5 practical tips to be a Planeteer

Can your household’s daily trash fit in a mason jar?

Let’s do the sums. A mason jar can typically hold about 500ml of stuff, which is the same volume as a medium size Gong Cha tea. Our daily trash includes morning kopi cups, baby wipes, leftovers and food packaging. All of that might fit if it is blended into a gravy of waste, but that uses extra electricity and is not the focus of the zero-waste lifestyle.

The heart of the zero-waste lifestyle is the idea of eliminating waste from landfills. In other words, targeting one of the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It does not require us to be eco-warriors. Rather, adopting such an approach means that we are more mindful about what we throw out, and we take active steps to significantly reduce the amount of trash we produce.

The result: we consume less, minimise waste, and save money as a happy by-product.

So, how can we get started? We spoke to Stephanie Dickson, Founder of Green is the New Black, and organiser of The Conscious Festival, on practical ways to do so.

“A great start is to look at the amount of trash you are producing in your home. Look at the ones that are unnecessary and think about how you can reduce it,” says Stephanie.

By looking at our own consumption habits, we can notice the usual suspects and may discover ways to reduce waste at home. In the average Singapore household, plastic waste make up the biggest source of waste, followed by food, then paper and cardboard.

If you have children, you can educate them with pictures showing the impact of plastics pollution on sea creatures, and then getting them to count the family’s waste items. What are your top three?

The carbon footprint refers to the amount of carbon dioxide that our activities produce - from the things we eat, the way we travel, and how often we drive.

By itself, carbon dioxide is not harmful. Plants need it to make food and produce oxygen. However, too much of it is bad for the environment as the earth begins to overheat.

Online calculators can give a rough estimate of our personal carbon footprint. What is your carbon footprint?

To go a step further, try to offset or reduce your footprint. An easy way is to go green with your banking activities. Choose e-statements, go cashless, and use fewer cheques.

Another way of reducing your carbon footprint is to bring your own reusables. “When you leave the house, you will almost always remember to take your phone, wallet and keys. So, tweak that habit and bring a reusable water bottle with you or cutlery if you’re heading to the hawker for example,” says Stephanie.

We throw out 4.8 million plastic items each day in Singapore. By bringing our own reusable straws or water bottles, we can help reduce our daily usage of 2.2 million plastic straws and 1.27 million polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

Go green one day each week. Stephanie recommends skipping meat, refusing to buy anything you don’t need, and recycling everything that cannot be avoided.

Our diet is one of the most overlooked consumption habits. Heavy meat eaters unknowingly produce twice as much CO2 than vegetarians. Going vegetarian for even just one day a week allows us to reduce our carbon footprint.

One more area is to change our clothes-shopping habits. The fashion industry is the second-largest polluter in the world and produces more greenhouse emissions than international flights and shipping combined.

To be stylish yet eco-friendly, Stephanie suggests swapping with friends, buying second-hand on Carousell for example, upcycling, or borrowing instead of buying.

If you are buying, Stephanie suggests purchasing only what you really need and supporting brands that are environmentally friendly and ethical. When decluttering, consider dropping items off at the various charities, or selling them on Carousell.

Pledge to Recycle More, Waste Less

Inspired? Join us by pledging to make simple changes such as saying “no” to straws, or bringing your own tupperwares. #RecyclemoreWasteLess. The power is yours!

Click here to find out more about sustainability.