Earth Matters

Sustainable development is the term for the dual imperative—economic growth and environmental sustainability. But often there is confusion over the business case for going green. Gaurav Gupta, the Regional Director of Dalberg Advisors, works collaboratively across the public, private and philanthropic sectors to fuel inclusive growth. He is also the Director of Unleash, a global innovation lab that brings together people from all over the world to disrupt conventional solutions and create a better and more sustainable world. He joins us to discuss his work.

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Trash Hero is a grassroots organisation whose mission it is to bring communities together to clean and reduce waste. The Kuala Lumpur chapter of this growing global movement, Trash Hero Kuala Lumpur has been doing just that, by collecting thrash and removing existing waste, while also trying to create sustainable, community-based projects that will reduce future waste. We find out more from Amy Popovich, the founder of the Trash Hero Kuala Lumpur chapter.

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Many developed countries exported their recyclable plastic in large amounts to other countries to process, Malaysia being one of them. Though we have since banned the import of plastic scrap, the official definition of plastic scraps remains vague, and the ban also did not halt unregulated or poorly regulated burning and dumping activities of plastic. It's no secret that the global plastic recycling market is in need of a major overhaul. What are the long-term effects of a broken recycling system, and what would an overhaul of this system look like? We discuss this and more with Mageswari Sangaralingam, a Senior Research Officer at the Consumers' Association of Penang, and a Freelance Researcher at Sahabat Alam Malaysia.

Image Source: Shutterstock 

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Back in early March, a massive clean-up of Malaysian beaches was organised, in conjunction with the International year of the Reef 2018  (IYOR 2018). 2,700kg of trash was cleared in that one day. Analysis of data collected during the clean-up revealed that plastic bottles and other plastic items accounted for a significant proportion of the trash collected, providing further evidence that urgent action is needed to address plastic pollution in our seas. We discuss this with Julian Hyde, the General Manager of Reef Check Malaysia, who helped organize the clean-up.

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In the second part of this week’s episode, we speak to Dr. Cedric Tan, from the University of Oxford Department of Zoology’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), which has sought to engage society with conservation through the wide communication of scientific research. Most recently, WildCRU has been developing board games to demonstrate some of the challenges faced by conservationists, the animals themselves, or the indigenous people who live with them. We find out more about the WildCRU Game: Global Carnivore Conservation, which is based on real research experiences.

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We often hear the phrase “protecting the environment for our future generation” and many other iterations of this with the same meaning. This week on Earth Matters, we explore two different projects aiming to get the younger generation more interested in environmental conservation efforts. First up, Abyan Junus-Nishizawa and Farah Landemaine are the founders of Anak Rimba Books, and the self-published authors of their first book “Why Don't I Look Like You." The story, which is about a little tapir called Timo, puts endangered Asian animals in the spotlight, and we find out more about their efforts to get young kids interested in the environment and endangered Asian animals. 

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Water is Life, as they say, and fresh water is necessary for the survival of all living organisms on Earth, but it’s also a resource under threat. Only three per cent of water on the planet is freshwater, and only about one per cent is readily available for human use. World Water Day is celebrated annually on the 22nd of March and this year, the theme is "Nature for Water". We find out is meant by "nature-based solutions" to help avert a water crisis, from WWF-Malaysia's Norizan Mohd Mazlan, the Head of Conservation in Peninsular Malaysia, and Datin Daria Mathew, the Freshwater Lead for Klang Valley and Setiu Wetlands.

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With the theme Cut the Greed, not the Green, the Save our Rainforest Race 2018 returns this month, organised by Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam or PEKA Malaysia. We find out more about the race, and also all the good work being carried out by PEKA, from Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, the founder and president of PEKA Malaysia.

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A year ago, Sampah-Menyampah was launched, with the aim of raising awareness among Malaysians about setting our consumption habits right, and also to empower each other to take back our shared responsibility in looking after our environment. One year on, we speak to Sampah-Menyampah's co-founder, Carolyn Lau and also to Sue Yee Khor, the co-founder of Zero Waste Malaysia, to find out how the group's been spreading their gospel of sustainability, and also to discuss the upcoming Sampah, Menyampah and Friends' Earth Weekend, an event aimed at helping us all learn about reducing our trash footprint.

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Comprising a coalition of residents’ associations from Kuala Lumpur, Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur or Save Kuala Lumpur (SKL) are advocating for improved city planning to protect communities and environment, for the future. The coalition's chairperson, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, and Datuk M. Ali, the vice president of SKL, join us to discuss the aims of the coalition, and how they hope to carry their plans out.

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