Worm, Algae & Mangroove. American Chemical Society (ACS) Malaysia Chapter Addressing Public Awareness during Chemist Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW)
By: ChM. Dr. Mohd Sukor Su’ait and Jane Gew Lai Ti
Save Earth, save a life, save us all. A margin of life is developed by Nature for all living things – including man. All life forms obey Nature’s demands – except man, who has found ways of ignoring them. With our climate is changing, why aren’t we? We shall have to stop denying that the world is dying.
ACS Malaysia Chapter intensified its committment to reduce world’s carbon footprint through the series of public awareness program during Chemist Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW), April 16th – 21st, 2023 with the theme, “The Curious Chemistry of Amazing Algae”. This tiny efforts would be a way to demonstrate support for a healthy environment, raise public awareness about environmental issues, and remind people that we all need to contribute to a sustainable planet.
Chemist Celebrate Earth Week is a community-based program of the American Chemical Society, administered by the ACS Office of Science Outreach. This annual program unites every individuals and institutions in communicating the positive role that chemistry plays in the world.
Even the Earth Day is observed on April 22, but CCEW is designed to be celebrated throughout the week. The celebration is kick-started with Hands-on Vermicomposting Workshop in collaboration with Sunway University on 15 April 2023. In supporting SDG12 Responsible Consumption and Production, this workshop addressed food waste management by providing an alternative to decompost households food waste, one of key factors for excess amount of nutrient, e.g. ammonia, nitrate and phosphorus – in wastewater which later contributed to Algae blooms, and created imbalances water parameters and low dissolved oxygen level. This workshop was led by the experts in the field, Dr. Grace Yap, Mr. Lim Wai Kheong, and Ms. Celine Tan. It was attended by 14 households who wish to better their household food waste. Official lead coordinator of CCEW’s Malaysia, Dr. Jane Gew mentioned “approximately 31% to 45% of the total waste generated in Malaysia comes from food waste alone and households are the biggest contributor which stands at about 44.5%”.
The following event is conducted in collaboration with ACS UM Student Chapter and supported by ACS Publications together with Access Dunia addressing “Algae: The Amazing Creatures on earth” by Ts. Dr. Wong Chiew Yen, IMU. Followed by “Unveiling the Hidden Dangers of Algae: Harmful Algal Blooms, Toxins, Food Safety Security” by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Leaw Chui Pin (IOES, UM). The session is designed to be interactive by having online quizzes, polls, or games, to make the event more engaging.
Whereas, ACS UKM Student Chapter dessiminated infographics on Algae,what makes them so attractive and wide variety of benefits associated with how and where they grow. It is also higlighted how harmful they are during excessive growth.
The finale of the celebration series on May 6th, 2023 by ACS USM student chapter which will hold CCEW event with the theme “The importance of Mangrove Tree” will highlights how mangrove communities provide an ideal ecosystems for micro and macroalgae to play a vital role in food. Moreover, the knowledge of the biotic indicators; the dynamics of algal diversity and algal pollution indices is now being explore to monitor the microalgae assemblage response to environmental change in the mangrove forest.
To quote the late Franklin Roosevelt, once said “A nation that destroys its soils… destroys itself… Forests are the lungs of our land,… purifying the air and giving fresh strength.. to our people.” Thus, every decision we make can build or break the ground beneath our feet. With that, let’s raise our voice against every act of harming the Earth and speak up for the trees!
For more information please contact ChM. Dr. Mohd Sukor Su’ait, Chair (2022-2024), ACS Malaysia Chapter, at acsmalaysiachapter@gmail.com.
April 15th, 2023
April 18th, 2023
April 18th, 2023
April 16th – 21st, 2023
May 6th, 2023