Sunday, October 31, 2010

Trip to Rimba Ilmu, Universiti Malaya

Last Wednesday, on the 27th of October 2010, our school organized a trip to University Malaya where we visited the Rimba Ilmu. The purpose of the visit was to learn about rare plants that can only be found at certain parts of the world and also to educate us about the importance of preserving Mother Nature. The Green Rangers decided to participate ourselves in this trip.

The front entrance

Over there, we were given a tour by a few students from University Malaya. We were divided into 3 groups and the group that The Green Rangers were in was guided by Mr. Prashant. We visited three places, which were the conservatory, exhibition hall and also the mini forest. We were brought to the conservatory first. At the conservatory, we could witness many rare plants especially orchids being well kept. All of us were amazed because we had never seen plants like that before this.









After visiting the conservatory, we headed towards the exhibition led by Mr. Prashant. We spent about an hour browsing through the whole exhibition with full of interest.

The front entrance of the exhibition
Seri reading the posters

Hanna studying the art displayed
Hanna admiring the Rafflesia flower
Mr. Prashant explaining about the greenhouse effect
Seri and Aqila looking at the types of insects found in jungles
Mr. Prashant explaining about The Web Of Life
Next, we were brought to the secondary forest, where all the plants were labeled accordingly. We were all excited and thrusted our way to be right in front of the group. 

One of the trees that was planted in the 1970s
Aloe Vera plant
The 'Umbrella' palm tree
The 'Red Devil' tree
At the shelter house
Experimenting a leaf
All of us (:
Overall, it was a great trip and we really enjoyed ourselves. We did not go only to have fun but also to learn and care more about the environment. Most people don't realize that there are many plants and animals out there facing extinction and they are contributing towards it. Everybody should wake up and pay more attention towards the environment. Find activities that has to do with the environment and play your part ! 

Every action counts and makes a huge difference (:

Love, The Green Rangers (:

Friday, October 29, 2010

Practice (29th October)

Our practice on the 29th of October began with members attempting to hone the songs they will be performing to perfection. Members who failed to attend a few practices were also introduced to the songs we will be performing, and taught how to play their instruments to the songs.

Farhanah then told us about Puan Ngau's new and revamped list of committees, and each head of committee was asked to find the specified amount of members required by Monday, 1st of November.

It was also decided that Siti Sarah, Farah Dinah, Eishatur, Atikah, and Niraanjana would be partaking in the Eco Music competition on the 11th of November. The practice ended officially at 1pm, though quite a number of members had to leave earlier in order to meet the teachers in charge of their respective Eco Carnival committees.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Practice (28th of October)

Members resumed practicing for their Eco Drums performance on the 28th of October, one day after their fascinating trip to the Rimba Ilmu. 

Taking over from where they left off, members once again attempted to 'find' their beats for the parody of Sempurna we will be performing. Siti Sarah, Punietha, Farah, Niraanjana and Atikah demonstrated their rendition of the song, and made the song sound near-perfect, which was why members decided to move on to perfecting our Green Song.

Members then attempted to find the right pitch for singing our 'Bumi' song and 'Sempurna' parody. Since only a few of our members were capable of singing at the high pitches the aforementioned songs require, members decided on having a majority of our members sing at a comfortable pitch, and having those capable of singing at high pitches sing at those pitches, which will ultimately create a harmonising effect. 

The day ended with us attempting to garner inspiration for our drum circle from Youtube.

Trip to Rimba Ilmu (27th of October)

As was mentioned previously, Sri Aman enthusiastically organises one activity after another for us Form 3 students in order to keep us occupied whenever we do decide to drag ourselves to school. A trip to the University of Malaya's Rimba Ilmu was organized recently, and our club decided to make it a club outing, which meant that it was compulsory for every Form 3 member of our club to go for the trip.

70 students donned in school t-shirts and track bottoms went for the trip, knowing full well that they would be jungle-trekking. Rimba Ilmu, being a botanical garden spanning 70 hectares situated in our country's leading university, was abundant and plentiful in its variety of plants and herbs, which intrigued many of the students to no end. Students arrived at Rimba Ilmu at around 10 am in the morning, after the bus made two trips in order to fetch every single participant of the trip.

We were given a briefing by our guide of the day soon after we arrived, and we were soon divided into 3 large groups. Every group would get an opportunity to visit all three stations in the Rimba Ilmu, but in different orders. The three stations included the Botanical Garden, where numerous plants, each with unique usages and characteristics of its own, greeted students as soon as they stepped into the Botanical Garden.

The Rare Plants House showcased wild endemic orchids and Venus fly traps. The Rare Plants House was set at a humidity and temperature that simulates an actual jungle, so that every plant in the house would grow as well as they would grow if they had been living in their natural habitats. Some of the species in the house were on the brink extinction and therefore had to be cultured.
Lastly, students went to the exhibition hall, which was where a lot of interesting information regarding plants were displayed on the walls. Students were given the chance to compare the weight of different types of precious wood. There was also an interesting exhibition showcasing preserved insects and butterflies.
Students found the trip interesting as it provided students with an in-depth look into diversity of the species of flora and fauna found in our lovely country.




Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Perform a Trash Can Autopsy to Save Money and Resource

Recycling trash is easy with these telltale items.



jeff yeager cheapskate looks through his trash with magnifying glass
Archeologists say that digging through a civilization's garbage can reveal more about peoples' lifestyles than just about anything else. Take a minute to look through your trash -- items you're recycling as well as sending to the landfill -- and learn how you can save money and the Earth's resources at the same time

Dryer Lint
Dryer lint represents the life of your expensive clothing being beaten and cooked out of them by an electric dryer. Save hundreds of dollars a year by drying your clothes on a clothesline instead; they'll last much longer, and you'll save on electricity and appliance costs, too.

Packaging
Too much packaging in your trash can be a sign that you need a smart-shopping intervention. Afterall, packaging costs money, which consumers pay for in the end. Buying in bulk and larger sizes is usually cheaper and saves resources. Sometimes shopping at "big box" stores can even be a greener choice.

Vegetable Scraps
Never in the trash: compost them instead. Composting -- turning organic material into rich humus for the garden -- is the ultimate act of green frugality. And it's possible to compost even in urban areas.

Junk Mail
The door-to-door salesmen of our times: uninvited advertisements for things we usually don't want or need. Reduce impulse purchases and save trees by cutting out the junk mail you receive. Contact www.41pounds.org for help (BTW, 41 pounds is the amount of junk mail the average American adult receives every year!)

Toilet Paper Rolls
Sure, some empty TP rolls are in order. Like other cardboard they can be recycled. But a plethora of toilet paper rolls in your trash can serve notice that you're wasting all kinds of money in the bathroom. Check out these tips for water savings
.
Lightbulbs
For every five to ten old-fashioned incandescent lightbulbs you burnout and throw away, a single longlasting "compact florescent lamp" or "CFL" -- those crazy corkscrew lightbulbs -- could still be burning bright and saving you 75% on your electric bill. Do the math; it pays to replace burned out bulbs with CFL's, even though they cost more to purchase.

Magazines & Newspapers
Sure, they can be recycled, but why not save some cash and paper by canceling your subscriptions and reading them online or borrowing them from the library instead?

Leftover Food
The USDA says that nearly 25% of all food sold in America ends up in the trash. Reduce your grocery bill by a quarter simply by being smarter about food storage and portion control.

Aluminum Foil
Don't recycle it until you've reused it several times. And even after that, there are plenty of other ways to creatively repurpose aluminum foil.

Plastic Water Bottles
What a waste! An estimated 1.5 million barrels of oil are used every year to produce plastic water bottles for the U.S. market, and if you drink only bottled water you'll spend more than $1,000 annually to get your recommended daily amount of H2O, as opposed to about 49 cents for a year's supply of just-as-healthy tap water. Stop drinking bottled water, and get creative repurposing any plastic bottles you do have lying around.

Brand Names
If your trash looks like the logo lineup from the commercials at Super Bowl halftime, you might be wasting money on brand name products when many generic items are often just as good (or even better ) and cost less. At least give them a try.

Telephone Books
If you look up phone numbers online and don't need to receive a phone book, contact your phone company or visit YellowPagesGoesGreen.org to be taken off distribution lists. Otherwise, phonebooks can be recycled or creatively repurposed.

Things You Think Can't Be Recycled
Think again. From worn-out dentures to dirty diapers, human hair to adult novelties, if you're thinking about throwing it out, you may be able to recycle it instead. There are few things too odd to recycle.

Jeff Yeager is the author of The Cheapskate Next Door and The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches. His website is www.UltimateCheapskate.com. Connect with Jeff Yeager on Twitter and Facebook.
Friend TDG on Facebook and Follow TDG on Twitter

Photo Credit: Denise Yeager


Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/save-money/recycling-trash#ixzz10CnP8S00

Activities on the 26th of October

With the Eco Carnival drawing near with every passing day, members of the Toyota Eco Rangers club have redoubled their efforts in making the event a success.

Three activities were held on the 26th of October, including an Eco Drum practice, a bookmark-making session, and a carpool campaign survey. Members started the day with the bookmarks-making session, which was led by Punietha. Members then contributed ideas on the design of the bookmarks, showcasing their artistic prowess and their boundless imagination. It was decided that the bookmarks would be made out of tongue-depressors decorated by intricate designs and beautiful calligraphy, much like the bookmarks we made previously which were a huge hit with students. Members contributed inspirational quotes which would be written on the bookmarks, such as 'Stay True to Yourself' and 'Change the World'. It was decided that the bookmarks would be sold at the extremely reasonable price of Rm 1.50 apiece. Members then made some final touch-ups to the bookmarks before ending the bookmark-making session, and noted with pleasure that the bookmarks turned out colourful and beautiful, far surpassing our expectations.

After the bookmarks-making session, members then conducted a survey to collect statistics regarding the habits to students when it came to transportation, which would then be analysed and used in carrying out our car-pooling campaign. Members were divided into pairs and given two sheets of forms to be filled in. Form-four students were surveyed first, because their exams end on the 27th of October. The surveys were carried out during the stretches of time between exam papers. The survey questions included “How do you come to school daily?” and “Do you want to carpool?". Students who agree to partake in our car-pooling campaign would be awarded house points. Initially, members encountered problems carrying out the surveys successfully because many students couldn't be found in their respective classes when the surveys were being conducted. However, our members were able to overcome this problem in the end.

After school, many members stayed back to practice for our Eco Drum Circle performance. The practice kicked off with a rendition of 'the Green Song' written by Angela Chong. Members were each assigned instruments. It was decided that Siti Sarah would be playing the bass, Punietha would be in charge of the maracas, Farhanah would play the tik-tok, and Eishatur would play the recorder. The main drum players include Amalina, Anisa, and Farah. Members who have not been assigned instruments would be assigned instruments in the near future. Among the songs practiced were the 'Green Song' and a parody of 'Sempurna'.   Puan Ngau paid our practice session an unexpected visit, and complimented the harmonious way our instruments sounded while practicing the 'Green Song'. She suggested a more diverse array of sounds in our Eco Drum Circle, which would undoubtedly make our performance stand out even more. Members then wrote a parody of the popular hit 'Baby' by Justin Bieber. We didn't sound our best during the practice as not many members were present, but are confident that we would sound perfect when we perform during the Eco Carnival.

The numerous activities held on the 26th of October showed that members are indeed determined to make every venture of ours a massive success. The commitment and dedication displayed by the members was both astounding and inspiring. We are confident that the positive attitude of our members would undoubtedly lead to great things for our club. 

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Environment News #1

Hurray for the dolphins in Japan ! (:

Dolphins swimming in the waters of Palau
The South Pacific island nation of Palau in Nagoya, Japan has declared all the waters within its Exclusive Economic Zone to be a marine mammal sanctuary for the protection of whales, dolphins, and dugongs.

"Our traditional identity, values, legends, and practices are intimately linked to our surroundings and to our relationships with living creatures. Conservation of biodiversity is ingrained in our daily approach to life and inherent in the meaning of our words." said Harry Fritz, Palau's minister of the environment, natural resources and tourism.

Harry Fritz's contribution means a lot to the dolphins, all countries should follow his actions. Dolphins are cute innocent creatures which should not be harmed and protected at all times. Not only dolphins, but also the other animals in our surroundings.

Stay tuned for more news about the environment ! (:


Love, The Green Rangers (:

Thumbs Up !

We would like to wish the other groups participating in this Totally Active Robot Competition representing SMK (P) Sri Aman which are :

Sri Aman Ecobots

Water Transformers

Good luck in building your robot, we hope you will obtain success ! 
Sri Aman Boleh ! (:

Love, The Green Rangers (:

The Second Phase

Everybody was psyched to complete the robot, so today we worked during the school hours since we didn't have anything else important to do. We decided to focus on the robot's head today and was thinking of a brilliant plan to come up with.

Hanna and Aqila combining the robot's head
Since we did not have enough items to complete the robot's head, we decided to proceed to the other parts of the robot using the items we have in order to save time. We must always remember that time is precious and cannot be wasted just like that (:

Pik Leng, Aqilah and Sarah cleaning the edges of the pipe
Farah gleefully cutting the wood for the storage box
We managed to complete about 10% of the robot today, and can't wait to complete the other 90% ! (:

Love, The Green Rangers (:

The First Phase

Since there are about 9 days left till the final judging day, we decided to work more efficiently in order to complete the robot by the deadline. We collected various items from home, school and even restaurants that can be used for our upcoming robot. We also bought a few items which of course, can be recycled to add into our robot. All the members agreed to stayback at school everyday and work hard to produce a fantastic robot and to give our best shot ! (:

Today, all of us gathered at the school's Living Skills Workshop to start on our robot. We were all excited and brought all the items needed to school. Thanks to one of our teacher advisors which is Encik Mohd. Yusof, he helped us a little bit here and there by supervising us and giving us a hand in cutting a wood.


Aqilah Azlan was explaining the rough sketch of the robot

After discussing the final design of the robot, we got up and started to work straight away. For the robot's head, we needed to make a hole in the middle in order to stick a long pipe for the robot's body. Since the head is made out of plastic basins and hard to cut, we decided to give a shot by melting the plastic using the tools in the workshop.

Hanna Suhaila and Nur Elynna measuring the length of the pipe


Farah Izzati testing the melting tool
Trying to melt the plastic basin 
Outlining the hole in the plastic basin
Carefully making a hole in the plastic basin
Smoothing the hole that was made
Everybody looking on the process
Testing if the pipe could fit the hole

And it was a success ! (:

The first working day was quite tiring, but everybody enjoyed doing it and had the spirit of working together :D 

Love, The Green Rangers (: 

Start Of Something New

Hello everybody ! (:

We are really sorry for starting up our blog a bit late. As you all know, we recently just sat for our PMR examinations and we decided to get serious on the project after that, and the time has come ! We will be updating on our progress everyday from now onwards, so we hope that you will visit our blogspot regularly and give your kind support, thank you (:


Love , The Green Rangers (:

Monday, October 25, 2010

♥ The Sri Aman Ecobots!

!

Meeting (25th of October)

The objective of the meeting held on the 25th of October was essentially to take over from where our last meeting left off.

The herbs garden has been thoroughly and completely restored to it's former glory, and all we had to do today was make two banners for our upcoming 'Zero Styrofoam' campaign, and practice for our Eco Drum Circle performance.

We drew and hand-painted the designs of our banner on two separate sheets of white cloth, and with the help of everyone present, the two banners were finally completed after about 4 hours of hard work and cooperation. One banner had the words 'Sri Aman Goes Zero Styrofoam' written on it in bold, colourful text, while the other simply said 'Zero Styrofoam, and had a picture of of styrofoam with a large, red cross cutting across it in the bottom left corner of the banner. It also has ink splatters all over it, in an attempt to brighten the banner up.

We then retreated to the gallery, where we practiced for our Eco Drum Circle performance once again. Today, there was a considerably larger number of 'instruments', as members were given a last-minute reminder by Eishatur, who is in charge of the Eco Drum Circle, to bring 'instruments' today. We didn't want to practice too loudly and for a period of time which was too extended, as many students from the other forms were having their final exams, and we didn't want to disturb their peace and quiet.

Members were then told that there would be a meeting on the 26th of October, and that they would have to stay back to practice our Eco Drum Circle performance. Members who did not bring makeshift instruments today were reminded to bring them tomorrow. The meeting adjourned when the school bell rang, signalling the long-awaited end of yet another tiring school day.

We all hope our banners manage to impress, and are sure that members had much fun painting and making the banners as opportunities to do something art-related in this club of ours are few and far between.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Meeting (22th of October)

On the 22nd of October, a meeting was held to serve it's purpose as a continuation of the meeting held on the previous day. Just like an addictive soap opera, all the drama that happens can't be solved in one measly episode. In our case, our water irrigation malfunction created too big a mess to be fixed in one day. We all walked to the herbs garden slightly wary of what awaits us, yet slightly hopeful at the same time, hoping that in our absence, our makeshift drain which cut into the grass would have fixed itself, or that the overturned soil in our herbs garden would have miraculously restored themselves to their former positions. No. Such. Luck.

It was up to us to put the tiles back where they belong, and close up the drain cutting across the grass. Since the harsh and unpredictable weather has also damaged our herbs garden's shelter, we also fixed it, using gardening wire. I have to admit that it looks much better now that it previously looked.

We then made our way to the Fruit Orchard to weed and water the plants. There, we also had an impromptu soccer cum handball match. We left our match for the Mini Eco Forest after a while, where we watered the plants and removed the plastic bottles protecting the barks of the trees from the blades of grass-cutters because some trees have outgrown the plastic bottles in terms of girth. We also removed damaged plant labels to be replaced.

To end a fairly relaxing day, we once again discussed the Eco Drum Circle and our Eco Song in the gallery. More lyrics were added to the song, and we have decided to use the melody of 'Sempurna' for our Eco Song. We also decided to sing the 'Green Song' after singing our Eco Song, and practiced complimenting our Eco Drum beats to the aforementioned songs. We sounded decent, considering that our little concert was impromptu and our instruments, improvised. Eishatur was even utilising the leg of the bench!

Here's to a great performance on the day of the carnival which will dazzle and charm the shoes off our spectators.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Meeting (21st of October)

The meeting today started off with us making a brand new batch of bio enzyme which we will sell during our Eco Carnival. We made four large containers' worth of bio-enzyme which contained 10 parts water, 3 parts fruit peels, and one part brown sugar.

After we have made the bio-enzyme, we proceeded to weed and water the herbs garden. We also trimmed unruly plants. Our Limau Kasturi plant's fruits had ripened, and were therefore harvested and subsequently sold to the canteen operator. We also planted some new misai kucing plants to replace those that were dead. After the garden looked immaculate, we decided that it'd be a good time to water our plants, and Eishatur decided to turn on our sprinkler system.

We all wished that she didn't. 

The rusted and worn-out tap decided to malfunction and refused to be turned off. Water was spewing in all directions at an alarming rate, and had we not done something about it, a large percentage of our plants would have been submerged in water and subjected to a watery death. We then decided to dig a 'drain' of sorts leading from the herbs garden to the actual drains which allowed all the excess water to escape from the herbs garden.

It was at this point where we decided to seek the aid of Encik Yusoff, a Kemahiran Hidup teacher who was also male and therefore expected to be extremely competent when it came to fixing faulty taps. He concluded that the tap was rusted and had to be replaced. Puan Yeo, our teacher in charge then went out of school to purchase a new tap for our garden together with Encik Yusoff. In the end, the tap was fixed, sort of. The sprinkler stopped spewing water as though there were no tomorrow, but we were told not to turn the tap on as it was not properly fixed, yet.

We then went to the library to have a meeting. Initially, there were two separate meetings-one which only involved Farhanah, Atikah, and Siti Sarah (to be known as the Three Greats from this point on), and the other, which included everyone else. The latter discussed the Eco Drum circle, as well as our song. Lyrics were written for our song, and we would decide on the melody of the song at a later date.

Finally, the Three Greats finally emerged from their conference with a whole new board of directors. 

Project Manager: Farhanah
Head of Documentation: Atikah
Head of Nurturing: Siti Sarah

Sub-heads
Under Documentation:
Head of Reports and Minutes: Eishatur
Head of Blog and Journal: Angela
Heads of Inventory: Niraanjana, Soo Sun, and Syafiqah
Head of Accounts and Facebook Page: Wan Ili 
Head of Photography and Scrapbook: Elsa
Head of Designing: Niraanjana
Head of Presentation: Soo Sun
Head of Video: Syafiqah

Under Nurturing:
Head of Bio Enzyme: Anisa
Head of Nurturing Plants: Farah Dinah
Head of Art: Punietha

After selecting the board of directors, we then had a deeply intense and intriguing discussion about the Eco Carnival. Every head of the Eco Carnival board of directors was introduced to their fascinating and exciting jobs they're all eagerly looking forward to. 

The head of games was told what type of games would be carried out on the day of the carnival, and that the location of the aforementioned games would be none other than our school field. The head of workshop was told that she had to hold 6 one-hour long workshops back-to-back on the day of the carnival. Head of exhibition and technical support  was notified of the places where the exhibition booths talks, and conferences would be located. She was also given the itinerary of the Eco Carnival.

Moving on from the subject of our Eco Carnival, we discussed our Sri Aman going Zero Styrofoam campaign which will be launched on the first of November. The documentation team is in charge of the video presentation for the launch of the campaign while the nurturing team is in charge of the posters and flyers which serve to inform students and teachers about the event. Besides that, we also discussed our carpool campaign. We will be carrying out surveys to determine which students stay close enough to one another to be able to carpool to school together. We would also find out the number of students who would be interested in the campaign.

The meeting came to an end at 2pm, and we were notified that there would be a meeting on Friday, the 22th of October.


Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Meeting (20th of October)

The Eco Carnival is undoubtedly a massive event for Sri Aman's Toyota Eco Rangers. We are fully aware of the impact the success or failure of the carnival could have on us, which is why we're doing everything withing our power and investing a lot of time and effort into making the carnival a success. A meeting regarding the Eco Carnival was held on the 20th of October.

The meeting was chaired by Nur Farhanah Adam Malik. Soo Sun was selected to do the video for the opening of the Eco Carnival. Eishatur, Siti Sarah and Niraanjana were chosen to prepare the song for the members to play for our eco drum as a performance during the eco carnival. Niraanjana was also in charge of the programme book which will be made from used exercise book covers. We would be using old newspapers for covers. 

Next, Angela was chosen to be in charge of public relation to tell the media about our eco carnival. Sophia Nur Iman in the other hand will be the one responsible to design our eco carnival t-shirt. The one in charge of making and packaging the bio enzyme for sales during the eco carnival will be Atikah while Punietha will be in charge of the production of eco bookmarks to be sold during the eco carnival. The meetings ended after members brainstormed for ideas that can be used for the Eco Drum Circle.

We sincerely hope that all our hard work will come to fruition and that the Eco Carnival-the first of it's kind to be held in our school-would be a massive success.

Sabak Bernam Homestay Programme

As part of a post-PMR programme to keep third-formers occupied after their long-awaited post-PMR freedom, our school has organised a trip to Sabak Bernam, a place known for it's homestay programmes, where participants of said programme would get the opportunity to experience life in a typical Malaysian village. This trip was initially meant for members of the Eco Rangers club, but as a majority of the club members had to prepare for their final exams, the school decided to open the trip up to every form three student in the school.

We departed for Sabak Bernam from our school at around 8.30am on a sunny Saturday morning. The trip took three lengthy hours, with one toilet break at a petrol station where we were also allowed to shop for snacks, a must-have on long trips for the most of us. Upon our arrival, we were given a warm welcome speech by the people in charge of the homestay programme in Sabak Bernam before we were grouped into pairs and assigned foster families.

My partner was Elsa, and my foster father was called Pak Cik Manan, a man whose home was situated close to where we first gathered upon our arrival, called 'the centre'. Elsa and I walked to his house, where he made us feel right at home. An appetizing lunch courtesy of Pak Cik Manan's wife was soon served, which consisted of catfish seasoned with cili padi, vegetables cooked in tom yum broth, fried eggs, fried fish, jellies, and watermelon. I particularly enjoyed the catfish, as it was my first time eating catfish prepared in such a way. As much as I enjoyed it, I have to admit that the spiciness of the dish elicited tears from my eyes and sweat oozing out of every pore of my body. My frantic consummation of the sweet and cool jelly after eating the catfish was in my opinion, completely worth it was I enjoyed the dish immensely.

After a short break in our quaintly furnished room, Elsa and I decided to wander around Pak Cik Manan's house compound. I made a flower chain, and Elsa rolled her eyes at my childish actions. As Pak Cik Manan's house was where batik painting would be carried out, Elsa and I were given permission to get started on our batik painting before walking to the centre in order to carry out our next activity. We were assured that candle wax was used to draw the outlines of the patterns on the cloth so as to prevent paint from oozing out of the borders. Even so, I still managed to spill some ink out of the outlines, which I then tried to conceal with black ink, with limited success.

We walked to the centre after batik-painting for a while, leaving our half-completed designs to dry. At the centre, Elsa and I were reunited with the rest of the students who came along for the homestay programme. We were also shown the traditional method of removing husks from paddy plants, which was a tedious process of first grinding the grains with a mortar and pestle, before putting the grains on a woven bamboo base where we would they would be flipped repeatedly in order for the husks to be carried away by the wind.

Then, the time came for everyone to batik-paint. For Elsa and I, though, all we had to do was complete our paintings. After batik painting, we were shown how to make bahulu cakes, which were only made out of sugar, flour, and eggs but tasted fantastic, anyway. Unlike the way city-dwellers prepare bahulu cakes, the villagers prepared the bahulu cakes over a fire instead of using an oven. Though they were all slightly burnt, it tasted tender and fresh, much better than most of the bahulu cakes I had tasted.

Everyone was then loaded on to a lorry and brought to where we would go fishing, using both a fishing rod, and our (horror of horrors) own bare hands. It was my first time on a lorry, by the way. Sure, I had to share the lorry with 20 other students, but nothing will take away the pride and joy I felt for riding a lorry. No one in our group of forty caught a fish using a fishing rod. Six people caught a catfish using their own bare hands, though, after trudging through a muddy swamp barefooted and worrying about leeches. Elsa and I both caught catfishes. To be specific, Elsa caught a catfish carcass, but it's okay, people still love her anyway.

Elsa and I then dragged our muddy selves back home to freshen up and eat dinner. My dinner consisted of everything served for lunch, except that fried chicken now replaced catfish, probably because of my sensitive, over-ambitious taste buds. We then departed for the starting point of our night walk, which so happens to be the exact same location where we fished earlier. Something momentous happened, once again. I rode a motorcycle for the first time. And it has to be said that I can't even ride a bicycle, so being a passenger on a moving motorcycle was something like a milestone to me.

We were told upon our arrival that for the night walk, we would be divided into four groups, and each group would be given one torch. A literal torch, with an actual fire burning at the tip of it, to be held by the person in front of every group walking in a row. I nearly wet my baggy track-pants in happiness at the prospect of being able to hold an actual torch with an actual fire burning at the tip of it. We were also told to walk straight the entire way, and that every junction, there would be someone holding a neon lamp showing us which way to turn. We then set off.

My group saw two owls, a group of teenage motorcyclists, and many trees which I had to be careful not to burn to the ground. Nearing our destination, our torch's lifespan came to a fizzling end, eliciting groans of frustration. Half a minute later, our destination, fully equipped with florescent light bulbs, was in sight. We quickened our paces, and finally, we made it to our destination, which happened to be the centre, where a kuda kepang performance was taking place.

A Jawa performance followed the kuda kepang performance, which consisted of people being possessed by otherworldly beings who make these people do strange things such as tear the husks of a coconut with their bare teeth before throwing the coconut in the air to have it land on that person's head, showering that person with coconut juice. Exorcising a possessed individual required the usage of a whip, which whipped the floor repeatedly. With every crack of the whip, audience members flinched. Nearing midnight, the performance finally ended. Elsa and I walked home, eagerly awaiting our cozy bed. I fell asleep almost immediately, and slept fairly well, but Elsa, as she put it, 'slept like a baby'.

The next morning, after freshening up and eating  breakfast consisting of fried rice, bread, and kuih, Elsa and I bid farewell to our foster parents and walked to the centre, waiting for the bus driver was was supposed to take us to the nata de coco and kerepek factories. A miscommunication resulted in us having to wait for hours  for the bus to arrive, during which we made kites, flew them, and had lunch. The frame of kite was already made for us, the paper was also already glued to the frame for us, and all we had to do was glue the edges down, attach the tails, and decorate the kite with colourful butterflies.

Flying my kite, it got entangled with someone else's, resulting in my kite being stuck up a tree. The person whose kite got entangled with mine and I tried many ways of getting my kite off the tree. I tried lifting her to get my kite, throwing a rock at the kite which did not even touch the kite, but landed on my finger instead, shaking the branches of the tree, and using a chair. The chair attempt succeeded, but two of the tails and a bit of my kite string was sacrificed in the process. No matter, it resumed soaring and landing at regular intervals.

Lunch was a meal of ayam masak merah, pumpkin soup, rice and watermelon. I ate with my hand. I looked like a tractor. The farewell ceremony was then held, which included a speech from Atikah, who represented our entire group of students, and speeches from the people in charge of the homestay programme. After taking photographs, we took off for the factories, followed by two of the people in charge of the homestay programme.

We first arrived at the nata-de-coco factory, where we discovered that it was actually made using young coconuts made into sheets which are soaked in a fluid to get rid of the coconut's smell. The coconut sheets would then be diced into cubes, and there you have it-nata de coco. We were then given the opportunity to purchase nata de coco, but instead, I purchased a packet of instant noodles imported from either Thailand or Vietnam. I'm not sure, because I couldn't recognise the text on the packet.

We then visited the kerepek factory, where 2 packets of kerepek was sold for 5 ringgit. Many students bought enough packets of kerepek to open up shops of their own, which made my measly two packets seem pathetic in comparison. We then bid farewell to the two people in charge of the homestay programme who had followed us on our excursion to the factories, and left for home. School, actually, where each of us would then depart for our respective homes.

I enjoyed this trip more than I thought I would have. It's strange how the highlights of my trip include catfish and riding on various vehicles for the first time. But then again, that's the main reason I enjoyed this trip immensely- I was taken completely and utterly by surprise.

I miss Sabak Bernam already. :')
The welcoming ceremony

A kite with butterflies.
Cik Tan pounding the grains of rice.
Elsa removing the husks from the grains of rice.
Cik Liew, hard at work painting her batik.
Bahulu-making.
Ramizah and Azrianna looking happy to be in front of the lorry.
Khaleeda who also caught a fish with her bare hands.

10 Shocking Facts About Our World

Surprising environmental statistics that affect us all, from teen allowance to oil spills and credit card spending.

grass and clover
When you write about money and the environment for a living, you're constantly bombarded by related facts, figures and other interesting stuff. It seems like a day doesn't pass without someone emailing me a press release about how much CO2 is released via cow flatulence every year, or how much money you could save by heating your home with cow chips. Come to think of it, maybe I'm just on some type of All Bovine News list serve.

Last year I decided to keep track of some of the most interesting eco-facts (as in ecological as well as economical) I ran across, and start a new annual tradition: The Green Cheapskate's Top 10 Shocking Eco Stats of the Year. Here goes:

10. The organization Environmental Defense says that U.S. cars and trucks emit 314 metric tons of CO2 every year, and -- in case you were wondering -- that's equivalent to burning as much coal as would fit in a 50,000 mile long freight train. Gosh, I'd hate to be stuck at a railroad crossing waiting for that one to pass.

9. Remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill? Thank God something like that hasn't happened again. Sorry, but according to the National Academy of Sciences, on average there are 27 oil spills every day somewhere in the waters of the worlds, and the Valdez spill doesn't even make the list of the top 30 all-time largest.

8. But now for some good news about oil: The American Petroleum Institute (API) tells us that if the government would lift those silly environmental restrictions and allow the petrol industry to drill everywhere, there's enough oil right here in the U.S. to fuel 60 million cars and trucks for 60 years! Unfortunately, API seems to forget to mention that there are already more than 250 million cars and trucks in the U.S. Somehow "drill baby drill" doesn't sound like the lifesaver API claims it is when you know all the fossil fuel facts.

7. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men, "Credit cards? You can't handle the credit cards!" Apparently that's true for most AmericansBankRate.com says that people who pay for fast food using a credit card spend approximately 50% more than those who buy their burgers with cash. And the average purchase on a credit card ends up costing 112% more (that's right, more than double) because most people fail to pay off their cards monthly. So according to Bankrate, a $1,000 charge on an average card will take almost 22 years to pay, and will cost more than $2,300 in interest ($3,300 total) -- if only 2% minimum payments are made.

6. Man, have weekly allowances ever increased since I was a kid. According to an Associated Press article, American kids between the ages of 12 and 19 now spend about $179 billion annually. That translates into more than $100 per teen per week.

5. Maybe kids these days are raking in the big bucks by mowing neighborhood lawns. According to the U.S. EPA, Americans spend $25 billion a year on lawn care. Residential lawns and gardens are doused with 80 million pounds of chemical pesticides and 70 million tons of fertilizers annually.

4. I love that Joni Mitchell song Big Yellow Taxi. You know, the one with the lyrics, "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." Every year in the U.S. we pave over roughly 1.3 million acres of formerly unpaved land, according to a Carrying Capacity Network conference held in Washington, DC. Since that's almost twice the size of the Hawaiian Islands, I guess Joni actually understated the problem.

3. According to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis, more than 2,500 deaths and 330,000+ injuries every year in the U.S. are caused by the use of cell phones (both handheld and hands-free phones) while driving. Yet only six states prohibit the use of cell phones while driving, and that only applies to hand-held phones; no state currently prohibits the use of hands-free phones.

2. World hunger stinks, but maybe it doesn't have to. According to the website globalissues.org, it would cost about $13 billion annually to satisfy the world's basic sanitation and food requirements. As they point out, that's roughly equivalent to what Americans and Europeans spend on perfume and cologne every year. Can't we all agree that the world would smell a lot better if no one wore perfume or cologne, but no one was starving to death either?

1. Oh well, I'm sure the next generation will be more ecologically and economically savvy than we are. Or maybe not: According to the Children in Nature website, "Children can identify up to 1,000 corporate logos, but fewer than 10 plants or animals native to their backyards."

Happy New Year everyone, and keep those shocking eco facts coming.


Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/save-money/environmental-statistics-460110#ixzz10CksWFbN