Mylene Theseira keeps two sets of cutlery in her handbag, as well as a stash of plastic bags and a canvas bag. Meanwhile, her husband Don has this habit of cutting open the toothpaste tube and scraping out every last bit.  

Eccentrics? Or misers? Both are neither. They are merely adopting a lifestyle that treads lighter on the environment. 

Take the toothpaste, for instance. “You’d be surprised,” says Don. “You can usually still get a week’s worth of toothpaste from the tube. So you would have stretched the lifespan of that tube by one week and delay throwing one more tube into the landfill.” 

Mylene Theseira at one of her ‘show-and-tell’ sessions on how best to handle household waste.

Few would have thought of that but for the Theseiras, much consideration goes into what they buy and use – a major mission being, to avoid accumulating stuff which will end up as trash. They also recycle whatever they can. 

They object to single-use products such as disposable cutlery, which is why Mylene keeps two sets in her handbag for times when they eat at food courts. And she never leaves home without her canvas shopping bag. 

The couple is credited with starting a successful recycling programme in their residential area of Taman Bukit Indah in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. It was one of the first such schemes in the country when it kicked off in 1996. The couple travels nationwide to promote waste reduction and their efforts have spawned many a recycling scheme. For their tireless work in greening the environment, they received the title “Everyday Heroes” by Readers’ Digest Asia in 2002. 

Staunch believers in the adage “Every little action counts”, the couple is doing their bit for the environment. “What is the point of going around hugging trees?” asks Mylene, 59. “To save the environment, you must act. Do something, however small. If each of the five million households in Malaysia stops throwing out one plastic bag, we would have prevented five million bags from being buried in landfills.” 

Don, 69, chips in: “We see so much garbage that is not being handled properly. Every time I walk past a council bin that is overflowing and stinks, I feel something has got to be done. Some 80% of what goes into those bins can be recycled. And it will stop useful resources from going to landfills. Recycling is also necessary to avoid incineration, which emits toxic gases.” 

Green crusaders 

Their environmental endeavour started a decade ago when Don read about school campaigns on collecting newspapers for recycling.  

“I told myself, this is not right. To be sustainable, recycling cannot be done once a year but continuously. We decided to try it out in our area, and donated the proceeds to charity,” explains Don, a retired inspector of civil works. 

Their home became a drop-off point for old newspapers. When they learnt that other stuff could be recycled too, they started accepting them. The frequency of collection also grew from every three months to two, then six weeks and now, monthly.  

The couple stopped using their home as a storage area after receiving 10 huge recycling bins from the Seberang Prai Municipal Council. These are labelled according to 10 different waste types and placed on a side road bordering their house, making it convenient for residents to use.  

As word about the “recycle for charity” project got around, residents from other areas began supporting the venture. The Theseiras found this to be environmentally unsustainable. “They have to drive to our place. It would be better for them to start their own recycling centres,” says Mylene.  

And this was how the couple found themselves helping other communities to set up neighbourhood recycling centres. They are invited to talk on the subject all over the country; this is sometimes done at their own expense.  

Their talks are “show-and-tell” sessions. While Don talks about which items can or cannot be recycled, Mylene fishes out the items from boxes to show the audience, things such as supermarket receipts and promotion leaflets, credit card printouts, glass and plastic bottles, plastic straws, used envelopes, tins, even toilet roll cores.  

Their talks are peppered with tips on waste minimisation, all gleaned from their personal experience.  

At the market, Mylene totes her rattan basket together with reusable containers for meat and fish, and old plastic bags for vegetables and other purchases. After unpacking her groceries, the containers and bags are cleaned for the next round of marketing.  

They always choose products with the least packaging and are recyclable, such as Milo in tins rather than in foil packs. They are especially proud of reaching the goal of “zero waste”, achieved by reducing waste, recycling, and composting their kitchen discards. “The garbage man has nothing to collect from my house,” says Mylene triumphantly. Residents’ groups, factories, schools, colleges, hospitals, religious organisations and businesses are among the groups which have benefited from the Theseiras’ decade-long experience in recycling. Many have consequently started recycling projects.  

This encourages the Theseiras to continue their clean-up battle. “With the information shared in our talks, people can make better purchasing choices. Our goal is for every community or commercial area to set up its own recycling centre,” says Mylene.  

Indeed, their recycling habit has caught on. Mylene says one friend who lives near a Chinese temple has started collecting unburned candle wax to sell to a candle factory.  

Easy does it 

The Theseiras do get their share of sceptics – people who insist that recycling is a waste of time and is too tedious. They believe the lackadaisical attitude towards recycling is partly rooted in a lack of information. “People throw away items such as old television sets and mattresses because they have no idea what to do with them. We should teach them how to dispose of these items properly and not throw away things which can be reused or recycled,” says Mylene. 

However, they try to be practical and realistic in their campaign. “Not all materials are recyclable. Some will just have to be discarded. But a lot can be saved from the landfill,” says Mylene. “We are not telling you to totally change your lifestyle but recycling is something that can be easily done.  

The Theseiras draw inspiration from a responsive audience. An experience at Kampung Kubang Badak in Langkawi, remains memorable for Don. “The talk lasted from 8pm till midnight. The villagers were very interested and were making plans to meet the next night to discuss about starting a recycling project. That really motivated us.”  

Their residential recycling scheme has so far raised over RM44,600 for charity. More importantly, Don points out, it has saved 274 lorry-loads of trash from the landfill and recycled 225 tonnes of resources. The last two collections generated RM506 and RM705, and were donated to Hospis Penang and Cancerlink Penang respectively.  

But there is a setback to the recycling endeavour – it is limited to what waste contractors accept. It is for this reason that the Theseiras do not collect Tetrapak boxes or plastic bags. To raise the recycling rate, they say it is vital to have a network of middlemen who are not picky. They have spoken to scrap dealers about opportunities in the business.  

They hope to meet manufacturers next, to discuss ways to curtail waste heaps. The couple is adamant about manufacturers using only reusable or recyclable packaging – like in the old days when toothpaste comes in aluminium tubes.  

They also want manufacturers to provide refills for products such as liquid detergent and soap, as is done in Germany.  

To resolve our waste woes, Mylene says all have a role to play: “The Government must ban things which cannot be recycled, manufacturers must change to environment-friendly packaging, and consumers must reduce waste. The Government should also pass a law requiring every new residential development to put aside land for a recycling centre.” 

And for change to happen, Don says people must act and speak their minds. He cites an example: “Once, at a senior citizen golf event, food was served in polystyrene plates. I objected and explained my reasons. For lunch, they switched to normal plates. So, you have to voice your views.” 

The couple refuses to be thwarted by cynics, unswerving in their conviction that recycling does help the environment. Says Mylene: “We are two simple people who want to share our successful, simple way of cleaning the environment. Our mission is to bring this message to all Malaysian households. We love the environment and this is our contribution.”  

The Theseiras can be reached at 04-5384060 or go to www.greencrusaders.com. 

HANDY POINTERS  Waste reduction tips from the Theseiras:  Gather old rubberbands (you get one with the newspaper every day) and return them to the newspaper vendor, hawker or shopkeeper. Do the same for raffia strings which come with packed hawker food. Keep a canvas shopping bag, a tiffin carrier and reusable containers in your car so they are available anytime you decide to shop or pack food. To avoid accumulating plastic bags in supermarkets, look out for carton boxes and use them to carry purchases to the car. Store leftover food in glass containers instead of cling film, which some believe leaches toxins. Use plastic lids salvaged from other containers as covers. Ask for bouquets to be wrapped in paper (which is recyclable) and not plastic (not recyclable). Waste paper should be separated according to type as prices differ: newspaper; white or Photostat paper; loose paper (pamphlets, brochures, flyers, envelopes, receipts); books and magazines; and brown carton. Used cooking oil can be collected and sold to contractors who sell them to factories as boiler fuel. Use a loofah (made from dried gourd and available at wet markets) for washing dishes. They are more durable. Compost your kitchen waste (go to www.naturemill.com).

Article contributed by Tan Cheng Li

Source: The Star, February 14, 2006