I’m not going to lie, the awareness of ‘sustainability’ only hit us in recent years. Not just because it has become a global hot topic but because my conscious is also nudging me whenever I went crazy on the diapers during the younger days of my kids. We realized that we produced a lot of waste as a household (from convenient snack packaging to unnecessary junk) and of course, we feel guilty about it. Instead of being troubled by this guilt, we’ve decided to do something about it. I am sharing with you here on how to live sustainably as a family with kids in Malaysia and where we are at it:
- Save Energy
If you pass by the major highway in West Malaysia, you will see this billboard by our government saying “kan mak dah pesan!!”, which translates to a mum reminding you to switch off all your switches if you are not using them. At first, I thought it was quite a lame billboard but it did stick on me. Every time I step out of the house/room, I hear those words in my head. Also, buy electrical appliances that are certified with 5-star energy efficiency, it makes a difference. Your wallet will thank you too 😀
Another way to do it long-term is to install solar panels at home but this highly depends on your energy consumption as a household. If your electricity bill is below RM250 a month, you will need to take a longer time to recoup the initial solar installation fees that you need to pay. In long term is still good but depends on your financial situation or energy needs. We are considering solar panel options but will write more about them once we get our research done.
- Waste Management
Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse. The 3R we learned since primary school but believe it or not, I recently learned that we have 4R now and the new and most important R- Refuse! In a YES society like Malaysia, sometimes it’s hard for us to say no to the aunties and uncles packing our food when they give us extra plastic to make sure the food doesn’t dirty our belongings. But is it necessary? Sometimes we don’t even need the plastic, we can just hold it, eat it on the spot, or better, bring your reusable bag. To minimize microplastic exposure, we also bring our own container most of the time for takeaways, especially with hot food.
Waste itself is a big topic when it comes to sustainability. As mentioned earlier, our little family really consumed a lot of packaged food. I love the packaging! You know all these pretty packaged chocolate or cookies from Japan, I love them so much that I put them on display past the expiry date instead of eating them. So trust me when I say I love packaging. I find it hygienic and it just solves the problem! Unfortunately, this convenience also brings a lot more waste to the landfill. For this purpose, I remind myself if I can avoid it, I will. I will buy the 6-pack biscuit instead of the individual pack now, I will also not buy it if I don’t need to buy it. I find alternatives like The Refiller Mobile truck. It can be cost-saving as well for certain products like detergent, dish cleansers, and soaps.
3. Water Savvy
Just because water is affordable (subsidized) in Malaysia, it doesn’t mean we can take it for granted. To live sustainably, we also need to conserve our water. We can do so by creating a rainwater system. This is a new requirement for many new housing development projects for all landed properties. If you have an old property and want to add a rainwater harvesting system, you still can do that. There are a few companies in Malaysia that can help you with that but it’s pretty straightforward. Basically, you just need to channel your gutter water to a standalone outdoor storage tank, you can add a net filter to the tank to filter out debris or dry leaves and there you have it! Sound sophisticated but that’s about it. You can use the water for watering plants or washing your car or front porch! Anything you like.
If you want to take it up a notch, you can also try to explore using ‘gray water’. It’s not something new, not convenient but it’s feasible. The term seems again, sophisticated but it actually just means reusing the water you used for other purposes. For example, the water you use to wash your rice, conserve it, and use it to water your plants. I heard it’s nutrient-packed too, for your plants! Not you :). To do this you can do the simple way which is to pour the ‘gray water’ into another storage, wait until it’s full then water your plants with it. Since we are building our place, I’ve installed a double bowl sink and connected one of the outlets to a storage container. That way, every time I wash the rice, I will pour the used water into the other hole. Not super innovative but it works. In my humble opinion, you don’t need to have all these high-tech ways to live sustainably, it’s a basic concept and just add a bit of creativity to make it more convenient for you so you can do it long term and don’t feel like a ‘chore’.
4. Eat Local & Grow Your Own
Support local markets, eat seasonal produce, and if you’ve got space, plant some herbs and veggies—homegrown tastes better anyway because of all the effort you have put in. I find eating locally slightly challenging because I am a huge fan of imported fruits. HUGE and sadly a country like Malaysia does not have fruits like strawberries, peaches, and blueberries. We know someone that only eats fruits like strawberries, and raspberries when they travel overseas. I don’t think I am that level yet because we hardly travel overseas and I need the berries, pronto. So what I do is I try to buy local strawberries (Cameron Highlands, more sour but my heart is sweet? :P) or I try to replace raspberries with our local raspberry’s cousin called mulberry. It tastes quite similar and it’s easy to grow, very nutritious too.
We also tried planting our vegetables so far we successfully planted the easiest of all which is basil. Very useful and when we have our garden ready, we will add more to it. But yes, we are heading in that direction, from garden to table :). We know it’s not going to be easy, especially for city folks like us, but it will be a rewarding one. We also manage our expectations by giving ourselves more time. It won’t happen overnight for sure. Gardening and farming are a whole new experience and require a lot of trial and error process so we’re committed to making this our life-long journey, learning and literally growing together 🙂
5. Eco-Home
Make your home an energy-efficient fortress, clean with eco-friendly products. I understand the capitalist world we are living in now, whenever there is the word ‘eco’ on the product, it will be more expensive and sometimes you will also wonder if it’s just marketing. For us, we really check the product description, and depending on the product, we would prefer the word biodegradable. The word ‘organic’ also makes things more expensive so if we can, we try to make our organic enzyme wash that can be used to wash fruits. We would also prefer the word ‘natural’, it’s just more comforting and just makes you feel more secure. But then again, we will also check the content of the product such as shampoo. I’m currently using shampoo made a lady using her formula. I think it would be quite a fun thing to do if you explore how to make your own soap or shampoo. So far I’ve only attempted making my own fruit enzyme because I consume a lot of fruits. Next, I will explore more things and will keep you updated.
Besides that, we also like to go for second-hand stuff. Not only it is cost-saving but sometimes, you can find some gems and there is this satisfaction you get compared to buying a new one. I’ve been using platforms like Facebook marketplace and Carousell a lot for some home stuff and kids stuff. But be careful of scams as well, just trust your gut feeling. You can also sell your items online too. Believe it or not, we found our roof tiles on the FB marketplace and saved nearly RM 4000 for that. Score! There are also a few community groups on FB that you don’t have to buy things from. You can give away or receive things for free if you find the need or use for it. A man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I benefited tremendously from these groups and have also been giving away some of my stuff when I am in the Marie-Kondo mood. These groups are super helpful because you are sure that your items won’t end up in the landfill waiting to rot in the sun.
To summarise, you may think it’s difficult or too troublesome to live a sustainable, gentle life for Mother Earth, especially for a young family. Yes, it is not very convenient but it’s not too difficult too. It’s all about the mindset and we can start by taking these little steps first. If you know me personally, you would think I am quite princessy, not going to lie. But if I can do it, so can you. Trust me 🙂
Small changes, big impact—let’s save the planet one sustainable step at a time!
RR