Wednesday March 11, 2009

Garbage enzyme used to clean market

By OH ING YEEN

THE Petaling Jaya Section 17 Community and Hawkers Association has come up with an affordable yet effective way to clean the market.

Tan Yew Leong, who heads the association’s hygiene committee, said they started using the garbage enzyme two months ago.

“We saw it in the newspapers and decided to try it. It costs about RM1,000 and the jet spray, which is used to spray the market with the enzyme, costs about RM600.

Tired and tested: Lim(right) Tan with the eco-friendly garbage enzyme.

“All you need is a bin, water, brown sugar/molasses as well as vegetable and fruit scraps, which we get free of charge from the hawkers. The mix is then kept in a bin for three months to ferment.

“Only one litre of enzyme is needed to clean the entire stretch of the market. As a result, there are less flies and no odour. It also reduces litter as the leftover vegetables and fruits are used to make the enzyme.

“I hope that hawkers in other areas could try using the enzyme. We are willing to share the knowledge,” said Tan, who is passionate about recycling.

Association chairman Lim Keh Seng said there was good response from the hawkers.

“Residents can also get the enzyme from us and we will teach them how to make it. Hence, we can educate people about recycling and environment preservation at the same time.”

He added that two workers were hired to clean the market from 7am to 2pm at RM1,000 each per month.

Both of them also use the enzyme at home as it also doubles up as a natural household cleaner. It can be used as an organic fertiliser, dish wash and shampoo.

To make your own garbage enzyme, the ratio is 1kg of brown sugar and 3kg of vegetables and fruit scraps to 10 litres of water.

For details, call Tan at 013-333 0202 or browse the Internet for more information.