SUNDAY, 11 March 2018 – Approximately 100 Kristus Aman parishioners gathered at the chapel at 2pm to attend a Recycling Talk, the first in a series of activities planned by the KA Laudato Si’ Committee, inspired by Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the Environment. As the talk kicked off, lights were dimmed and the air-conditioning was working hard to repel the scorching outside heat. Although these constituted ideal sleep inducing conditions, attendees were far from sleepy given that they had been shocked awake by the presentation of the first speaker, Mr CS Tan from iCYCLE Malaysia. Intriguing facts and figures caused attendees to reflect and question the effectiveness of their existing recycling efforts.

Thankfully, it was not all bad news, as the presenter proceeded to highlight a pilot initiative driven by several members of our Kristus Aman community. Moving into its second phase, this initiative is now welcoming all parishioners of Kristus Aman to register and start recycling with them. To find out more about iCYCLE and on how to participate, visit http://www.icycle-global.com.

With hearts afire and ready to go on a recycling spree, attendees were again dealt with a shocking blow when the 2nd speaker, Ms Seet Huay Ping took to the stage. This time, with a short video of a sea turtle being the victim of mankind’s attitude towards the environment.

On top of that, attendees learnt that recycling was not even the best solution to the problem! According to Zero Waste philosophy, before one even considers recycling, one should first Refuse accumulation of unnecessary items that will end up as trash. Second is to Reduce usage and save resources. Third is to replace disposables with Reusables. Only then do we come to Recycling and finally, Rotting kitchen scraps for other uses.

After the talk, all present were treated to cake and hot drinks. The speakers stayed to field questions and engage in discussions until 4:30pm when attendees began to disperse.