Who Are we?

The White Coffin has become a flagship for environmental activism on the USM campuses.  The idea was first put forward by a group of USM students in the middle of 2007, originally targeted at getting rid of polystyrene containers on our campuses.  The students were motivated by concerns for the environment because of the huge amount of rubbish generated its non-biodegradability, documented harm to marine life and potential contamination of ground water.  The image of the White Coffin captures the imagination of everyone who sees it because it evokes strong feelings and emotions tied to the health risks from prolonged exposure to styrene.  Though the research is still inconclusive even the Malaysian Ministry of Health have warned consumers to stop using polystyrene containers for hot and oily food because of the dangers of styrene migration to the human body.  Plastic manufacturers and other researchers dispute the health risks but acknowledge the problems arising from indiscriminate disposal of the containers.  But for many concerned environmentalists and health advocates, the only acceptable solution is to ban the use of these White Coffins.

At USM, we have succeeded in banning the use of polystyrene containers on the three campuses both at the cafeteria and for all events involving catering on the campuses.  Certainly we cannot claim 100% success as we do not penalize students or staff who buy their food outside and bring them into the campuses.  We will continue to appeal for their support through education and persuasion.  The success so far must be attributed to the strong support from many stakeholders including student’s bodies, individual students, cafeteria operators, staff and the unwavering support of the University’s top management including the Vice-Chancellor.

The White Coffin has now become the rallying call to achieve a sustainable campus by reducing consumtpion and waste.  Other activities being pursued by students include reduce and recycling campaigns, the environmental convocations, participation in the global effort to combat global warming through Earth Hour 2008, the Smart Energy Home campaign, etc.  At the University level, the Green Office programmed encourages everyone to take small steps to attain sustainability.

From the successes on the USM campuses, the students are now persuading their peers in the other 19 public universities in Malaysia to join them to push for a more sustainable lifestyle.  This website is the brainchild to Dato Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Vice-Chancellor of USM as our contribution to sustain The White Coffin beyond our campuses.