Through Zero Waste Malaysia, Khor Sue Yee is helping to educate the public to rethink their trash and recycling habits
When Khor Sue Yee was growing up, recycling was part of her family's lifestyle. But the idea of producing zero waste? Not so much.
Having studied chemical and environmental engineering, Khor was set to graduate from college in 2015. But tragedy struck when she lost her youngest brother to cancer that same year. The loss left her struggling and searching for a greater purpose in life.
Soon, she started watching Ted Talk videos to stay inspired and motivated. That’s when she chanced upon a talk by Lauren Singer, an American environmental activist who collected all the waste she created in a 470ml mason jar. The talk spurred her to embark on her own zero-waste journey following her move to Beijing for a job as a technical engineer.
In 2016, she returned home and co-founded Zero Waste Malaysia, a non-profit organisation with a community of more than 40,000 members.
Khor shares how we can all start working towards a zero-waste lifestyle, the challenges she faced in her own journey and what is next for her non-profit.
Read more: This non-profit is tackling food wastage and poverty by using surplus food
I had always practised recycling at home. I initially thought I had fulfilled my civic duty as long as I threw my trash in the bin. After listening to Lauren Singer's talk and [hearing about] her lifestyle, I was inspired to adopt the zero-waste lifestyle when I worked overseas. I would document my journey on social media. That’s how I met Aurora Tin, [my co-founder at Zero Waste Malaysia]. She invited me to join a zero-waste community on Facebook and the rest is history.
I used to get frustrated when people didn't understand why we practised this way of life. But I realised everyone has different priorities in life, and we must lead by example and slowly inspire those around us.
Every journey begins with a single step. Even if you start bringing your reusable water bottle to work, that’s part of the zero-waste movement. Many people feel overwhelmed by the zero-waste lifestyle because they fear the conveniences they must sacrifice to adopt it.
Zero Waste Malaysia operates a resourceful website to educate the public. We have a map showing the locations of organisations and shops nationwide that provide zero-waste solutions. We launched Malaysia’s first trash “encyclopedia”, which displays the recyclability of items and offers alternative zero-waste solutions. We also work with financial institutions to educate their employees on sustainable practices. We deliver talks to share about the zero-waste lifestyle and conduct immersive two-week programmes to encourage employees to take action.
See more honourees from the Sustainability category of the Gen.T List 2022.