KUCHING: A group of 40 students and eight teachers from SMKA Tun Ahmad Zaidi recently participated in the ‘Juh Ecobrick’ programme at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).
Organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSH) in collaboration with the school’s Kelab Pencinta Alam Sekitar (PALS Club), the programme is part of the faculty’s University Social Responsibility (USR) project.
Senior lecturer and project leader Dr Haslina Hashim said the aim of the programme was to create awareness on the dangers of single-use plastics to the environment and to show the participants how to make ecobricks using plastic waste.
The participants were taught how to make ecobricks from everyday plastics waste and create functioning furniture such as stools.
“The participants managed to produce 12 ecobricks that weight about six kilograms in total. This means the participants had successfully compacted six kilograms of single use plastics waste into 12 bottles of 1.5 litre size,” she said.
Meanwhile, FSSH dean Professor Dr Neilson Ilan Mersat said the ecobricks project was very much in UNIMAS’ tagline as a community drive university for a sustainable world.
“I hope that the participants will be able to apply and transfer their ecobricks-making knowledge to the wider school community and beyond,” he said.
Deputy Dean of Industry and Community Engagement Dr Regina Girai monitors all USR projects at the faculty.
She said this was not the first time the faculty had organised the project under its USR umbrella.
“The faculty will continue to engage and collaborate with other school communities to spread this awareness in the future,” she said.
