THE 3Rs are prevalently heard throughout schools in the Sultanate nowadays. In a bid to conserve a clean beautiful earth, students at a young age are now taught the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling.
It is no secret that recycling is important and a little difference can actually go a long way. Recycling is one of the best ways to help our environment because approximately 75 per cent of the rubbish that we throw away can be recycled.
Why recycle you ask? The raw materials that we use to produce items could be of limited resources and we might not always be able to replace what we do throw away. Do consider the fact that less landfill means less pollution which in turn leads to a cleaner and greener Brunei.
Benefits of recycling
Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as waste and trash. These would eventually be turned into new products.
Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators, cconserves natural resources such as timber and water as well as prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials.
In a recent interview with a reporter of The Brunei Times, the Project Manager from Daikyo Environmental Recycling Sdn Bhd, one of the country’s biggest waste management companies, Jeffrey Hung said that landfills cost a lot of money to develop because they require huge plots of land far from the city and proper maintenance to prevent leakage.
“The land could instead be allocated for more productive and commercial ventures such as agriculture and industries“, he said.
He went on to say that recycling can assist in creating new paying jobs by turning trash to income while upholding Brunei’s clean and green image.
Non-profit organisation for the greener good
Green Brunei was established in 2012 as a fully volunteer-led organisation. It is dedicated to promoting the beauty of Brunei’s nature and the importance of an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Green Brunei has since organised various activities catering to people of all ages, from children to youths and adults. These activities include nature camps, tree planting, workshops and various talks on topics ranging from youth leadership to biodiversity and conservation.
Co-Founder and Community Engagement Director of the organisation Khairunnisa Ash’ari explained regarding the principles of recycling.
“Recycling is one of the easiest ways to be more environmentally responsible, and it doesn’t cost us money,” she said.
“When you don’t recycle, waste gets accumulated in our landfills, and even worse, they end up littering our rivers and oceans.”
Awareness needed
Members of the public including students should be aware about the causes and effects of recycling and from there teach their families and friends of the importance. They need to know why recycling will conserve a better earth to live in.
According to a study, conducted on 100 primary four students by five youths of the 5th Southeast Asia Youth Leadership Programme (SEAYLP), students have the knowledge about recycling but do not implement it in their daily lives.
The study also concluded that the problems do not only originate from schools but also from their homes as well.
Khairunnisa said, “Recycling bins have been set up in a lot of schools and companies, which is really great, but we need to make recycling bins more accessible for the community such as having a recycling collection hub in each kampung or mukim, or in public places such as shopping areas.”
“Despite the number of recycling drives conducted in the past few years, recycling is still not a common concept and not properly understood. We can still see general waste inside the recycling bins, or plastic that cannot be recycled, such as plastic bags, being put in the recycling bins as well.”
“There are still a lot of opportunities to promote recycling either through schools or engaging the community, but it requires commitment from every stakeholder in making the efforts more effective and sustainable,” she added.
Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRE) Head of Environmental Planning and Management Division Martinah Hj Tamit said that the government is targeting food vendors and night markets to reduce the use of styrofoam for food packaging due to environment and health concerns
In a recent interview, she said the Municipal Department has released public information about the dangers of using styrofoam, and JASTRE is seeking continuous assistance to reduce waste, particularly plastic and styrofoam.
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
There are many ways to reduce and reuse items such as buying pre-loved or used items which can be less expensive, buying products that use less packaging which in turn reduces waste and costs.
It is also wise to look for items that as reusable as well as maintain and repair products such as appliances and tyres, hence they would not be thrown out and replaced as frequently.
Try to borrow, rent, or share items that are used occasionally which include tools or even party decorations.
Recycle items such as cans, bottles, paper, and cardboard. The waste can be remade into either the same kind of thing or new products. Making new items from recycled ones also takes less energy and fewer resources than making products from brand new materials.
A line from a song perfectly sums up the 3Rs: “Heal the world, make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race.”
Source: The Brunei Times