Packaging waste produced by the cosmetics industry is a growing concern in Singapore characterised by the excessive use of single-use plastics. In 2019, Singapore retailed 142 million units of beauty and personal care packaging, and majority of cosmetic packaging ends up in Singapore’s only landfill Pulau Semakau.
To raise awareness of this issue, Bin There, Done That, the first public communication campaign in Singapore designed to educate and encourage 19 to 25-year-old undergraduates in Singapore to reduce cosmetics packaging waste was launched. The campaign rides on the message of engaging in the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) of sustainable cosmetics packaging.
Through a three-prong approach of reduce, reuse, and recycle, the team sought to empower youths to reduce the cosmetics packaging waste they generate. This was achieved through both online and on-ground tactics formulated with the purpose of educating the campaign’s target audience, influencing their attitudes and getting them to engage in sustainable cosmetics packaging behaviour.
What are some of the common misconceptions people have about cosmetics packaging? Watch the video below to find out.
The Highlights
Sharing of personal sustainability stories through videos.
The project used both online and offline tactics to engage their target audience. The team released various videos over the course of the campaign, with their main series being “My Sustainability Journey”. The seven-episode series featured different individuals, all advocating for sustainability in some way, sharing about their journey and how they started out. The videos were posted on their website and social media channels.
Exhibitions in local Institutes of Higher Learning.
The campaign was also held two-week exhibitions at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) to spread the word on reducing, reusing and recycling cosmetics packaging. This was the first time the team would be designing the materials from scratch, as well as setting up both areas.
They also included a bin for undergraduates to donate their empty cosmetic bottles, collecting a total of 162 bottles. Some of them were given to NTU Hall 12’s Overseas Volunteering Expedition Team, in support of Soap Cycling Singapore’s distribution of soap to migrant workers and low-income families. The rest were then sent to in-store recycling programmes at L’Occitane and RE:ERTH.
Garner participation of campaign.
The team also created a social media calendar with giveaways to entice their target audience to participate. These posts included educational blurbs, video snippets and giveaways.
The team crafted each post to best educate their target audience on the topic of sustainable cosmetics packaging. They also worked closely with various sponsors for giveaways, which they felt was an important learning point in running their campaign.
The Memories
Reflection #1 – The Challenges
Lukewarm response from non-profit and non-governmental organisations.
Despite reaching out to 117 organisations, the responses the campaign received were lukewarm, with less than a 50% response rate. The team reached out to non-profit, non-governmental organisations including Zero Waste SG, Singapore Environment Council and National Environment Agency for partnerships but were turned down due to a lack of capacity on their side to engage in the project or no response was forthcoming.
In February 2021, the team was invited by the Centre for a Responsible Future (CRF) to join Ecosperity Festival 2021, organised by Temasek and CRF, as a workshop partner for webinars. However, this invitation was later rescinded due to misalignment of the topic with their food waste-related themes. Consequently, the team assessed that their topic is generally a new area and not a priority issue for non-profit or government organisations to advocate for.
Difficult for consumers to identify if a product is sustainably packaged.
There is still a lack of information for consumers to identify if packaging is sustainable. Although the National Environment Agency implemented the Logo for Products with Reduced Packaging (LPRP), the use of this logo is not widely adopted. Moreover, the first report for the NEA Mandatory Packaging Reporting framework will only be published in 2022. Thus, for the campaign, the team was limited to making general suggestions for obvious low-waste and zero-waste options such as bar soaps, a refillery and refill pouches. With more information and uptake of the LPRP in the future, consumers can be more certain when making purchase decisions.
Additionally, as Singapore imports most cosmetics products, interpretation of recycling labels is not as straightforward, with some of them in foreign languages, and others having no labels at all. The lack of proper labeling is an additional barrier to recycling cosmetics packaging.
Unable to conduct more physical outreach due to COVID-19.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, physical events were limited to 50 people per venue and interaction between people was prohibited. This greatly reduced the opportunity for organising engagement activities and interactions with participants. Additionally, COVID-19 regulations resulted in schools limiting visitors. As the team was considered ‘visitors’ to NUS, they were not allowed to hold events on the main NUS campus. Instead, the exhibition was located off the main campus at Yale-NUS College, resulting in reduced footfall.
Most of the campaign had to be conducted digitally, although on-ground tactics with interactivity may be more effective in influencing attitudes and encouraging behavioural change.
Reflection #2 – The Takeaways
Persistence despite the difficulties faced because of the current health situation/restrictions.
The team realised the importance of perseverance in maneuvering through COVID-19. Despite being advised to not host any physical events, the team decided to push for more on-ground exhibitions as they believed that physical exposure was essential in driving behavioural change. However, they were met with countless rejections due to the restrictions. It was through this where the team learned to be flexible and to keep looking for alternative solutions.
Although the campaign had to make do with an exhibition with no interactive materials and a place with less footfall, the team was glad to have executed their on-ground tactics and impacted their target audience.
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