It has only been a year since Ch’ng Bee Choon became seriously involved in recycling. Previously, she had been too busy running her grocery store to take notice.

Her initiation began with a group of women who ran Ruman Nur in Bukit Bendera, Penang. Rumah Nur is the name given to community centres for women to carry out community-based activities set up by the Ministry of Women And Family Development.

Ch’ng, 54, is an active member of Wargamas, a senior citizens’ organisation which regularly conducts social and charitable activities. Last April, the organisation was roped in by Rumah Nur to start a collection centre for recyclable materials in Tanjung Bungah where Bee Choon resides. She and three other women were appointed to a committee to get the centre going.

Today, this mother of four is well-versed with recycling and its benefits. “Our surroundings and the drains are cleaner today compared to a year ago,” she says.

To educate people on the benefits of recycling, she and her friends regularly hold meetings with residents, hawkers, shopkeepers and restaurant owners in Tanjung Bungah. The women explain what can be recycled and encourage their audience not to dispose of their recycled materials.

“Sometimes, we even hold workshops to demonstrate how garbage should be separated,” she says.

The collection is done on the third Sunday of each month, between 1pm and 3pm. “At times, I help to collect the stuff from people’s homes and workplaces and bring it to the collection centre. Most of the time, however, people bring their things here,” she said. The type of materials collected include cans, glass and plastic bottles, newspaper, books, magazines and old clothes.

Using the weighing scale from her shop, Ch’ng and her team weigh the materials and pay their owners accordingly. At each session, about 500kg to 1,000kg of recyclable materials are collected. The following day, they are picked up by a vendor for a fee. “We usually make about RM100 from each collection. We use the money to fund our activities in Wargamas,” she says.

The whole procedure of separating the materials, weighing them and when all is done, cleaning the collection centre may seem tiresome. But Ch’ng enjoys every minute of it as she knows she is doing her part to preserve the environment.