An ambitious but hopeful goal was set by Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli a week ago when he launched Singapore’s Year Towards Zero Waste.
The year-long campaign aims to raise awareness of waste issues in Singapore and highlight the need for Singaporeans to consciously treasure resources and play their part in protecting the environment.
Singapore’s only landfill, Semakau, is projected to run out of space by 2035. Domestic recycling rates have hovered at a low 20% for the past few years. Supermarkets here give out two million plastic bags a day and only 2% of them are recycled.
But a growing movement could stem the tide. Zero waste is a concept that aims to send nothing to a landfill by continually reusing and regenerating resources in what is known as a circular economy.
Once practised by a niche group, more people are now aspiring to a zero-waste lifestyle.
Ms Pek Hai Lin, manager of non-profit group Zero Waste SG, says it is heartening to see the movement gaining traction with the public.
“Hopefully, it will go beyond just a trend and people can engage with the concept of zero waste on a more intimate and personal level in the long run,” the 31-year-old adds.
She says the key to successfully transiting to a zero-or low-waste lifestyle is a mindset shift on how people consume in their daily lives.
The Sunday Times speaks to three eco-conscious individuals who have made significant adjustments to move towards a zero-waste lifestyle.
HE RARELY BUYS VEGETABLES OR PAYS FOR ELECTRICITY
Once a week, civil servant Ong Chun Yeow walks a couple of blocks to harvest vegetables for his dinners that week.
In a 1m by 4m raised garden bed on the rooftop of a multi-storey carpark in Yishun, the 42-year-old grows mani cai, ulam raja, butterfly pea plant and Malabar spinach, among other edible greens.
He also takes with him a small tub of organic waste, mainly consisting of vegetable scraps from his meals, to add to his compost bin. Over time, the waste breaks down into a nutrient-rich organic fertiliser for use in his garden.
To ensure his food waste can be turned into compost easily, Mr Ong follows mainly a plant-based diet as composting meat requires a more complicated set-up and takes a much longer time.
He won the small garden plot through a ballot in 2016 in the neighbourhood’s Community In Bloom Initiative shortly after moving into his three-room Housing Board flat. Setting it up cost him $500 in materials and he had to pay a refundable deposit to the National Parks Board for the space.
He learnt to garden with Edible Garden City, an urban farming social enterprise.
Another way Mr Ong lowers his impact on the Earth is by reducing his use of water and electricity so as not to put unnecessary pressure on natural resources.
His water and electricity use is so low – it is a third of the national average – that the utility rebate he receives is usually enough to cover his bills.
“It’s about changing the mindset…” he says.
He believes adopting a circular economy approach – in which resources are recycled and regenerated endlessly – is the best way to minimise his impact on the environment.
To inspire people to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle, he regularly conducts monthly workshops in his free time on what is called ecological literacy.
He teaches people about their plastic consumption in a bid to shift away from the conventional “buy and throw away” mindset and suggests small changes to live a low-waste lifestyle.
His next project is to create “eco bricks” by stuffing clean, dry soft plastics such as food wrappers and fabric scraps into empty bottles he collects from a friend. These solidly packed bottles can be stuck together to make modular pieces that can be stacked and arranged into furniture such as a stool or a table.
Last year, he created an art piece out of hundreds of eco bricks and exhibited it at eco-conscious festival Green Is The New Black.
Mr Ong is also active in various burgeoning green communities, such as Journey To Zero Waste Life In Singapore, a Facebook group with more than 9,000 members.
HOW MUCH WASTE CAN ONE PERSON SAVE?
“How much of a difference can one person make?”
That was the pointed remark from an acquaintance when project consultant Khee Shihui started carrying around a reusable container, coffee cup and utensils in 2017.
She had made a personal commitment to cut down on single-use disposables, such as styrofoam boxes, paper coffee cups and plastic forks and spoons, in her life.
Her tally on the number of single-use disposables she avoided for the whole of last year (2018) was 246 plastic straws, 199 paper and styrofoam cups and 420 pieces of single-use utensils, among other items.
What she cut down on using most were single-use bags. Using a tote bag meant she avoided using 438 plastic bags and 62 paper bags.
She has documented her eco-friendly journey on her Instagram account @tabaogirl.
These days, the reusable daily essentials in her bag also include a silicone bag for her favourite bubble tea, a produce bag for groceries, a handkerchief instead of tissues and mini ice cream spoons.
She hopes to steer the “bring your own” conversation she has with friends, family and strangers into something that is verifiable and tangible.
“Disposables are so common these days that if you don’t slow down to notice, you won’t think twice about taking that plastic straw or extra plastic bag.”
She is mindful not to impose her lifestyle on others as changing one’s habits has to be a personal choice, she says.
Instead, what she will do is bring enough plates and cutlery from her home to social gatherings where disposables are used and offer them to her friends as an alternative.
At one company event, she collected used plastic water bottles to recycle them.
“I’m just helping people to see the possibilities of choice and extending an invitation,” she says.
For her wedding in May last year, she requested Bettr Barista, a mobile coffee service, to serve her guests coffee in reusable ceramic mugs and glassware instead of the usual paper coffee cup. She spent a few hundred dollars more for the extra logistics involved.
OLD CLOTHES AND TOYS FOR THIS BOY
Stay-at-home mum Liu Wen Hsin keeps a spreadsheet of the exact number of toys her two-year-old son, Spencer, has in his playroom.
The main reason she does this is to ensure she does not buy too many of the same type of toys. She also encourages her friends and family to check with her before giving Spencer toys to prevent duplicates.
Keeping track of her son’s toys is one way she avoids unnecessary purchases that will go to waste and end up in a landfill.
She has no qualms about buying second-hand toys as well, such as high-quality wooden ones, rather than spend on cheap plastic playthings.
Other items she gets second-hand are cloth diapers, which she cleans and sanitises before use.
Ms Liu and her husband Marcus Lowe, 31, a compliance manager at a bank, decided early on to go for reusable diapers as disposable ones are not environment-friendly.
According to the United States-based Real Diaper Association, it takes hundreds of years for a disposable diaper to decompose in the landfill.
The only time they use disposable diapers is when the family goes overseas.
To cut wastage even further, the couple use cloth wipes instead of disposable wet wipes to clean Spencer’s bottom when changing diapers. He also wears only clothes given as gifts or hand-me-downs. Ms Liu has purchased just three outfits for him since he was born.
They also prefer not to use tissues and kitchen towels in their home, opting for handkerchiefs and cloth rags instead.
Having studied and worked in Sydney, Australia, for eight years prior to having Spencer, where the zero-waste movement caught on earlier, the couple were already actively reducing waste in their daily lives.
But it was only in 2017, after Ms Liu joined the Facebook group Journey To Zero Waste Life In Singapore, which has more than 9,000 members, that she ramped up her zero-waste efforts.
“I wasn’t aware of how much more I could do in my home until I joined the community and saw all the other ways people were reducing their waste. I knew I had to do something,” she says.
Now, she uses solely “eco enzymes” – a fermented solution made with fruit peel, sugar and water – to clean her home and has swopped bottled body-care products for bar soap and bar shampoo.
These days, the main bulk of the trash the family produces revolves around dried-goods packaging as Ms Liu bakes frequently and uses a large amount of flour and oats. In an effort to reduce the amount of packaging she throws away, she buys the biggest package available.
“It’s the general sense of taking care of the environment and what we’ve been given. We can all do more by making small changes in our homes and day-to-day lives,” says Ms Liu.
Read more here.
Source: The Straits Times, 20 January 2019