Voluntary Carbon Offset Project Takes Off in Pahang
Posted by arisoziar on Mar 10, 2011
Flying the Flag in Phua Chu Kang boots
We did it! After months of delay due to bad weather, a bus load of MAS employees went to plant tree saplings in Pekan, Pahang, as part of our Voluntary Carbon Offset Scheme (VCOS). Passengers flying MAS have the option of offsetting their portion of carbon dioxide emitted during their flight, thus helping to reduce global warming. MAS staff on duty travel have their emissions automatically offset. We joined many hundreds of people from the local community and school, government agencies involved including Forestry, FRIM, MNRE and local government, and our corporate donors Khazanah and Maxis.
We are the first! This is the first such carbon offset scheme in Malaysia involving a partnership between private and public sectors. On top of that, we were also the first airline in ASEAN to launch a voluntary carbon offset scheme back in 2008.
Unlike the previous few days, the skies remained clear and we enjoyed the carnival-like atmosphere as educational booths had been set up by government agencies and local universities. There was ample food and drinks, and lucky draw prizes awaited those lucky enough to find a red envelope waiting for them at their designated planting plot! A live band was also present, belting out tunes and adding to the jovial atmosphere.
Our tree planting forms part of the rehabilitation and conservation of the South-East Pahang Peat Swamp Forest (SEPPSF), internationally known for being the largest contiguous peat swamp forest in the world. When we plant trees, we are not only offsetting the carbon dioxide emitted by air travel, but are also helping in the conservation of hundreds of species of plants and animals, some found only in this area. This tree planting marks the culmination of 2 years hard effort by MAS and various government agencies. We have collected RM180,000 so far, and future carbon offset efforts will continue to tap into this fund.
Mucking about for a good cause
You can make a difference! When you travel next on MAS, do consider a donation to the VCOS fund – our online calculator makes it easy to calculate the cost of offsetting your carbon emissions, and you have the option of fully offsetting, or donating any amount that you wish. A return trip from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne only costs RM38.40 to fully offset!
http://site.malaysiaairlines.com/campaigns/calculate.aspx
FAQs at http://site.malaysiaairlines.com/campaigns
Sustainability at MAS. MAS has many initiatives that enable us to reduce our carbon emissions and footprint. Our new 737-800s and A380s, for example, burn less fuel than the aircraft that they are or will be replacing. Our meal containers served in-flight are made from sugar cane fibre, reducing our reliance on plastic and paper products. Other initiatives are in the pipe-line and will be announced once they take off. We also take a holistic view of Sustainability, looking at all three aspects of business, community and environment in any particular project. Through our tree-planting, we are contributing to the conservation of the environment by adding a Voluntary Carbon Offset element to how we do business. Not forgetting the local community, we have used the proceeds raised during Townhall to buy 2 netbooks and a printer, items requested by Sekolah Kebangsaan Runchang, the local Orang Asli school. Our staff also conducted a learning session during the launch, teaching the orang asli children about global warming and how planting trees can help reduce it.
Edutainment session on global warming & tree planting
At MAS, we care.
Local orang asli kids joining in the fun
Environmental Witch Doctor at Work
Posted by arisoziar on Feb 28, 2011
Out Town Hall session for 2011. Where MAS employees from all over the world congregate to hear the different Business Units presenting their updates and strategies for the year.
Environment was given floor space at the exhibit hall and we decided to try something different. Promoting our voluntary carbon offset program to MAS employees was a bomoh, selling empty bottles of… you guessed it… CO2. He was hard at work selling, as he puts it, “…strong fever medicine for earth, who is very sick…”
Bomoh at work sequestering carbon
Paper chasing again!
Posted by JLow on Jan 28, 2011
Please allow me to quote an email that was sent out yesterday 
Kudos again to all of us for the job well done for the 2nd waste collection at Administration Building KLIA and Engineering Central store.
A total of 2.338tons of waste were collected, consisting of 2.109tons from Administration building and 279kg from Material Management Department.
In keeping with the momentum of this initiative, the 3rd waste collection will be held on 23 February 2011. We would appreciate more departments from Engineering to participate and support the Green Journey acivities for our 3rd waste collection.
The experience of the first collection was quite well received, so it is heart-warming to see this being continued. Looking forward to the next one!
Sorting the paper wastes
Segregating..
Carting it away..
The year that was.. and moving forward
Posted by JLow on Dec 22, 2010
It’s time to look back and see how we have done for 2010.
As with all airlines that serve the European markets, we had started our EU ETS monitoring and reporting activities for the whole of this calendar year. As I type this we are finalising the legal and commercial arrangements with a vendor on the verification process- a process / exercise that is mandatory for the EU ETS compliance.
Disappointingly, our Green Office program has not been running as smoothly as we had hoped. There were stop-start activities- some folks have seriously taken this on board, but most have been busy with the airline’s main focus, sidelining this “secondary activity” to pursue company objectives. We did have one building-wide “spring clean” exercise in our own office, where at least on a local level we are now aware of how much paper products we use and dispose. We are looking at having this as a recurrent activity, as well as for other buildings to do the same.
Our Voluntary Carbon Offset program has gained another corporate client- Khazanah Nasional Berhad, who joined our program with a donation. Thank you ladies for supporting our initiative
And on this note, we will be having a tree-planting event in January 2011 together with FRIM and the Pahang State Government, to assist in their redevelopment of the Pekan peat swamps.
On November 11th we jointly conducted the Airport and airline on sustainability seminar, where we shared similar and different challenges and approaches in dealing with climate change in the industry, and where we also learned about our guest speaker’s Deep Green program. I would very much like to see this become a series of events, with Malaysia Airports again, on similar topics, but with expanded scope and depth. Aviation and climate change is an interesting combination of topics internationally, even more so for the locals perspective.
Moving forward we will be further pursuing the sustainability agenda for the airline. A lot of 2010 was spent creating the awareness and educating the internal folks and management about this topic and how the airline would benefit with green initiatives. We have been engaging the higher management with this topic, both from a CSR as well as a brand-positioning perspective. 2011 will be the year when this becomes an internal policy, where we will also be pushing for more employee engagement activities to support this slow but steady cultural change.
On that note Malaysia Airlines will also therefore start to formally report on its sustainability efforts. This will include formalising this as a policy, increase internal adoption at the corporate level, conduct activities where we will measure and set targets for our (reduced) carbon footprint, increase our Green Office and 3R programs to include onboard activities, social responsibility activities, and have fun at the same time 
Paper-chasing
Posted by JLow on Nov 24, 2010
After meeting with a few key staff members and making a few calls to the local councils and Alam Flora, we have finally started on the next step; the first step being the waste segregation.
Alam Flora had earlier come to give a presentation on some facts about waste, and also what types of wastes they could collect. We discussed about the different types of wastes from the various departments around our KLIA offices.
So finally, today we collected and recycled 2.67tons of paper just from our Admin Building itself at our KLIA premises.
Ladies bringing down the paper waste..
Sorting the types of paper wastes..
Here it comes..
Ready to take them away..
Airport and airline on sustainability
Posted by JLow on Nov 18, 2010
Last week, Malaysia Airlines and Malaysia Airports organised, to my knowledge, the first joint event- aimed at increasing the awareness of both companies’ staff on the issues of sustainability.
Titled “Aviation and Climate Change”, the list of esteemed speakers and topics included keynotes from both MD’s on their respective views and roles on this same issue, Mr Tan Ching Tiong, a research officer at SEADPRI-UKM, sharing the National Policy on Climate Change; Khazanah Nasional, on the Silverbook (link is a PDF file), Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability; Malaysia Airports on what our airports are doing locally and globally; Malaysia Airlines sharing what EUETS is and its own initiatives on carbon offsetting; and a special guest- DiGi, to share their Deep Green program.
As organisers we already had an idea of these topics and content. But I would like to think for that most of the attendees, especially the bosses, this would be the first time they are seeing- more importantly, learning about these issues we are all facing.
In all, I think we achieved our objective for this awareness event. That it was also rather fun organising and moderating the sessions, I would like to see more of such collaborations in future!
Travel with a difference – sustainable choices in Asia
Posted by deborahchan on Nov 4, 2010
Holidays are round the corner! If you’re planning for a holiday get-a-way and looking for something different other than the usual fare, why not consider spending your time and money with operators who are committed to environmental sustainability and social responsibility?
If you are one of these travelers, looking for a different experience, look no further because Wild Asia (WA) has chosen some of the best destinations in Asia for the annual Responsible Tourism (RT) Awards. After months of short-listing the finalists and making site visits to the final six properties and tour operators, Wild Asia has finally selected its 2010 RT Awards winners.
Now in their fifth year, the Awards are part of Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Initiative to promote sustainable practices through tourism. With one billion tourists expected to hit the road by 2010, the tourism industry’s impact on environment and communities throughout the world is immense. This is where the RT Awards come in. The Awards showcase exemplary resorts, hotels and tour operator ventures that are committed to sustainable practices.
“The purpose of the Awards is not to give out ‘gold stars’ to candidates each year. Our intent is to share the best practices of responsible operators to a broader audience and seek out new operators engaging in innovative programmes,” says Dr Reza Azmi, Wild Asia founder and director.
This year’s awards attracted a larger and more diverse number of participants spanning all across the Asian region, from India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and all the way to China, Philippines, and even Irian Jaya in Indonesia.
“We received a selection of high quality checklists and this proves to show that the network and awareness of Responsible Tourism is building up. Travel operators from around the region are truly striving to make a difference for a better and greener future,” says Deborah Chan, Wild Asia’s Programme Manager.
Every year the WA judging panel reviews submitted checklists (based on the UNWTO Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria) from operators throughout Asia. Two finalists for each category are shortlisted based on some of the following criteria:
- Sense of place – whether tourists understand their destinations in terms of the cultural and ecological context better through the operators’ efforts.
- Sustainability – whether these RT efforts are long-term.
- Involvement of guests – how much does the operators involve their guests in their RT practices?
- Internalisation – how much is sustainability part of the day-to-day operations?
- Reach – how far are these ideas and practices shared across the destination or even the industry?
- Continual Improvement – how do the operators strive to improve their RT efforts?
AND THE WINNERS ARE…
Heritance Kandalama, Dambulla, Sri Lanka
Heritance Kandalama has a unique architectural design which blends the hotel into the natural surroundings and maximizes natural light in order to reduce energy use. The entire hotel is built on a raised platform allowing water to flow under the hotel. It also allows the free flow of wildlife under the hotel, leaving minimum impact on the eco system.
Situated in Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle’s heartland, Heritance Kandalama is flanked by two UNESCO world heritage sites – the 1st Century BC Dambulla Cave Temple and the 5th Century AD Sigiriya Rock Fortress. The hotel is surrounded by rocky outcrops, lush forests, and overlooks the glistening Kandalama Tank. This sanctuary is teeming with biodiversity and wildlife.
For avid bird lovers and take morning walks for bird watching or visit an ancient village, Puranagama to have lunch with the locals and experience authentic village life. For more exquisite taste to your palettes, try traditional Sri Lankan dining in a cave or at an organic farm.
Sarinbuana Ecolodge, Bali, Indonesia
Nestled in the rainforest of Mount Batukaru, in the northwest region of Bali, Sarinbuana Ecolodge offers a welcomed escape from the hustle and bustle of the tourist track, and a refreshing experience that most people do not feel when visiting this island. Sarinbuana Ecolodge, which was started ten years ago, is run by Linda and Norm vant Hoff and their extended Balinese family. The eco lodge demonstrates a clear and committed practice of responsible tourism in every aspect of its operation.
Although a small lodge, with only 4 villas, Sarinbuana Ecolodge has had an enormous positive impact on the local village. Since the arrival to the Sarinbuana village, the vant Hoff family has dedicated themselves to improving local livelihoods, establishing a good relationship with the community, and learning the local language and culture in order to truly integrate with the local community.
At Sarinbuana Ecolodge, one can embrace the cool mountain breezes, lush tropical rainforests, rich Balinese culture, and appreciate life at its purest. The eco lodge operates in a truly holistic manner, exemplifies sustainability environmentally, economically and socially, and provides comfortable and pristine surroundings for true peace of mind.
Andaman Discoveries, Phang Nga, Thailand
Andaman Discoveries (AD) previously known as North Andaman Tsunami Relief (NATR) stemmed from tsunami relief pioneered by Bodhi Garrett to serve communities he had lived with and respected. After the initial rebuilding of homes through community-driven tsunami relief, it soon progressed into long-term post-tsunami development programs. Participatory workshops and community meetings sparked the idea of potential tourism as a means of economic renewal. Villagers wanted to welcome tourists in a way that will not bring negative and harmful impacts like that of mass tourism.
The idea was to maximize and utilize local knowledge and local people as a means of tourism. Villagers return empowered to set up home-stays and design a holiday experience for guests.
Now, guests can choose from six villages to stay in – mostly fishermen communities. Accommodation is simple and clean often with a fan, mattress and mosquito net for a good night rest. Guests are assigned to different host families whom they will spend their time with. Often times, guests leave with great memories of relationships being made. Some even stay to volunteer.
For more information and to watch videos of these amazing places, got to Wild Asia or WARTA NEWS
