Look. You've Made Our Precious President Sad.

And you've disappointed Ryo, too.

Again, the members had to be reminded to "water the plants, WATER THE PLANTS, WATER THE PLANTS." After countless numbers of reminders, Farhanah decided that whoever was on duty but did not do their duty must be spanked. And I meant some hard-spanking, people.

Today, our beloved AJK Multimedia(s); Chong Soo Sun and Azrianna Azmil were asked to get the reports and meeting minutes before updating the slide show. After a while of whining and "Why, Farhanah?? WHY ME???!!!"s, the members in charge gave in and obliged to her requests. Team members were also reminded that IF THEY ARE ABSENT FOR MORE THAN 3 TIMES WITHOUT REASON, THEY WILL BE KICKED OUT IMMEDIATELY.
Unless you are too useful and is a form of asset to the club.

Pictures for the day:
The important books of the club. Handled by Cela and Farhanah. It's made out of Pizza Hut boxes that stated "Do The Right Thing" at the bottom of the box. It fits the club's motto, right? Do the right thing to save the world.

Recycle to Prevent Pandas From Crying

As the meeting was called to order, Farhanah introduced to us the latest project which was bookmark-making. The bookmarks were supposed to be made out of the recycled papers that Ili, Atikah, Husnina and Azmina produced. However, Pn. Yeo had asked us to postpone the project and concentrate on our barely-surviving Herbs Garden as we didn't want the YAWA representatives to faint when they see the cracked ground, dried plants and knee-length weeds.


The recycling process took place at one of our members' house on Sunday:

NO ONE IS GOING TO USE THAT EVER AGAIN.

Together we unite? :)

The soaking process to soften the paper

The drying process. AND WHO'S SANDALS ARE THOSE?

This recycling project will be continued until the world's waste management has improved and Barrack Obama bans paper usage. Too much sarcasm, huh?

How to make recycled papers? It's easy!
Recycled paper can be made from old newspaper, following the instructions below. Recycling paper uses cellulose (plant fibers) over and over again, it uses less electricity, less water, a lot less pollution, and it saves trees from being cut down!
You will need:

• a food processor or an old blender
• an electric iron
• an old wire hanger
• an old pair of panty hose
• newspaper or other paper, torn into 2-inch squares
• white glue
• water
• an insect screen or strainer (optional)
• food coloring (optional)
• a big sink or tub filled with 4 inches of water

Make sure you have a place to work where you can make a big mess!
Step One:
Make a frame out of the coat hanger. You'll need a frame for each piece of paper you make. Stretch the hanger and bend it into a rectangle/square shape. Take one leg of the panty hose and stretch it carefully over the hanger frame. Make sure it is tight and flat.
Step Two:
Put a handful of the torn up paper and some water into the food processor or blender. Blend the mixture on high until it becomes mushy. Keep adding paper and water until you have a big gray blob. You may have to add a little more water to keep things moving smoothly. Keep the food processor on until all the paper has disappeared. Then leave it on for 2 minutes.
For some color, add a handful of brown or red onion skin (not the onion itself, just the papery outer skin).
Step Three:
Put 2 tablespoons of white glue in the sink water and add all of the paper pulp you just made. Mix it really well. Use your hands.
Step Four:
Scoop the frame to the bottom of the sink, then lift it slowly. (Count to 20 slowly while you are lifting.) Let the water drain out for about a minute.
Step Five:
Hang the frames on a clothesline or put them out in the sun. Wait until they are completely dry with no dampness at all. You can then gently peel off the paper.
Step Six:
Use the iron, set on the hottest setting, to steam out your paper. You can keep making paper until the pulp is all strained out of the sink. Mix up the sink every time you make a new piece.
Try other things like using in insect screen over a wood frame, or a strainer instead of the pantyhose and hanger. Try adding lots of food coloring, for colored paper, or try adding lint or leaves to the food processor. We had tried adding in pandan leaves, and it left a nice scent in the papers. Also, your paper will have an interesting grainy texture, just like the one you always buy for a few bucks at the bookshop :)
To the members, please, PLEASE, PLEASE water the plants. We don't want Ryo to be sad, do we?

Now you know who posted this.

New Year's eve meeting

New year's eve meeting.

All the members were asked politely by Farhanah to return to school on the 31st of December for a meeting. Unless you have been living under a rock since the beginning of time, you would know that the 31st of December is the last day of every year. It is day where people gather at shopping malls with their friends and family to end the year with a bang-literally. It is also a day when people get to watch legal fireworks. Many people brave the traffic jams to get to these shopping malls because they are eager to welcome the New Year. As for school-attending kids like us, we're just too busy squeezing the last bits of fun into what little is left of our holidays. Of course, most people's definition of school holiday fun does not include going back to school to pull weeds, but oh well, it is our duty to make sure the herbs live. I think many people adopted my mentality-hence the low attendance. The only difference was, Farhanah spoke to me with a threatening tone.

Besides weeding the herbs garden, we were also called back to discuss important matters like the our preferences for the T-shirts, the logo, our ideas for environmentally-friendly filing as well and durable plant labels.

We decided on a collared t-shirt with a simple brown background. Our names and school name will be printed on the right and left sleeve respectively. Besides that, we are currently in the midst of deciding on a witty message which will be proudly displayed on the front of the t-shirt. Our logo will be printed on the back. The logo was designed by our very own art extraordinaire-Samantha. She designed a logo with 5 different colour combinations for us to pick from. Naturally, the most colourful combination won with the maximum amount of votes it could get. There were 5 water droplets-two of them were light blue in color, while each of the other water droplets were either dark blue, dark, green, or light green.

Here’s what each of the 5R’s mean:

Reuse- tins, cans, paper, CD’s, bottles. These can be used to make useful and beneficial items.

Recycle-paper, plastic bottles, etc.

Reduce- Reduce the usage of recyclable items when and if possible.

Rethink- Everyone should think twice before using or doing something which causes the depletion of natural resources

Replant-Replanting is important to increase the amount of oxygen in the air.

The number of water droplets-5-represents our motto which is 5R - Reuse, Recycle, Reduce, Rethink, Replant. Cool, huh? Light blue represents water; light green represents plants, while dark blue and green represents our earth. Next to the water droplets is a yellow circle. It represents the sun, which as everyone very well knows, is the primary source of energy on earth.

The next thing on the president’s checklist of things to discuss is environmentally-friendly filing. After all, the purpose of this entire competition is to save the earth-one plant at a time. Using unrecycled paper results in the untimely death of many matured trees. It is a shame to see trees which have been providing oxygen for centuries being chopped down to produce paper. As a result, we have decided to start printing our herbs research findings on used paper before pasting them onto homemade recycled paper. Kudos to Azmina and Ili for undertaking the tedious chore of making enough recycled paper to keep this club running. As for files, we think that plastic files aren’t environmentally friendly in the sense that they cannot be recycled after we stop using them. Making our own files out of cardboard, thick ropes, and metal rings is a much better alternative. Besides, it looks good and it stands out!

We decided to make our plant labels out of used CD’s. After all, these CD’s will only end up in the trash sooner or later, so we decided to put them to good use. We will write the names of the plant on the shiny surfaces of the CD’s in permanent marker before covering the CD’s in plastic to protect them from the forces of nature. Well, not completely, but at least we won’t be seeing faded plant names anytime soon.

A walk to remember. (Sa-ter version)

Three of our team members were assigned to go on a trip to the University Of Malaya to take a look at their Rimba Ilmu (Botanical Garden) The selected team members who went with the teach advisor, Puan Yeo, were Chong Wei Theng, Chong Soo Sun and Uma Priya.

They went to the Rimba Ilmu in Puan Yeo's car. Because the members had not eaten their lunch and were basically starving at this point, Puan Yeo stopped at a certain restaurant with fammiliar golden arches, otherwise known as Mc' Donalds, whereby they satiated their hunger with takeaway burgers and fries in Puan Yeo's car because they were strapped for time.

Soon after they had finished eating, they arrived at the main building of the University Malaya's Rimba Ilmu and walked around the building searching for a kind-hearted soul who might lend them their assistance. They finally found a staff on the second floor who was more than happy to assist them and even gave a brief introduction to the Rimba Ilmu. He suggested that they write or contact the Malaysian Nature Society which organises nature-related trips based on the objectives of the trips the schools intended to have for the students. He then gave them some interesting brochures and flyers before showing them the way to the main entrance of the Rimba Ilmu located a stone's throw away.

They only had enough time to explore the herb garden. However, it was still worth the trip because they had the opportunity to see some unique and interesting plants which could rarely be found in Malaysia. Along the way, they took some pictures of the properly labeled and defined plants. The plants were obviously well-cared for as they were in pristine condition.

Despite the fact that the members only had enough time to explore the herb garden, they enjoyed themselves very much and are planning another trip to the beautiful Botanical garden soon with a larger group of students.

Feast your eyes on some of the pictures taken=)

ENJOY!!!

Some specimens of nature =)

First of all, I apologise for not updating sooner. There were no meetings in the past three weeks except for the photoshoot session held last Thursday due to the Hari Raya holidays and the PMR examinations. However, there will be a meeting on Monday next week (20/10/08).

The pictures taken last Thursday can be found in the "Proud To Be Introduced" post. Here are some of the pictures which have not been posted.

We are happy family =)



Meet The Plants =)