Here are some da bao messages I leave you as you go about your day having a brief insight of the zero waste experience in Singapore:
- Start small. One thing I realised from the experience is that the first step is the hardest and it gets easier from there. Gradually, the act of practicing zero waste in one aspect spreads out to other aspects.
- Being more conscious. Knowing the limited options I have with shops and restaurants, I got into the habit of planning ahead of time where I want to be and what I need to bring. In fact, when it came to shopping, I had less of a tendency to overspend because I had a grocery shopping list (Overall, I actually saved money!)
- Social norms are really powerful. Even after a few days of asking fast-food chain and cafes if I could get my ice-cream/fried chicken/Coke Zero in my reusables, there was this unsettling feeling that people were staring at me as if I was committing a crime. Most of the time, there wasn’t but these responses are so deeply ingrained in me that ignoring it was quite a hurdle.
- Don’t knock it till you try it. I used to think that I can never be that person who studies using a computer because I got so used to writing all my notes by hand. I even thought I won’t be able to study properly when I have no food to munch on; turns out, I wasn’t hungry most of the time, just bored. So when you say, “I can’t imagine my life not using plastic grocery bags”, is that coming from a place of certainty or hypotheticals? I leave that for you to figure out.
- Encourage everyone to try it. Even if you don’t live completely zero waste, the challenge is a good testbed to see what you actually can and can’t live without.
P.S. For illustration purposes, here are some things I can (probably) live without:
- takeaway containers
- plastic straws
- plastic utensils
- bubbletea cup
- plastic bottles
- wet wipes
- disposable masks
- liquid soap (it’s actually really fun to make your own from bar soaps)
- toothpaste (tube)
- plastic grocery bags
- paper notes
- chips and snacks (at least for studying)
(For possible alternatives, refer to left side of photo below)
| 2-Week Vlog | Zero Waste |