Gold: The dark truth behind your jewelry. IPEN Steering Committee member Yuyun  Ismawati who is also a senior advisor of NEXUS3 Foundation in Indonesia was interviewed for this feature video from the German media outlet DW Planet. 

In 2022, with the support of the Korea Financial Industry Foundation, Wonjin Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health, together with four NGOs (CCI, CGFED, CAP, and IDIS) in Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines, analyzed pesticides at seven villages where pesticides are being used. The degree of pesticide contamination was analyzed in the residents of the spraying area, food, and the environment inside and outside the households. As a result of the analysis, many pesticides classified as highly toxic were detected, even banned ones. Pesticides were contaminating the household environment as well as threatening food safety, as a significant amount remained in edible crops, leading significant amounts of pesticide exposure were identified in the bodies of farmers as well as their spouses and children. This video summarizes and shares analysis results.

Greeners Action Hongkong launched their recycling and reuse campaign with more than 97 companies and institutions participating this year setting up over 250 recycling points in Hongkong. According to the organization, the "Lai See Reuse and Recycle Program" has been running for the past 14 years and is expecting more than eight million used red packets to be collected this year.

Mother Earth Foundation, in partnership with GAIA Zero Waste Asia, Ayala Malls TriNoma, and DENR- EMB National Capital Region, launched the celebration of Zero Waste Month this January 2023 with a Flash Mob dance performance. The date also marked Refuse Single Use Day. It was participated in by 300 volunteers from different groups in the Philippines.

ECOTON, Indonesia: 80% of Respondents Say the Government Ignores River Management in Indonesia
The Nusantara River Expedition Team from March 2022 to December 2022 has conducted a survey on public perceptions of river management in Indonesia with a total of 1188 respondents who are domiciled in 166 cities in 30 provinces. 92% of respondents stated that the river ecosystem is very important for human life and supports Indonesia’s development, but 82% stated that the Indonesian government still ignores river management in Indonesia, the impact is that 68 Indonesian rivers are polluted with microplastics originating from shards of plastic waste thrown into rivers, Indonesia is a country the second fastest in the world in the extinction of freshwater fish. 

In celebration of the Zero Waste Month and the 23rd signing anniversary of the Philippine Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, the City Government of Baguio in partnership with the Environmental Management Bureau - Department of Environment and Natural Resources (EMB-DENR) Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), the EcoWaste Coalition, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), and Zero Waste Baguio, Inc. organized a Zero Waste Management Fair on January 26 to 27, 2023 at the Malcolm Square, Baguio City, Philippines.

Taiwan's environmental protection group held a press conference on January 10 to request the Tsai government not to allow the Environmental Protection Agency Director Zhang Zijing to be reorganised after the Spring Festival, and pointed out that Zhang Zijing had been in office to protect the environment According to the group, the relaxation of the environmental protection mechanisms has led to serious waste disposal and abuse of waste, making at least three business waste burial sites and three business incinerators in Changhu Industrial Zone, and waste disposal in rural areas.

Environmental watchdog group BAN Toxics, along with other environmental protection advocates, calls on the nation to promote “zero waste” as a principle and practice to reduce toxic and waste pollution in the Philippines in time for Zero Waste Month. “It has been 10 years since Presidential Proclamation No. 760 was signed into law, and yet the issues of toxics and wastes still exist. In order to achieve and embrace zero waste in our lives, we must work together by implementing and promoting toxics and wastes reduction programs, especially at the community level,” said Rey San Juan Jr, Executive Director of BAN Toxics.

In celebration of #ZeroWasteMonth, Ecowaste Coalition, Greenpeace Philippines, Oceana Philippines, GAIA Asia Pacific (Zero Waste Asia), Mother Earth Foundation, and Health Care Without Harm - Asia launched #PlasticFreeSaSenate at the Senate of the Philippines with the Office of Sen. Loren Legarda and the Climate Change Commission.
Kicking off the month-long activities are a photo exhibit showing the impacts of the plastic crisis to the environment and everyday life, and a press briefing on why we need the Single-Use Plastic Regulation and Management Act to reduce plastic production and usage.
Urge our leaders to support policies that ensure a #PlasticFreeFuture. Say yes to #ZeroWaste and refuse single-use! #BreakFreeFromPlastic and support a #PlasticFreePilipinas >> act.gp/reuserevolution

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