IPOH, Nov 28 (Sin Chew Daily) — To help clean up our vulnerable environment, 34-year-old Ipoh businesswoman Norhazira Jalik took the initiative to set up Trash Hero Ipoh (THI) earlier this year.

Norhazira told
Sin Chew Daily over the phone that she started alone by picking up garbage in some areas in the city such as along the Kinta River, railway station, the
padang and the beach.

She was later joined by several like-minded people through the social media.

“We have six fixed people in the team, including myself. We didn’t know one another but came together because we had the same passion to clean up our environment.

“Whenever there is a clean-up campaign, we would post the notice on social media and have managed to draw the participation of volunteers, including children.”

In addition to picking up trash, the team also collects information to be submitted to the authorities in order to help map out more effective solutions for the environment.

Norhazira also said the Ipoh City Hall contacted them and offered them assistance, including transport and disposal of the trash collected.

“To us, cleaning the rubbish is not hard. What is difficult is to educate the people to care for the environment.

“We will try to let people know that even a small change can make a difference to our environment.

“We are currently planing to set up eco classrooms at some schools, teaching the students to create eco-friendly bricks. The Tamil primary school in Menglembu has agreed to cooperate with us.”

Eco-friendly bricks are made of recycled plastic bottles packed together, and can be used for furniture, buildings and gardening purposes.

Norhazira said the People of Remarkable Talents (PORT) in Ipoh had set up a plastic bottle collection point at the centre to be used for making eco-friendly bricks.

For more information about Trash Hero Ipoh, please visit their
Facebook.