‘Get to know your rubbish’

Hoong says recycling is a good catalyst to encourage people to practise a zero-waste lifestyle.

DO you know a person in Malaysia generates about 1.2kg of waste on average and eight billion pieces of plastic waste have been found in the ocean annually?

What is more worrying, a non-governmental organisation has found that nearly 50% of Malaysians are still clueless about how to reduce and recycle waste.

To address this concern, Zero Waste Malaysia (ZWM) launched Malaysia’s first online trash encyclopaedia called Trashpedia at The School by Jaya One in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

The encyclopaedia highlights 101 trash items that are common household waste, e-waste and medical waste.

It explains how to recycle the wastes and the proper way to dispose of rubbish.

Trashpedia writer Sabrina Hoong said the website would be a good educational platform as well as an eye-opener for people.

“We always get questions from our Facebook community members on how to recycle and how to dispose off an item correctly,” she said.

She elaborated that ZWM launched a survey that was participated by 7,000 people from all demographics, and discovered the score was unsatisfactory.

She said recycling would be a good catalyst to encourage people to practise a zero-waste lifestyle.

The website is currently available in English and by end of October, the online platform would boast a multilingual platform with Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Mandarin.

ZWM co-founder and director Khor Sue Yee believes that Trashpedia would create a knowledgeable community.

She said the website would be a good start for people to play their role in reducing waste.

One of the exciting parts of the event was the unveiling of a new sculpture called “Last Pride of Tiger”.

The 3m tall sculpture containing 101 types of trash and plastic containers was built by a couple from Muar, Johor — Oscar Lee Yiang Siang and Celine Tan Jean Inn, who are also known as CO2.

Also present at the launch were Bukit Gasing assemblyman R. Rajiv and Malaysian actress Sharifah Sofia.

To explore Trashpedia, visit trashpedia.zerowastemalaysia.org