MALACCA: When you find yourself with general thrash such as used tissue paper or food wrappers, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron expects you "dirty your pockets and cars first."
That is instead of littering the city with waste, as Malacca ramps up its environmental protocol with the controversial ban on plastic bags already showing significant effects on the environment since it took effect on Jan 1.
"When we banned plastic bags, I heard a lot of noise. There were people saying this chief minister has gone crazy. I would have thought so too had I not realised the adverse effects on the environment," said Idris.
Speaking during the launch of the state level National Environment Day in Bukit Serindit near here, Idris reiterated the state government's go-green policy.
"Each plastic bag disposed innapropriately will clog our drainage systems and eventually damage the environment.
"We used to see 10,000 tonnes of plastic bag waste before, thus by the end of this year, with the ban in full force, we hope to see this reduced drastically to just 2,000 tonnes," said Idris.
He also called for the public to reduce open burning practices, having viewed the matter as serious after a spotting 21 sources of open burning in a short helicopter flight around Malacca.
"We hope everybody works together to make this effort work, for all of us not to be self-centric and think of the future and the environment, the land that we will hand over to our grandchildren," said Idris.
"In every move, people should remind themselves of this... Dirty your pockets and your cars first, before you dirty the environment.
"When you have such waste in your hands, like plastic bags or food wrappers, keep it in your pockets or leave them in your cars until you arrive home or until when you can dispose them properly."