The Main Lodge renovation at Borneo Rainforest Lodge was completed a couple of months ago and I’ll post some professional quality images in due course.
Meanwhile we’re just about done finishing off the remaining 4 Standard chalets and these will be back in use by the start of July.
These renovations are based on two original designs which we have adapted to into four unique new room types.
The design principles have stayed true to our original philosophy of creating cool and comfortable rooms without air conditioning
We have achieved this by following passive design principles of thermal insulation, thermal mass and natural ventilation.
Most of the timber is reclaimed from a former timber sawmill building, water is heated by the sun and light fittings use LED bulbs.
These designs differ to previous rooms in that their location near to the main lodge means that we had to get creative with the windows and balconies to provide privacy but not at the expense of natural light and the feeling of connection to the rainforest around you.
Tags: Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Chalets, Danum Valley, Malaysia, Sabah
“We only use biodegradable plastic”. This was a claim made by a resort hotel in support of their responsible tourism policy. Upon further investigation the claim was clarified to mean degradable plastic.
Some plastics marked as ‘degradable’ might not be as environmentally-friendly as consumers think. The implications go beyond greenwashing. In our rush to damn plastic bags and bottles, environmentalists may have compromised efforts to recycle.
Degradable plastic turns out to mean that the plastic will quickly break down into small pieces under influence of light and oxygen. This seems like a good idea given concern about the volume of plastic waste that ends up in landfill or in the sea.
The problem is that these small pieces are still not necessarily biodegradable and it is unclear how long they will persist in the environment and whether they are harmful. Sea turtles may not choke on a discarded degradable plastic bag but there is still a risk that plastic residues that they ingest will be toxic.
The alternative to plastic packaging is paper or reusable fabric bags. Hygiene concerns aside, life cycle analysis shows that it is too close to call which is more environmentally friendly. The debate about pollution by plastic bottles, bags and packaging has therefore reached the point where most are agreed that it is not the plastic itself which is the problem as much as how we dispose of it.
Plastic is recyclable so throwing it away not only causes pollution but wastes a valuable resource.
The real disaster of degradable plastic is that when it is mixed with other plastics during recycling, the end product will be worth less. This would make recycling of plastic less effective and is an unfortunate side effect of environmentalist’s ban-the-bag campaigns.
Surely a ban on degradable plastic would be more appropriate and the issue of non-degradable plastic tackled through recycling incentives and/or a switch to truly biodegradable or compostable plastic?
The latter may not be derived from petroleum at all and can instead be made from plant based products such as corn starch upon which bacteria are happy to chomp. Corn starch bags are being trialled by my colleagues at Borneo Rainforest Lodge and the sample I have been given has held up very well.
The moral of the story? People, like water, will take the path of least resistance. It’s easier to keep producing plastic packaging and to add a little extra to the mix than to change to an alternative product. It’s easier still to believe the greenwash.
Further reading
Unbiased summary from the Royal Society of Chemistry
A critical report on environmental claims of oxy-degradable plastics
DEFRA commissioned Loughborough University Report
Industry comment by Packaging News.co.uk on the Loughborough Report
A company that sells degradable bags and chemicals that can be added to plastic bags to make them degradable.
Correspondence in New Straits Times, Malaysia about a plastic bag ban
Letter from Gary Phong, Selangor Branch Chairman, Malaysian Nature Society
Response from Lim Kok Boon, Chairman Malaysian Plastics Forum
Related posts
Tags: Biogdegradable Plastic, Degradable Plastic, Environmentalism, Greenwashing, Responsible Tourism
Nuclear Power has been in the Malaysian news recently after their government gave the go ahead for a nuclear power plant to begin operating from 2021
Environmentalists and NIMBY’s are usually vocal in their opposition to such announcements and indeed the Malaysia Nature Society has been debating the issue for some time before the government announcement. As an environmentalist and a disciple of James Lovelock I felt the need to weigh in on the debate with a letter to the editor of Malaysian Naturalist magazine which was published last month
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Sir,
I have read in Malaysian Naturalist recently arguments against nuclear power. This has prompted me to write a letter to the editor to come out of the closet as an environmentalist who is in favour of nuclear power.
I don’t believe that we can change our energy consumptive behaviour quickly enough to avoid climate change. Therefore we need an instant low carbon way to generate power. Nuclear power seems to be the only technology that we have available right here, right now, that can do the job.
Opponents will talk of alternatives; but wind, hydro, tidal and biomass all have their own environmental costs or are unproven, solar is promising but does not work at night, hydrogen is not so much a source of power as a good way to store it and clean coal does not exist. Only natural gas seems viable as our other option for a low carbon fuel.
The high cost of disposing of radioactive waste is often highlighted as a downside of nuclear power. In fact I see this as contributing to its credibility. Nuclear power generation is one of the few industries that is forced to pay the environmental clean up costs of its operation. Most other industries cut and run leaving others to deal with their mess.
Of course any debate about nuclear power eventually comes down to one key factor; we’re scared of it. My feeling is that although the dangers are real, they are over-exaggerated by paranoia. I liken this to the relative danger of air travel versus car travel. Many more people are killed by car travel but in our minds air travel is much more dangerous because each incident is more catastropic.
Then finally we come to the issue closest to my heart which is environmental conservation. For this point I refer you to an ongoing debate about the wildlife that apparently thrives in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl (the site of the world’s most catastropic nuclear accident). The science is still unclear as to exactly how much damage has been caused to wildlife at Chernobyl but analysis seems clear on one thing; that the benefits to wildlife of removing people from the zone, have far outweighed any harm from radiation.
In this I support James Lovelock (Author of the Gaia Theory) by saying, let’s dump our low level nuclear waste in the rainforest. It will cause far less environmental damage than logging or plantations and we can turn paranoia about nuclear power to the benefit of conservation by keeping people away from the area. We will also have responsibly generated low carbon energy to keep up with demand.
Sincerely
Ian Hall
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Further reading:
Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy
The Mystery if Chernobyl
Related posts
Tags: Chernobyl, Environmentalism, Ian Hall, James Lovelock, Malaysia, Malaysia Nature Society, Malaysian Naturalist, Nuclear Power
Sarah Greenlees is Arkitrek’s 2nd intern and came to Sabah in November 2009 to help oversee the renovation of the main lodge building at Borneo Rainforest Lodge. Her contribution was essential as the tight timescale and unpredictable nature of renovation work meant that an architect was required on site full time.
Although the lodge was closed for the duration of the renovation work, luckily for Sarah not all the kitchen and restaurant staff were on holiday. Sumptuous meals on the balcony with contactor and clients became the norm, interrupted only by the antics of wild gibbons, red leaf monkeys and orangutans.
Sarah’s diligence and thoroughness helped us keep up with contractor’s requests for information and on top of this she found time to produce construction drawings for four chalet types still to be renovated plus a landscaping plan for the grounds of the lodge.
The rainforest and it’s wriggly inhabitants are not everyone’s cup of tea but Sarah quickly felt at home in the network of forest trails around the lodge. In her wanderings she developed a fascination for the strangler figs that are a keystone species in the ecosystem. You can find Sarah’s beautiful sketches of fig trees in her blog post.
We tried to tempt Sarah to stay longer with sojourns on tropical coral islands but sadly you can’t travel after your passport has expired and so she had to return to Scotland!
Related posts
Tags: Arkitrek, Borneo, Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Intern, Malaysia, Sabah, Sarah Greenlees
Semai Sayang (to sow love) is a social enterprise where an animal friendly retreat, dog lodging and organic orchard will subsidise animal welfare advocacy and the use of specially trained animals for therapy and companionship.
The project will also support research and testing of sustainable buildings, infrastructure and agriculture. Partnerships with local and overseas universities and organisations are being built to design and monitor performance of elements of the project and to share what we learn.
Arkitrek is working on the design brief and masterplan for the 14 acre site near Bentong in Pahang, Malaysia. We are also coordinating a student design competition with Taylor’s University College to identify ideas and to give students an opportunity to be directly involved in the project documentation and construction.
Once the students have submitted their proposals we will select the most promising ideas and work these into the first phase of construction due to start in late 2010.
Keep an eye on this project category of the blog for more images and news in due course.
Tags: Animal Welfare, Dogs, Malaysia, orchard, Pahang, Responsible Tourism, Sustainable Design
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