Post Write-Up for Green Drinks KL: Reconnecting with Forest

Thank you for making Green Drinks KL: Reconnecting with Forest a fun and interactive session! We kept hearing that we are losing touch with the forest and it is a good time to hear from our sifus on what they wish to share their wise words to us.

Before that, Green Drinks KL is partnering with Malaysia Nature Society to hold a guided walk at Bukit Persekutuan's Urban Community Forest (UCF) Cempedak Trail this coming 19 January 2019. MNS Flora SIG holds a regular guided walk at Bukit Persekutuan's Cempedak Trail on the third Saturday of each month. It will start at 8am sharp at the roundabout Bukit Persekutuan. For more information, do visit https://www.facebook.com/events/535523623584154/

Now let us begin.

1. Reconnect with forest through culture and ethnic

          When you think of reconnecting with forest, try to think about our culture and ethnicity. Remember about our roots. Do you remember idioms like "Diam diam ubi berisi" or "Melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya"? Or what about our favourite kuihs like kuih talam and kuih koci? What do they have in common? They all have plants as their base. You can reconnect with forest by language and delicacy because you need to know the plant's name to create it. Next time, when you plan on creating beautiful poems or munching on your meals, try to simply look and observe what nature has given us. Observation is the starting point for you to know the plant and adopt it.

2. Reconnect with forest by going to the forest

          Wait what? Isn't this a simple yet direct answer to how we can reconnect with the forest? Strangely enough, this is one thing that many of us are not doing. We have to remember that we are all connected with nature. We mimic the way nature works and our source of inspiration comes from the forest. Just try to listen and understand the nature. If you can do it, perhaps you can be the next tree listener. Remember, the best green action is me and the best time is now.

          Now, just when you think of going to the forest... what if the forest is trying to reconnect with us?

3. Forest reconnecting with us

          Forest is a social construct where we think if it has enough trees which are green and tall enough, then it is a forest. But it need not be so. Apparently, nature and forest are more porous than we think. Just open your eyes. It is all around us and we can find it in strange places like at the road side, under the bridge and even the drain near you. Those weeds at the back of your garden might just be a forest for the insects. Simply put, reconnecting with forest is as simple as looking at how nautre behaves like  a mini forest in our neighbourhood.

Thank you for your time in reading this short post write-up on Green Drinks KL: Reconnecting with Forest! We hope that you find back your inspiration to reconnect with the foret. Do check out our website, Facebook group and YouTube channel if you are interested in watching the session or other past sessions. See you at Bukit Persekutuan!

 www.greendrinkskl.org

 www.facebook.com/GreenDrinksKL/

 www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4O5vbpPRYQk6pHS6Dscpw

Green Drinks KL: Reconnecting with Forest

Greetings from Green Drinks KL Team!

We thank you for attending Green Drinks KL: Films & Environment! Your presence has helped to make this event a great success and your enthusiasm and positive spirit have helped make our time together both productive and fun.

     We hope that the session has managed to spark the creativity you to make more films. Films have managed to empower people to share their voice and allow us to fight and protect what is dear to us.

      Sustainable Development Goal 15 aims to "protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss".

     Forests play an important role not only in our local welfare but also in meeting global objectives. Forests provide natural resources for the local communities whilst reducing the risk of natural disaster, including flood, landslide and drought. In a wider perspective, forests play an important role in mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration, contribute to the balance of oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity in the air and protect watersheds, which supply 75% of freshwater worldwide.

     However, many of us tend to take the forest for granted. As part of an international community in moving toward a better future, we cordially invite you to join us in our upcoming "Green Drinks KL: Reconnecting with Forest".

     Should you wish to register, you can sign up here:
(https://www.eventbrite.com/e/green-drinks-kl-reconnecting-with-forest-tickets-53173953727)

The event will tentatively be as follow:

Theme: Reconnecting with Forest
Date: 3 January 2019 (First Thursday)
Time: 7.00 pm – 9.30 pm
Venue: The Gravy Factory, Level 5, Nu Sentral (Beside KL Sentral) (https://goo.gl/maps/gXctoAQ6T8q)

     Follow us as we will post up more updates from time to time! We wish you all the best and hope that you continue to be engaged with Green Drinks KL.

     For those who weren’t able to make it the other day, we have newly created a YouTube channel for it! (See link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4O5vbpPRYQk6pHS6Dscpw)

Thank you and we look forward to see you at Green Drinks KL.

Warmest regards,

---

Mr Simpson Tan

CEO of Green Drinks KL

simpsontan@greendrinkskl.org

+60 11-625-47336 (GREEN)

_________________________________________________

Green Drinks KL is a bimonthly gathering (held on *first Thursday of the month*) as an informal international networking initiative to connect environmentally minded people and professionals. It is a simple event with no formality. The main goal is to have some valuable conversations in an informal setting.

For more information, please visit www.greendrinkskl.org

or www.facebook.com/groups/51963358529

Everyone invites someone else along, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organising network.

See you at Green Drinks KL. Cheers!

Impact of Film on Forest, Water and Climate Change

Kindly register your participation in below link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/green-drinks-kl-impact-of-film-on-forest-water-and-climate-change-tickets-48945039932

Infographics for Green Drinks KL: Waste Management - Views from Different Perspectives

Greetings from Green Drinks KL!

Here is a mini summary on what were discussed in Green Drinks KL: Waste Management - Views from Different Perspectives.

     Interested to know more? We have newly created a YouTube channel for it! 

(See link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4O5vbpPRYQk6pHS6Dscpw)

     If you wish to connect with more environmental enthusiasts or learn more about environmental issues, do join us for our next Green Drinks KL networking event!

Theme: Impact of Film on Forest, Water and Climate Change

Date: 26 October 2018 (Friday)

Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm

Venue: White Box, Publika, Solaris Dutamas, KL

Should you wish to register, you can sign up here:

 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/green-drinks-kl-impact-of-film-on-forest-water-and-climate-change-tickets-48945039932

Thank you and have a great day ahead!

Warmest regards,

---

Green Drinks KL team

Green Drinks KL: Impact of Film on Forest, Water and Climate Change

Greetings from Green Drinks KL!

We thank you for attending Green Drinks KL: Waste Management – Views from Different Perspectives! Your presence has helped to make this event a great success and your enthusiasm and positive spirit have helped make our time together both productive and fun.

     We hope that our diverse and dynamic group of speakers were able to shed some light on the current situation and steps that can be done to manage our waste properly. Our speaker, Dr Theng has shared, based on a study done by him, 70% of Malaysian has the awareness of recycling. However, as all the speakers have agreed upon, the change of behaviour has to be started with each individual – us and do not stop once we have started. Rene Fu has stressed out that, “We can have 100 excuses that individual effort doesn’t work… We only need 1 reason to start”. And to start being green, Prof Ezlin mentioned that we need a group of people to do it together, otherwise it won’t work. As for She Mei, she reminded us to always try our best to practice our consumer rights on waste.

     For our next Green Drinks KL, we have collaborated with EcoKnights to have our Green Drinks KL session in conjunction with the 11th Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival.

     Should you wish to register, you can sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/green-drinks-kl-impact-of-film-on-forest-water-and-climate-change-tickets-48945039932

The event will tentatively be as followed:

Theme: Impact of Film on Forest, Water and Climate Change

Date: 26 October 2018 (Friday)

Time: 7.00pm – 9.30pm

Venue: White Box, Publika, Solaris Dutamas, KL

     Films with an environmentalism theme have increasingly be released to the public. Films like "WALL-E" and "Serengeti Shall Not Die" play an important role in creating awareness among the public and ultimately inspire audiences to take action on the challenges faced by our planet. How much impact has such films gives to the public? How do film makers make their message heard across?

     Join us in understanding more on these in the next Green Drinks KL. In the next Green Drinks KL, we have collaborated with EcoKnights to have our Green Drinks KL session in conjunction with the 11th Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival.

     For your information, Eco Knights is a non-profit environmental organisation that focused in sustainable community development. Every year, Eco Knights organises this festival to facilitate building a nation of ecologically conscious businesses, individuals and communities through on-ground activities and film screenings focused on critical environmental issues and stories.

     Follow us as we will post up more updates from time to time! We wish you all the best and hope that you continue to be engaged with Green Drinks KL.

     For those who weren’t able to make it the other day, we have newly created a YouTube channel for it! (See link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4O5vbpPRYQk6pHS6Dscpw)

*Please register at Eventbrite responsibly so that we could know the estimated number of people that will be attending. 

Warmest regards,

---

Mr Simpson Tan

CEO of Green Drinks KL

simpsontan@greendrinkskl.org

+60 11-625-47336 (GREEN)

_________________________________________________

Green Drinks KL is a bimonthly gathering (held on *first Thursday of the month*) as an informal international networking initiative to connect environmentally minded people and professionals. It is a simple event with no formality. The main goal is to have some valuable conversations in an informal setting.

For more information, please visit www.greendrinkskl.org

or www.facebook.com/groups/51963358529

Everyone invites someone else along, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organising network.

See you at Green Drinks KL. Cheers!

Green Drinks KL: Waste Management - Views From Different Perspectives

Greetings from Green Drinks KL Team!

In the previous event, the theme was “Open Mic”. It was aimed to gather feedback from the smaller crowd on environmental issues that concerned the people the most. One of the topics that received the loudest voice is WASTE MANAGEMENT, and hence, it will be our next theme.

Come, grab a drink/food and mingle with environmentally-minded people. Details as below:

Theme : Waste Management - Views From Different Perspectives
Date : 2 August 2018 ( First Thursday)
Time : 7.00 – 9.30 pm
Venue : The Gravy Factory, Level 5, Nu Sentral (Beside KL Sentral) https://goo.gl/maps/gXctoAQ6T8q

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/green-drinks-kl-waste-management-views-from-different-perspectives-tickets-47911131484

WASTE is unwanted or unusable material, substances, or by-products. We have all heard about 3R previously, and now, there are 5R! Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot. What can we, as an individual, do to manage our waste properly? Zero waste and minimalism lifestyle. Is it possible and is it feasible? What happens after waste has been dumped into the rubbish bin?

Let us explore and ponder on these in the next Green Drinks KL. We have not finalize the speakers yet. Therefore, if you have any recommendation, feel free to contact us!

*Please register at Eventbrite responsibly so that we could know the estimated number of people that will be attending. Also, by verifying the registration, students will be given 20% discount for the drink and/or food you ordered, courtesy of the generous owner. Just bring your valid student card for verification, while everyone else will be given a 10% discount, courtesy of The Gravy Factory! You may cancel the registration if you are unable to make it to the event.


Warmest regards,

Mr Simpson Tan
CEO of Green Drinks KL
simpsontan@greendrinkskl.org
+60 11-625-47336 (GREEN)

___________________________________________________


Green Drinks KL is a monthly gathering (held on *first Thursday of every month*) as an informal international networking initiative to connect environmentally minded people and professionals. It is a simple event with no formality. The main goal is to have some valuable conversations in an informal setting.

The Gravy Factory is located at Nu Sentral, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, and it is accessible by public transport, namely LRT, MRT, Monorail, KTM and ERL. So let’s reduce our carbon footprint where possible! The Gravy Factory has basic supplier Halal certification and no alcohol will be served here. We welcome friends from all walks of life to join the event. Besides, they have vegetarian choices too!

For more information, please visit www.greendrinkskl.org or www.facebook.com/groups/51963358529

Everyone invites someone else along, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organising network.

See you at Green Drinks KL. Cheers!

Post Write-Up for Green Drinks KL : Open Mic - We want to hear from you!

On 3 May 2018, Green Drinks KL saw the gathering of 15 public members from various professional fields such as business, consultancy, journalism, oil and gas, waste management, fashion and others. The environmental networking event which was held on the first Thursday of every month at The Gravy Factory, Nu Sentral also attracted postgraduate students who wanted to be part of the solution instead of the problem to the environment.

The theme of the month was “Open Mic”, which was relatively unique as the host aimed to gather feedback from the smaller crowd on environmental issues that concerned the people the most. Subsequently, the monthly theme of Green Drinks would be customised based on the interest of the majority.

“We would like everyone to form a group that has a common environmental interest and discuss on why that issue concerns you and what we can do about it”, said Bernard, the event host.  

Shayley, an urbanite that lived in a condominium was frustrated by the amount of waste that she had generated as she decluttering one day. She realised that she owned many unnecessary items and began to be aware of her own lifestyle. Her realisation then motivated her to take responsibilities over the waste generated by practising recycling, if not rot (for organic waste) whenever possible.

“I freeze all my food scrap and bring it to a farm owned by an NGO called Free Tree Society for composting. But then and again, it may not be practical for me or other to do it every day”, said Shayley during group discussion.

On the other hand, a participant, named Elodie, was concerned with the use of plastic in packaging as such disposable or single-use plastic is choking our earth day-by-day.

“Currently my team and I are trying to promote alternative packaging which uses paper instead of plastic, to Mamak stall, a popular street-side restaurant by the locals for food and hangouts. We know that paper packaging is still not the best solution, hence we are currently still looking for better option.”

Another group of participants gathered to discuss issues related to trees: deforestation, maintenance of urban trees, appreciation for more green coverage on earth. Nahvin, an environment enthusiast - though deemed himself for working in the most polluting industry, oil and gas - was frustrated seeing how trees were chopped instead of pruned in the urban areas. He also yearned for businesses to reduce usage of paper by replacing conventional receipts to e-receipts. Sanjayala, a sustainability consultant, thought that greeneries are important for serenity and promoting positive effects on our mental health.

The sharing from representatives of each group had well benefited others to learn more and contribute ideas to help others in taking action. Green Drinks KL this round had created better engagement due to the smaller number of attendees as compared to the last month’s event which witnessed the participation of more than 50 people. Some were really delighted by new knowledge that they acquired. For example, Shayley, after expressing her frustration of not being able to compost at her condominium, received feedback from another participant that she was able start her own composting even in her own high rise home. Subsequently, they shared contact to keep in touch.

Another participant, Amirah, who is into the fashion industry, confessed that she was clueless on what Green Drinks is about but felt enlightened after Simpson, co-host of Green Drinks, explained to her on the background. She even rated 15 out of 10 scales that she would attend this event again. To further inspire and encourage her environmental interest, she was presented with a 100% organic cotton-made Earth's Gift tee shirt by Nukleus as a gift.

In just mere two hours of meeting a group of unfamiliar people, Green Drinks enables like-minded people to connect and build new collaboration. If you wish to connect with more environmental enthusiasts or learn more about environmental issues, do join us for our next Green Drinks KL networking event!

Date: 7 June 2018

Time: 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm

Venue: The Gravy Factory, NU Sentral

Theme: Waste Management