Responses to the plea..

updated again on April 13*

Many responded to Janet's mass mail with very inspiring stories and ideas...here are some of them: 

"Thanks for making this initiative!  I have been doing similar things for some time, starting before there were campaigns and only the Body Shop knew what I was doing. In the beginning I had to repeat myself a few times before the cashier or storekeeper understood that no, for some strange reason i do not want that - yes, that - plastic bag. used to bring around a plastic bag in my handbag or a paper bag, but now that there is more awareness. there is a spare plastic bag in my handbag but nowadays i no longer forget to bring enough bags. :) we sent some clothes for dry cleaning - my parents' send some officewear to the laundry regularly. i figured out that the plastic cover the clothes come back in makes a better trash bag than the black bags they sell in the shop. so what if the bag is transparent? just seal the top where the hanger comes out and use it as bin liners. cut to size if you like. from then on, i need not send the plastic for recycling and can now use the reuseable bags even for grocery shopping. use the waterproof or machine-washeable cloth ones for the meat stuff. between composting, recycling, re-using, repairing instead of replacing, and generally not buying unnecessary things, our garbage output is down to one garbage bag a week. it's very doable with not a lot of effort at all. even so we still get a lot of unnecessary corporate gifts and also wedding trinkets - freecyclers, when planning your wedding please consider making your door gift (and its packaging) something that is recyled, recyclable, edible, and/or compostible, compactly packed so as not to require a paper/cloth/plastic bag as a secondary packaging. your friends and parents' friends love you and wish you well, but will probably not keep plastic flowers, fridge magnets, ceramic trinkets and stuff like that. why not go gentle on the Earth, choose less impactful gifts, and if you save money too put it into your honeymoon fund. :) Jusco is very good - their cashiers get it; when the customer has a few empty bags on the trolley it means she intends for them to be used to pack the groceries. I think that Carrefour, even though they have signs and sell reuseable bags, are not very serious about it as their cashiers don't quite understand that we don't want the plastic. and their security guards tagged closed our reuseable bag before he would allow us in even though all the bags are empty, so we could not use the biggest bag and had to take out all the smaller bags. Since Jusco Taman Ekuin also has free range eggs (telur ayam kampung), which we have switched to for ethical reasons, we've mostly not gone to Carrefour anymore. I was very glad when my office decided to stop stocking paper cups in the pantry, let the staff know why. We will all get mugs instead. And the water dispenser and coffee machine has a timer so that at night the machines do not keep the water heated. Maybe if anyone wants to suggest this for their offices? but i had not thought of carrying utensils - thanks for bringing that up Janet. it's a great idea." Nuraini Arsad, KL "I applaud your most laudable effort. I've been going plastic-bagless for a few years without really trying. I carry recycled cloth bags or backpack when I shop. I remember fondly the rattan-bamboo basket I used when I was a kid in Taiping: fish were wrapped in leaves and tied with a straw, vegetables just dropped straight in the basket, for anything liquid or soggy I brought my own bottles or tins.  Now I get a ten-cent rebate for each bag I bring for my grocery, and nearby San Francisco has passed an ordinance to tax plastic bags and ban all plastic bags in supermarkets.   It isn't a difficult habit to break, just like we got rid of all uses of Styrofoam containers for fast foods here.  I walk or bike to do my grocery shopping. If I find stray plastic bags I take them back to the store to deposit in the plastic bagrecycling bin. On more concerted effort, I organize and participate in environmental clean-up days to rid roadsides, parks and streams of plastic and other trash. Yes, we can do it a bag at a time, and thank you for starting with your first in malaysia!" Cheers, Star California  "Way to go Janet.  Some years ago an Australian friend gave me a kind of strong silk bag. It's very common in Australia now as an alternative to plastic. I keep it in my handbag because it folds up soooo small and I use it when I need instead of plastic to carry stuff. They are so good. I've had mine for 4 years already. When it gets grubby I just wash it. Thanks for all your good reminders. take care." Jo Kukathas KL "Hi Janet, Well Done girl!  Noble and do-able. Can you include the MNS Green Living. They also have a long list of very simple and do-able things. And of course, links to search engines like Blackle, Coldblack, etc. Did you know that two full powere Google searches on the white screen will generate enough energy to boil a kettle of water? Scary, huh. Keep it going Janet." CM KL "What a wonderful email, Janet! Thanks for sharing this.. You’re right, there are many little things we could all be doing and it’s a question of remembering and making an active effort. Some things which i do: -          Saving and recycling plastic bottles (outside TMC every Saturday) -          When i have stuff to dump e.g. old printers, sofa, fridges, i phone for a charity to come to collect it (or i deliver it to them) – if it’s in good condition, they reuse it, otherwise, it’s recycled -          We’re vegetarian on most days (meat has a much bigger carbon footprint than vegetables) and i’m trying to grow my own vegetable patch (reducing transport, etc) -          Try to buy local stuff as much as possible (small carbon footprint than moving goods halfway around the world) -          I don’t sleep in air cond. There are some stuff which i haven’t worked out yet e.g. flying, cars and of course, make-up J But your idea about taking water around and utensils is really clever, must remember to do that! Thanks, Janet... keep up the good wishes and great work." Sunita Rajakumar KL "Well done Janet! I must say that I thought I was pretty good at using my own shopping bags, switching off lights and water and I too have a platypus!  But I must say I’m impressed by your using your own Tupperware when getting take away!  Pure dedication! Will sign that list asap. Hope you are well." Lorna Henderson KL