How to be green at a party?

Ever planned a BBQ outing for your friends? I guess you might have experienced the hassle of getting one party going on. While you prepare for one, you could also spend a moment to think of a simple argument: to 'convenient' oneself or to be 'environmental friendly'.

I am sure all of us have faced this question before:
"Should I buy 50 or 100 set of plastic utensils?"

But shouldn't we also consider
"Should I buy the plastic utensils or ask around for donations or if anyone has extras unused utensils"

I strongly believe our current consumption patterns have reach the point that most of us consider question two as non-existent and rather pointless. After all, what is 1.90 SGD for 50 plastic spoons/ forks? Its peanuts to us right? Does 50 plastic spoons/ forks really help the environment? Everyone else harms the environment too, better ensure that the party looks presentable and goes smooth. Hence no point to cut down on such expenses.

Doesn't this sound all too familiar?

But did you ever realized, its the principles behind such acts? The practice of such habits to reconsider being green over convenience is critical to keeping a sustainable future for our kids. Reducing the consumption of plastics will protect the environment, one of the 3 'R's concept of reduce, reuse and recycling.

Such acts to reduce the need of purchasing small items can go along way. Others will probably be puzzled by your decisions or actions but it challenges them to think twice. The collective effort of an individual act among occasions and between people, can amount to a large reduction of harm to the environment. Furthermore, it can begin with a BBQ today, tomorrow a birthday, then a wedding. I am sure which every party you go to or organize, there are chances for you to be green, other then reducing the total number of plastics being used.

Well just one more way we can be green at parties: to reduce unnecessary wastage.

Ever wonder what happen to unfinished food at a party, unfinished spices and sauces that where used to flavor our foods or utensils that were not utilized during a party? Well most of us have been guilty of throwing them away right? So they go into the bin and then the rubbish dumps... isn't that a bit too wasteful?

So think again. Bring those unfinished food stuff home! Some hungry family member would mind having leftover food from parties and you could even use it to prepare dishes for your loved ones. The seasoning sauces could be brought home and kept in the kitchen, ready for use at the next party. And you could consolidate all unused utensils or washable utensils such as 'tongs' and containers, put them in a box, label it 'party equipment' and bring it to the next party to help out your organizing host!

Common, consider the waste you create at the parties! I am sure you can understand why we need more dumping grounds in the future, so do your part to reduce the increasing waste levels around us!

CNY parties and paper of all sorts

Happy Chinese New Year to all. And may your festive season be one of happiness and 'greeness' as well.

The Magic Box

Above is a simple reminder how we can do our part to recycle and help keep the earth green. Waste paper comes in abundant from our households. Our daily lives include the usage of paper. Wonder what happens to waste paper after we are done of it? If we do not sort them out, they probably won't be recycled and dumped into incinerators.

So if you do wish that your waste paper is recycled, Please sort them out! Well, you can also prolong the 'life' of paper by introducing methods to extent their usage. Just like above, newspapers can be used to cover table tops and replace the need to buy plastic covers. You can store some of your used magazines and make 'magic boxes' so you can dump 'waste' into them while enjoying your meals! I am sure there are many other ways. I think I would post more of such innovative ways in the future.

Rent - don't buy unless you NEED it!

Recently, I been yearning to watch movies from the past... and I decide to rent instead of buying them. Why?

The main reason I choose to rent is I don't really want to 'keep' (leave it lying around) the DVD after I purchase it. In fact by renting, it is relatively much cheaper.... for the price of a DVD, you can watch so much more titles. And by renting, you actually don't contribute to the demand of the item as much as buying a new item... therefore the production of that item is reduce... hence lowering the toll on the resources and energy required in its production! In the long term, if people practice renting over purchasing... we might even affect over all production trends.

So what other things can we rent?

As a general rule of thumb... anything that you might under utilize. Stuff like bicycles, cameras, books, CDs and a lot more... wait a moment... where are you going to rent such stuff? Surely you can't rent it from a shop... but you can 'rent' (share or borrow) from friends and relatives! This way we can reduce the total amount or goods that are BATA (Buy and throw away/aside). haha.

Well... this post is not to encourage a total stop to purchasing ... there are some things we cannot rent, personal or stuff that concern hygiene, things that you want to collect (please don't over do it) or stuff that you see its utilization higher then its cost... means things you would fully or constantly utilize.

The bottom line is... please be considerate and save our planet! Before you purchase any item... think if you can adopt the option of renting it or consider whether you will utilize it or simply dump it after you have used it.

There is nothing strong then the human effort.

Desiccants - stop wasting it

D0 you know what is lime desiccant? Or just a desiccant?

Go wikipedia it... and you will realize that we are under utilizing these small packets of desiccant that come with your foodstuff (I personally feel, Japanese food products enjoy giving you obsessive amount of it haha). And please, many products are guilty of these... foodstuff like seaweed (4 ~ 10 slices of seaweed and a packet of desiccant is need? a bit over doing it right) ... electrical appliances like radio systems can come with large amounts of these. Once you take your goods out of their packaging what do you do with it? You throw them away in fear of it poisonous qualities.

Why are we seriously under utilizing desiccant? Because they are reusable once they are dehydrated. So instead of throwing them away... why not reuse them... they aren't easily broken down as well...

How do we reused desiccants?
1) Use to absorb the moisture in shoe cabinets ... instead of using commercial desiccants like hungry elephant... haha
2) Put them in your car... in your boot... so it will not be damp in the night... and the heat in the day can 'auto' dehydrate the desiccants ... its a close system... you need not trouble yourself to sun the desiccants yourself... haha
3) use it to protect objects from mould, moisture or humidity... clothes? certificates?

Well... things to keep in mind before you starting using desiccants...
1) These methods are recommended by me... not really scientifically proven yet... but then again indigenous knowledge is not scientifically proven but is efficient and sustainable.
2) Look out for WARNING labels... some restrict you from smelling... please do not used this highly toxic desiccants... there are many others that are not so toxic.
3) Use a container/ cloth bag with holes to store your desiccants so they don't get messy all over the place.
4) Sun the desiccants to dehydrate them... try not to oven heat them... you waste energy doing that.

So yar, another simple way to reuse something that may help you save environment and save some cash along the way. It gets the job done as well.

Light Pollution?

I know that natural sunlight (not the one people try to imitate in tanning salons) provides us with vast sustainable energy. You know that too right. Yar you do. But the problem is do you know about light pollution?

You can learn about it from The Pinky Show
http://www.pinkyshow.org/archives/episodes/070118/

The idea that I get from the video is...
1) electric lights are good and helpful to humankind... but lets conserve it.
2) Humans (aka us) need to be reminded of our position and that we are part of the global ecosystem,
3) We do not have the right to disrupt other living forms natural way of life and
4) We at the top of this global food chain and biggest 'creative destroyers' have the greatest power to save planet earth.
5) Lastly, which all of us tend to forget... Nature is the most beautiful object... not our commodities that we madly chase after... such as cars, watches, fashion
and a whole lot more.

Well... ask yourself... is point 5 true? If it is... reconsider points 1 - 4... I believe we can all help to protect/ conserve mother nature and share the space with our distant friends... the specimens of the global ecosystem.

Fake Plastic Trees

Sometime ago, Joey, a good friend introduced me to a song by Radiohead called 'Fake Plastic Trees'

The title is rather suggestive right? Yar, the song is about the capitalist situation. And I think Radiohead did very well in portraying the emotions and mood for the song. Go on, listen to the lyrics... It always reminds me that I should be careful with what I buy and how we slowly impact the world with our obsession on material commodities. So this song always signal the duty that we should uphold, to protect our natural environment.

Mother Earth is tired... what the capitalist machine is doing is wearing her out.

Her green plastic watering can
For her fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself

It wears her out, it wears her out
It wears her out, it wears her out

She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns
He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins

It wears him out, it wears him out
It wears him out, it wears him out

She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love
But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run

It wears me out, it wears me out
It wears me out, it wears me out

If I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted all the time

All the time...
All the time...

Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead

Plastic Surgery

Yar, cut down on the plastic, fellow earthlings!

Today I went for hall dinner and I was guilty of committing an act against the 'green' movement. I took a plastic spoon. Yar it is as simple as that.

I shall not explain why plastics are harmful to the environment... generally it is due to their non - biodegradable nature... It is more of the act that needs to be explained. Well, if you didn't realize, most people just dump/chuck their plastics some where after it was used once... even if they made a point to reuse... do they/we/me/you ever really get to reuse it? I don't think so right? It just sits there long enough... till it gets thrown... and ends up in some landfill dump.

In the mean time, consumers like us, just use/buy/take more plastics... So yar yars, my point... it is the act that encourages an unsustainable action... cos by they time we pass away... the plastic is still there. Not forgetting the capitalist industries see the need for plastic and continue producing them.

So what can we do?

Well first obviously is take less plastics... If you are taking away food back home to eat... refuse to take plastic cutlery and use our own cutleries. We can also help by reducing plastics by bringing our own bags to the super market or refuse to take plastic carriers if you can when you buy takeaway foods (I know my Sheares Hall friends practice this act when we go to the supermarket or takeaway food) If all of us practice this... then the capitalist minded stalls and supermarkets would not need to order more stocks of plastic stuff, like plastic bags or cutlery... this will in turn help a lot.

O... some supermarkets give a small token of you use your own bags... Ikea in Singapore charges you for plastic bags as well... If the food stalls ofter paper packaging... take those instead.

Second. Reduce the need for plastics by confirming you do not have the items already lying at home. What I do is, after every BBQ, I will consolidate all plastics and other reusable stuffs and keep them in a giant box to be reused at the next BBQ... so we save on the cost of the BBQ and we help reduce plastic consumption. Well you could also reduce the need to buy plastic cups or containers unless you really need them... Most households have too much plastics cups and containers anyway.

Lastly educate your friends and family members... Help spread the news and idea! That is always the last step... practice then preach... then people will believe in what you teach... these lessons above have been all taught to me by friends... come on share your creative ideas with your pals!

We need everyone if we are going to get on with this war to save planet earth... so start today!