edited by: Andrew Sia
One of over thousands of simultaneous events in the world
Batang Kali: April 25th - To celebrate the 40th Earth Day, Waterfall Survivors joined thousands of other similar community efforts around the world in its 3rd Major Save Our Waterfalls (SOW) campaign.
Waterfall Survivors is a group of local waterfall lovers founded on Facebook and has over 4500 members currently.
And so today over 400 volunteers, equipped with garbage bags, gloves and a love for nature fanned out all over the Sungai Kedondong Waterfall Recreational Park near Batang Kali to clear the place of garbage.
The volunteers, who were Waterfall Survivors members as well as participants from OYL Manufacturing, Tenaga National Berhad, McGraw Hill, Rotary Club of USJ went beneath the surface of things and dug deeper – literally – onto the problem with shovels and cangkuls to unearth layers and layers of garbage.
They picked up not only innumerable plastic bags and wrappers, but also polystyrene plates and even discarded underwear and barbeque pits!
The toughest, stinkiest, part of the operation was the relocation of a large orange garbage bin, located just next to crystal clear waters flowing down from the Main Range mountains. The bin was full and overflowing with rubbish which had been left uncollected for a long time and the pong from it spread all over the place when the volunteers emptied it.
At the end of the day, Waterfall Survivors members presented their “trophy” – almost 250 bags of rubbish collected from the lower reaches of the waterfall park.
“Malaysians are still not aware of what is really happening to our Earth. Lots of rubbish has been left by irresponsible picnickers and campers,” said Waterfall Survivors President and Founder Joe Yap.
“Besides cleaning up the waterfalls, today’s event is also aimed to raise awareness about Earth Day and how improper disposal can harm our water sources.”
Waterfall Survivors is also creating awareness on NO PLASTIC EARTH to support the initiative of No Plastic Day (every Saturday) by the Selangor State Government.
Students from students S.M.K Sri Ampang and Sunway University College joined in this auspicious event to show their love towards Mother Nature. “120 students are from the pre-university courses – Sunway Foundation in Arts, Australian Matriculation as and also Monash University Foundation Year (MUFY). This project is part of the Sun-U ongoing CR initiatives in instilling awareness and educates them on the environment protection among students and youths.” said Sunway College University Public Relation Manager, Simpson Khoo.
The event was endorsed and supported by the Tourism Selangor, Selangor and Tourism, Environmental and Public Affairs of Selangor State Government and Majlis Daerah Hulu Selangor.
Puan Noorul Ashikin, General Manager of Tourism Selangor Sdn. Bhd, said: “We in Tourism Selangor will give our full commitment to support this program as well as other program that shares the same objective in saving our environment. This is also important for Tourism Selangor as it can play a pivotal role in promoting and bringing forward the eco-tourism in Selangor.”
The Save Our Waterfalls campaign was sponsored by Teva Footwear, World of Sports, Bacfree, and The Rotary Club of USJ.
About Earth Day
Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever. While climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, it also presents the greatest opportunity – an unprecedented opportunity to build a healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future.
Earth Day 2010 can be a turning point to advance climate policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy and green jobs. Earth Day Network is galvanizing millions who make personal commitments to sustainability. Earth Day 2010 is a pivotal opportunity for individuals, corporations and governments to join together and create a global green economy. (Source from Earth Day Network.)
ABOUT WATERFALL SURVIVORS
Waterfall Survivors is a social group founded on Facebook, the most popular online social networking service. The Facebook group was single-handedly created on 12th July 2008. The group has been actively organizing regular waterfall expeditions ever since. To date, Waterfall Survivors has left footprints at over 75 waterfalls in Malaysia with more than 130 trips ventured and more than 4,500 registered members on Facebook. Waterfall Survivors is managed by Waterfall Explorers Sdn. Bhd.
Picture by: Soo Sang Yeong
For more information, email at waterfallsurvivors@hotmail.com or visit Waterfall Survivors site at http://groups.to/waterfallsurvivors/ http://waterfallsurvivors.blogspot.com
