Malaysian students turn 1,000 plastic bottles into art for a greener future

Zuramaisarah hopes to introduce upcycling to people from her community and reduce plastic waste around Chow Kit. Photos: The Star/Sheela Chandran

Whenever it rains in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur, Zuramaisarah Abdullah, 15, will worry. Living near Chow Kit market, she has seen countless plastic bottles, leaves and food containers clogging up the monsoon drains after heavy downpours.

“It’s worse around Chow Kit Market where vendors throw away food, vegetable waste and rubbish. Plastic waste discarded inappropriately often find its way into drainage systems. Often, plastic bottles accumulating in drains cause water to back up and overflow onto streets and sidewalks around my neighbourhood,” says Zuramaisarah during an interview in Kuala Lumpur recently.