Greener way to mark new year

(Left pic, from right) Subbarow, Dr Anwar, Meenakshi and Mohideen joining guests in planting vegetables and herbs in different types of recycled containers at the launch of the campaign.

THE #GrowWithCAP2021 campaign on the first day of 2021 by Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) drew support from people as far as Germany and India.

CAP education officer O. Saraswathi, who is the campaign coordinator, said the campaign aimed at encouraging people to plant something on the first day of the year also saw more than 100 children from all over the country taking part.

All the participants had to do was take a picture with their plants and upload it to their social media accounts, either Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, with the hashtag ‘#GrowWithCAP2021’.

“People can use any containers or recycled materials to grow vegetables, herbs, flowers or even tree saplings, ” she said at the launch of the campaign at the CAP office in Jalan Masjid Negeri, Penang.

CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader said in his speech that the campaign was to create a better awareness of the relationship between humanity and the Earth.

He pointed out that a strong message had to be sent out to politicians about the values of living with nature.

“Recently there was an issue with rare earth mining in Kedah and politicians must realise the damage that can be caused, ” he said.

CAP education officer N.V. Subbarow said CAP was ready to assist anyone who wanted to grow plants at home.

“We will teach you how to make your own growth matters and pest repellent, ” he said.

“There is a lot of wasted land in front of us so use it to grow something.”

Present at the launch were civil society activist and Think City chairman Datuk Dr Anwar Fazal, Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman and CAP vice-president Fathimah Idris.

They joined guests in planting vegetables and herbs in various containers including butter containers, broken pails and recycled plastic milk bottles.