Jusco’s 'seat' potty. It is affordable but seems to be a tad too shallow? That means the bum and the base are only a few centimetres away from each other. Hmm...

While trying to get some reviews online and hopefully direction to where to get a decent potty, I found out that Mummy's Reviews™ is currently doing a giveaway. And it comes as Bouncy Baby One Size Cloth Diaper! This cloth diaper is proudly made locally in Malaysia by Tiny Tapir - a company that promotes eco-friendly lifestyle changes! You've got that right! Made locally, cloth diapers = GREEN! I have never used cloth diapers before but using all those disposable diapers really made me feel guilty about contributing to the landfills. So I am hoping that I win this giveaway to try out cloth diapers while reducing the number of disposable nappies used as I trying to get Baby O potty trained! Fingers-crossed!

More compost update

I went to check on my compost two weeks ago to see if I should turn it again. When I remove the cover this time, I discovered tonnes of big, fat (ok, this is not for the squeamish!) maggots!!! They were all having a big, fat maggot party! Ewww!

Well, I sort of expected it as I have read somewhere before that a compost heap that is too wet may attract some of these creepy crawlies. I must have incorporated too much vegetable peelings and fruit skins in there without adding enough 'browns' such as dried leaves, twigs and branches. The other possibility is I may have watered the compost more than I needed to in a humid country - I have yet to search for a composting site from a tropical country for help in this area. One last cause could be due to the addition of egg shells. Some suggests to wash the egg shells before crushing them into the pile while others say just dump them in. I did the latter which might explain how I created maggot haven!

On the other hand, I did also read that maggots help with the decomposing process and their by products are actually great addition to the compost! We went back to our hometown over the weekend and when we got back, the compost heap has reduced in height quite obviously thanks to all the action going on! So the question is, to keep or not to keep our little friends (or foes) the maggots??

Anyway, I have stopped watering the heap of compost and added more dry fallen fir tree leaves into it and gave it a little stir (sorry to be such a party pooper, Mr and Miss Maggots) to dry the heap a little. I actually prefer the heap decomposing without the sight of these wriggly stuffs. I haven't seen them today after changing the moisture level of the composition. Let's see if it is bye-bye maggots in the next few weeks!

Note: After writing this post, I did a quick search and found Composting in Singapore, a great sight for beginners starting a compost with tonnes of pictures and info. They mentioned that our hot and humid weather is perfect for composting (thus I shall stop watering the heap and let it decompose under our brilliant tropical climate naturally). They also mentioned that the larvaes of Black Soldier Flies (BSFs) are compost friends! Ok maggot-y thingys, you can stay. But can you like remain at the bottom of the compost heap so I don't get goosebumps every time I need to remove the cover and throw in more materials to feed you? Oh, and bravo to Composting in Singapore for their effort in starting a compost bin even though they live in an HDB flat in Singapore as well as sharing all the great info on their site!

Note 2: Sorry no pictures as I can only bear to lift the cover up, dump more materials in and close it back. Maybe when I gather more guts next time round!

Compost update

It's been almost a week since I started a compost heap in one corner of our little garden. The last few days, I've been watering it (yes, you have to keep it moist enough for it to decompost) as well as feeding it more 'food' ie. vegetable peelings, fruit skins, dried leaves....

Today, I took out the wire and removed all the scrap to 'turn' the compost. This is supposed to introduce more oxygen to help with the composting process. There are some articles that suggest that turning a compost may not be necessary like this one.

While I was turning the compost, I noticed a few things. The leaves of the ginger plant as well as other plants with the same type of leave texture as shown in the picture seems to decompose slower. They probably need to be chopped into smaller sizes to speed up the process. Branches should also be only a few inches long. The orange peel were still very intact but to be fair, they were only added a few days ago. Anyway, as a general rule, the smaller the items, the faster they decompose.

Contrary to common initial perception, the compost was kind of sweet- instead of foul-smelling even though some of the items were rotting away.

After giving the compost a good mix, I then re-wire up the mesh and place the compost back in while giving it another round of watering.

Many would think that it's complex to set up a compost but if I can do it, you can too as it is fairly easy. Mine is simply made up of wire mesh secured into a loop and covered with a pot dish which acts also as a weight to keep the compost material down. As mentioned in my previous post, there are tonnes of articles and videos online to help you get started. Here are some:

For a video guide on how to make a compost bin, try this video.

For a video guide on how to compost, try Garden Organic's two-part video. They are a little lengthy but detailed and presented clearly.
Part 1
Where to put your compost bin - What can and can't be composted - Filling the bin - Compost activators - Getting the mixture right - Hot and cool composting
Part 2
When is the compost ready - Using your compost

This Mama started a compost heap!

I was watching Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on Escape to River Cottage last night. He basically left the city to live in River Cottage and reared his own sheeps, pigs, cows, chickens and planted his own crops. Back to the basics of living! He mentioned last night that the older he gets, the more he wants to re-use refering to what to do with leftover food.

Just maybe two days back, I was thinking to myself that as I'm growing older, I'm collecting more 'rubbish' to be re-used or recycled! Right now, I have a few washed and dried empty milk cartons for a little project for Baby O. I also have a bag of bread crusts (leftovers from Baby O) in the freezer waiting for a suitable recipe. I was trying to collect the skins and ends of vegetables to make vegetable stock but collect them now for my little compost heap!

There are plenty of helpful websites and videos online to show you how to get one for yourself. Even if you don't have garden space, you can get one started with just a bucket in your kitchen! I found a little corner in my garden for my bin. It is basically a holding bin made up of wire mesh. I then fed it with the dried up plants, grass clippings and some plant trimmings (Mom graciously helped to clear the garden during her stay here. Thanks Mom!). Voila! Now it needs to be watered for the magic to work. Fingers-crossed, we shall have some nice little compost in two to six months' time!

This Mama is Going Greener

Had another lightbulb moment after yesterday's Earth Day post. I stumbled upon Online Leaf while setting up this blog and somehow lost it while installing the new template. I am putting it back on now and wearing the  badge proudly! It is basically a simple plug-in that blackouts your screen and puts it on energy saving mode until you return. How cool is that! Try it yourself on Online Leaf.

There you go, another small step, another simple step.

By the way, did you know that choosing a dark colour for your blog background can save energy too? Read more on Blackle.

It's Earth Day!

I was actually trying to search for the repeat episode of Earth Day Specials on Playhouse Disney (Astro) when I found out that today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day!! Didn't know that it is celebrated every year on April 22. I thought it was over after the Earth Hour. Tsk tsk tsk... So outdated. No wonder they were clearing refrigerators and diapers along Gurney Drive in Penang! (Read more in The Star Online.) Kudos to the thousands of volunteers by the way!

We have so much to do to save our fragile little home and our future generations. According to the Earth Day Network, the world is in greater peril forty years after the first Earth Day! Although the blame is mostly on the developed countries, each of us have a role to play. Malaysia seems far behind in efforts to save the world, buy I must say that of late, there has been some efforts in turning the population a little greener. The state of Penang has boldly initiated the 'no plastic bags' campaign in 2009. A step closer to making Penang a green state. The State Minister Lim Guan Eng's speech during the launch of the campaign entitled "Penang As A Green State: We Are Willing To Lose Our Popularity But Not Lose The Next Generation" scores three thumbs up with me!

Writing this post also brings me back to the time when I had the priviledge of meeting Professor John Guillebaud about 5 years ago.  At that time, he was Professor of Family Planning and Reproductive Health at University College, London. According to him and his colleagues, part and parcel of what is happening to our world today is due to overpopulation and he strives to promote family planning and saving the environment everywhere he goes. He planted the Environment Time Capsule in 1994 to be opened fifty years later in year 2044. Things linked to environmental issues of today including a letter of apology to our future generation are placed in this capsule.

We may not be another state minister or John Guillebaud but we can all do our parts, big or small. I have always turned off the tap when brushing my teeth and re-used/recycled paper (I collect scrap, remember? {Read post 'Facelift'}). We also prefer energy-saving light bulbs. So to do more this year, I am going to pledge to do 3 Green Acts:

1. Switch off all electrical items when not in use and not leave it on standby mode.
2. Potty-train Baby O so we don't use more disposable nappies (and use cloth diapers next time!).
3. Bring our own tiffin carrier or other reusable containers when tapau-ing (taking-away) food.
Bonus no.4 will be to grow our own food and composting - space-permitting.

Here are more simple things we can do one small step at a time that will change our future:

• Extend the life cycle of a product - re-use bags/ wrapping papers/ use both sides of the paper etc.
• Grow your own fruits and vegetables
• Reduce food waste - buy only what you need/ clear refrigerator before buying more food/ ask for less (rice/ noodles etc.) when ordering if you know you can't finish it
• Reduce use of air-conditioner by drawing the curtains to keep hot air out
• Recycle old cell phones and electronics
• Collect rain water to wash the car, water plants, etc.
• Car pool instead of driving alone
• Pay bills online
• Ask more people to join in the pledge!

Why don't you pledge to do 3 Green Acts with me? Don't just do it for yourself, do it for our children because

"We have not inherited the earth from our grandparents, we have borrowed it from our grandchildren" [Kashmiri proverb]