Article: A matter of choice

Tuesday June 2, 2009

WHEN Cindy Chen and Lim Teck Wyn set up home in an apartment in Taman TAR at the edge of Kuala Lumpur four years ago, one of the first things they did was to remove the three existing air-conditioners.

Intent on shrinking their carbon footprints, the tree-hugging young couple installed fans instead and also changed the lights to energy-saving ones. And they did not just settle for the cheapest or nicest-looking washing machine and refrigerator. They researched online for energy-efficient ones.

This commitment to leave a small imprint on the planet extends to their choice of car.

"We opted for a small car, although we really wanted a four-wheel drive which can take us to rough, wild places," says Chen, 30. "We finally chose the Kelisa as it is very fuel-efficient. It took us a fairly long time to decide what to buy as we had to do a lot of research."

Green lifestyle: Cindy Chen and Lim Teck Wyn use empty jam and sauce bottles to store grains, spices and herbs.

Working from the house – they have a consultancy on forest management – further shaved their carbon load as they need not commute for work. And every morning, Chen cycles about 1.6km to send their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter to a nursery.

The couple says they grew up with parents who instilled in them a love for nature and prudence – traits which serve them well now in their endeavour to tread lightly on the planet.

Trash is reduced considerably – just one bag a week – through simple measures such as less shopping, choosing products with little packaging, and recycling. "Our rubbish is mostly kitchen waste. By composting, the bulk of it is reduced," says Chen, who blogs about her experience in practising a green lifestyle at terra-cin.blogspot.com.

Shopping at a nearby wet market instead of supermarkets helps reduce packaging waste too, she adds. "At the supermarkets, you might reject the plastic shopping bags but you still end up with the apple bag or the grapes bag."

Chen diligently scrutinises labels so as to avoid toiletries that contain harmful ingredients such as parabens and phthalates. "It is not just for the health of my family but because many of these products, when produced, is harmful to the environment."

Having bought her fair share of earth-friendly cleaners from organic shops, Chen discovered that not all are truthful in their claims. "A lot of products might be labelled organic but still contain chemicals and are not good. Many are marketed as environment-friendly but use very normal ingredients, and yet are ridiculously expensive."

So now, to keep her home spotless yet chemical-free, she rubs and scrubs with baking soda, vinegar and castille soap, among other things. "They work and are not difficult to get." She also swears by LOC, the popular organic multi-purpose cleaner marketed by Amway.

The young couple has also made a major decision – they've decided to limit themselves to just one child. "One of the biggest impact on the environment is a child. We do believe that the world already has too many children. If we do want another, we'll adopt," says Lim, 34.

They started potty-training their daughter at six months so as to reduce use of disposable nappies. "Thousands of disposable nappies go into landfills each day. We're still cutting down forests for the virgin fibre used in nappies. A lot of people do not realise this," he says.

When their daughter was born, they had planned to use only cloth nappies but soon found the impracticality of that. "Initially, I wouldn't compromise on that. We went to Temenggor forest and I spent so much time washing nappies. And they wouldn't dry in time," says Chen. So they did succumb to the convenience of disposable nappies but even then, used them sparingly, such as for days out and when travelling. They estimated that their daughter had used 200 disposable nappies – not a significant number as that is what some babies use in three to four months.

Chen attests that treading the green path is not always smooth-going, with various dilemmas such as this: "Do we buy a new product because it's energy efficient or do we stick to an old one?"

Both admit to being unmaterialistic and shopping is not a regular pastime, but they do sometimes have to fight the impulse to buy – "We are human, too," says Cindy – but such urges are kept in check through discussions. "It was an agreement we had, that before buying anything, we would talk about it first. That makes us think and reconsider the purchase," says Chen.

Being with friends with similar ideals help, says Lim. "The message on consumption in the media is so powerful that it is important to have like-minded friends to remind you. Then you won't have peer pressure to go out and buy the latest phone."

Is it tough choosing to live green? "Because it's a lifestyle, it's not difficult," says Chen. "In fact, we're not doing anything special. Many of these things are done by people in rural areas because they have no other choice. But we're doing it by choice." – By Tan Cheng Li

This article was taken from:The Star Online: Go Green Live Green 2 June 2009