BEING environmentally-aware is not as difficult as you might think it is. Even changing the type of light bulbs you use at home makes a huge and positive impact on the environment. What is difficult, though, is changing the common mindset that one person alone cannot bring much change in conserving the environment.
"That's not true. A single person can make a very big difference if only they knew how much they can do to save energy," says Mohd Afiq Deen Azizan, 22.
The Architecture student should know as he alone managed to get his villagers in Yan, Kedah, to start using Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb, or CFL, in their homes.
"The CFL bulbs saves more energy compared with the usual tungsten light bulbs that people use at home," says Afiq.
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Mohd Afiq Deen Azizan, 22, got all his villagers back in Yan, Kedah to use CFL bulbs. |
He was first introduced to the CFL light bulbs when he went shopping for lighting fixtures for his new place.
When Afiq saw that the energy-saving bulbs were more expensive than the normal ones, he decided to find out why.
"I Google-d CFL bulbs and found out just how good they were for our homes, the environment and, the best part, our pockets. Even though the bulbs are expensive, they in fact help to save us more money in the long run."
At the time, Afiq was also searching for ideas for the Jerneh Friend Of Green Malaysia Short Film Competition, so his discovery of CFL bulbs was just perfect. "It was a real 'light bulb' moment for me," says Afiq.
As this year's theme for the competition was Energy Conservation, he thought that getting his villagers to "convert" to CFL light bulbs would make a great video.
Though the Universiti Islam Antarabangsa student stays in Kuala Lumpur, Afiq decided that it would be best to shoot the video back in his kampung in Yan.
"The folks there are not well versed with energy conservation. By doing this video, I got to introduce to them the benefits of conserving energy," says Afiq.
It was his light-hearted video of villagers changing to CFL light bulbs that won him the grand prize in Category Two of the competition (students aged between 16 and 23).
Afiq was also the grand prize winner last year, and he really didn't expect to win the competition again.
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Muhammad Danial Zian made a video that highlights the use of CFL bulbs. |
"I was actually pretty apprehensive about enterting my submission (because of the win last year), but I couldn't resist making the video and trying my luck the second time," he says.
Meanwhile, teenager Muhammad Danial Zian won the grand prize in the Category One. His video was a group effort, as Danial had to submit the clip as part of the English for Science and Mathematics subject in school. Danial goes to SMK Seafield in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Afiq and Danial and his four-member team won RM3,000, a trophy and a certificate of recognition for their creative and winning works.
Danial, 16, and his team only had two days to work on the video before the deadline for the competition.
"We worked on the idea for the video and spent less than one day shooting it. Since none of us had a proper video recorder, I shot the clip using my digital camera. I was the videographer, editor, director and, gosh, are my friends terrible actors!" says Danial, with a laugh.
The video was shot around their school compound and featured his friends doing energy-saving things like walking instead of driving, turning off electrical appliances when not in use and, of course, using CFL bulbs instead of the conventional ones.
"In fact, after watching our video, two of our teachers who live near the school have decided to walk to work instead of driving like they usually do," says Danial proudly. He also states that the recycling bin in his school that used to be empty most of the time, is now often filled with recyclable items.
Afiq also tries to do his part in conserving energy. One of his tasks is to get his mother to gradually reduce the number of plastic bags she uses everyday.
"She loves to use plastic bags even when buying small things that could fit into her handbag. But I'm slowly getting her to change her habits," he says.
Besides that, Afiq also tries to carpool as often as he can.
"My family loves to travel a lot. Whenever my family decides to go somewhere, we go in a big rombongan in as few vehicles as we can," he says.
Making videos and uploading them on YouTube is one of Afiq's hobbies. He has many videos online, and is currently working on a Tamil drama.
"I think that making videos are a great way to promote ideas or causes such as energy conservation. Youngsters today are not really into reading and prefer watching videos instead. This is the best way to get through them quick and easy," he says.
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