Developer collaborates with social enterprise to hold festival that promotes upcycling

A water fountain at Eco Sky.

VISITORS at Ecoworld Gallery got a glimpse of creative uses for recyclable items that were discarded.

Property developer Eco World Development Group Bhd (Ecoworld) collaborated with social enterprise Biji-biji Initiative to organise Ecofestival at Ecoworld’s Eco Sky project site in Jalan Ipoh to spread awareness on “upcycling”.

Ecoworld president and chief executive officer Datuk Chang Khim Wah said the company focused on upcycling because the company was always looking for fresh approaches and pushing the bar in finding innovative means of reducing carbon footprint.

“Through various art installations, we hope to shed light on upcycling as a way to create a positive difference for the environment.

In upcycling, discarded objects or materials are used to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.

The Ecoworld Gallery itself is a perfect example of upcycling, as it is built from 27 used shipping containers to create the Eco Sky sales gallery and show unit.

Biji-biji Initiative founder Gurpreet Singh Dhillon introduced the exhibits to members of the media.

“The main highlight is the ‘Tree of Life’ created out of bicycle rims, used plastic bottles and scrap metal.

“The lights fixed on the tree are powered by a generator connected to a bicycle.

“Anyone who wants to see the tree light up in its full glory will have to use their own energy to ‘power’ it up.

“Similar technology is also used at a juice counter where buyers have to cycle and create electricity to give power to the blender and make their smoothies,” he said.

Gurpreet said their main idea was for people to see the potential of waste materials as well as have fun playing with the exhibits.

“Besides the tree, there is also singing pool table where sounds and graphic waves are created through the human body interacting with water, as well as the singing garden where sounds are created by touching plants that are hooked up to a sensor system,” he said.

All the furniture at the event were made from discarded tree branches and containers.

There was also a colourful shade made of pieces of lycra.

The event from 4pm until 10pm attracted a big crowd, some of whom joined educational workshops on composting, bottle gardening and pallet furniture-making.

It was the third and final leg of the festival which took place in Penang and Iskandar Malaysia on two other consecutive Saturdays.

As a festival is never complete without food, there are food trucks selling soft-shell crab burgers, tacos, hotdogs and croquettes served up with biodegradable utensils.

There were also performances by Drum Circle, freestyle circus, jugglers and Malaysian artiste Jes Ebrahim.