User Perception on The Waste Utilization in The Upcycled Garden Design at Taman Samudera, Seri Manjung Perak

Many cities becoming unsustainable due to the massive volumes of unrecycled municipal garbage that end up in suburban landfills. Our culture, on the other hand, appears to be generating trash in an almost inevitable manner. However, in the recent years, the merits of using salvaged and upcycled materials are started to be addressed in the landscape design and recently arose in the hardscape construction. This highlights the importance of educating people, raising awareness and promoting a better way of dealing with solid waste. Based on studies conducted in Taman Samudera, Seri Manjung, Perak, this paper attempts to analyze the user perception on the waste utilization for the upcycled garden design. This quantitative research was conducted in two phases; Phase 1; to study the user awareness, user acceptance and user preference on the upcycling hardscape and Phase 2; to propose a landscape master plan of the upcycled garden. The respondent (n=92) involved in this study are the residents of Taman Samudera, Seri Manjung, Perak. It shows that most of the respondents were aware and accepted the use of recycled materials in the upcycled garden. The finding indicates that the highest mean score for preferred recycled material used for hardscape construction were plastic bottles, tyres, and Compact Discs were suitable to be included in the master plan of the upcycled garden. The proposed Upcycled Garden at Taman Samudera, Seri Manjung, Perak will be a valuable recreational area that is environmental friendly while educating the public tackling the serious issues of poor recycling rates and waste management in Malaysia.