GLOBETROTTERS WRITING PROMPT
Green is More Than Just a Color
Green is a way of life
I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I touched down in Kuala Lumpur. I knew it was the capital of Malaysia. I knew it was a city and I knew I wasn’t into cities.
I don’t like traffic jams, skyscrapers or crowds. I’m a person for nature, adventure and idyllic landscapes.
Yet, this city has shown me something I didn’t expect.
The first time I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, I took a taxi from the airport. I had read up on the train system but must have been too lazy, skeptical or scared to make use of the fast and easy connection to downtown.
As I was driving the highway into town I remember having an interesting conversation with the taxi driver. It was about the city, what I should expect and his pride on the country. Only much later would I understand what he meant.
I stayed for a few days in Kuala Lumpur and soon I wasn’t making use of taxis anymore but had learned the efficient use of public transport.
Just like in Europe, some would say. And yes, they are right. The public transport system I experienced in Kuala Lumpur was a lot like the ones I knew in Europe.
Just that it was more modern. It was paperless and trash less. It was faster and more efficient. It was friendlier and more helpful.
Whenever I got to a destination I’d see trees. In the middle of the road, in gardens and on top of skyscrapers.
I walked inside a jungle in the heart of the city. Yes, I stood under ancient rainforest trees and heard the birds and a river flowing while looking at the world-famous Petronas Tower.
And everything was so clean. I didn’t see much trash. Or plastic lying around.
I saw modern buses and trains underground. I saw development happening everywhere.
It was like looking into the future. An environmentally friendly one. One that managed to combine technology, modernity and nature in a perfect balance.
That was when I knew Kuala Lumpur was the greenest city I had ever seen.
Because green is more than just a color.
It’s a landscape, mindset and lifestyle.
And it starts with not spitting your chewing gum onto the street and continues with recycling your trash. It doesn’t end anywhere. There’s always more to do, more to reuse or reduce. But you don’t have to see the whole mountain of a green lifestyle at once.
Start small.
With a first step.
With that bloody chewing gum. Just throw it into the nearest bin and do not glue another bird’s beak closed with that chewed-out sweet.
If you're interested in travels to and through Malaysia, check out Gerad Carrier's article on using public transport in the country.
Or go to Linda Ng list where she shares over one hundred stories on her experiences traveling through Malaysia:
And then there is Ronald Smit talking straight on about my kind of green. The environment. Or where it gets destroyed. Yes, the state our Earth is in, is concerning.
This is a writing prompt to the Globetrotter’s monthly challenge. Read the submission guidelines here:
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