For as long as I can remember, we’ve been taught and recited the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. In recent years, however, this has grown to 5, and even 7 R’s – with Refuse, Repurpose, Repair, and Rethink being the next 4. The benefits of actually keeping up these habits are many, but many of us are guilty of not practising what we preach, if even that.
Like many sudden, uncharacteristic changes of habit, there was a catalyst that spurred me into taking on a 2-week challenge – with myself – to lead a zero-waste lifestyle. In my case, this came in the form of an article about the world being on the cusp of “tipping over” beyond repair, and another on Singapore being at risk of losing up to 30% of our land to rising sea levels. All this – right alongside the unseasonal weather events all over the world, to say the least.
“Little strokes fell great oaks”, the proverb goes, and so it was that I decided to set my mind to attempting to live sustainably for half a month – and these are the habits I’m keeping.
According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), Singapore generates 6.6 million tonnes of solid waste annually. My small effort towards bringing this figure down was to try and use reusables as much as possible.
My first step was simple enough: I ensured I always had a foldable reusable bag with me when I went out, since I’m perennially buying things on the fly, contributing to the pile of disposable bags at home.
What I discovered was that it’s actually much more convenient and comfortable to tote around the reusable bag than countless supermarket plastic bags. I can carry the former on my shoulder and fill it with more groceries without fearing that it’ll rip. Bye-bye, abrasions on my inner elbows and cut-off circulation in my fingers.
However, maintaining this practice included steps like returning the reusable bag to my handbag after I’m home – a habit I’m prone to flaking on, leaving my reusable bags lying around at home instead, where they are of no use to me. My solution: keeping my reusable bags by the door, so I’m reminded to check that I have one, or if not, to take one along with me before I leave the house.
While I don’t order takeaways or go out to dabao food on a daily basis, it’s still something I do at least once a week. On occasions where I took a planned trip to the hawker centre, I made it a point to bring along my own reusable containers, and a reusable bag, of course, for the meal, and refuse any disposable cutlery I was offered.
My own family is already transitioning out of reusable plastic containers, switching to the more sustainable and safer air-tight glass or silicone containers for leftovers and storage; this was a natural progression from that point.
On days when I worked from the office and knew that I would need to go out to get my lunch, I would bring a collapsible lunchbox and reusable cutlery set to work, and get my takeaways packed in that, or bring leftovers to heat up. Besides reusable containers and cutlery, I also switched to beeswax wraps as a more sustainable alternative to cling wrap.
As with the other habits I was trying to get into, this was adding steps to the process – a series of more inconveniences, some might say, with the leychey-ness of having to carry extra items out, and having to wash and dry everything after use.
I have to admit, it was all a little inconvenient, but habits take time to nurture, and if you think about it, it was our quest for convenience that’s gotten the earth into this state in the first place.
In hindsight, every cent that you save on paying for disposable plastic containers is another cent safe in your piggy bank too.
Hyper consumerism drives the world’s economy today – our love for instant gratification, fast fashion, convenience, and indulgence is a never-ending cycle. Even if we just look at food waste alone, almost 40% of all food produced globally for consumption goes to waste.
I, for one, confess to my part in this – I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to throw away groceries that I didn’t get around to using in time, or left food on the table because I had overordered, and the dishes couldn’t be packed to go. And so, buying only what I could finish was a habit that I strove to get the hang of.
It started with small things like telling the auntie at the mixed vegetable rice stall exactly how much rice I would like, or manning up to tell the hokkien mee uncle, “No prawns, sotong and pork in my hokkien mee, please.” And just like that, I’d saved a bunch of rice and ingredients from being tossed in the trash.
Mindful consumption is the small choice that each of us can make, that plays a role in the grand scheme of consumerism. Simply turning down the side of French fries or salad that you won’t eat could potentially even save you up to $1,100 each year.
It’s deciding that buffets are a huge contributor to food waste, and choosing not to patronise them. Or it could be ordering 3 dishes for the table to share, finishing the meal on a contented note with zero wastage of food, instead of an excessive 5 dishes that would have left everyone bursting at the seams, and leftovers that go into the bin.
Image credit: Eatbook
On that note, what I found was incredibly useful to this zero-waste lifestyle was planning my meals for the week and having a grocery list on hand when I went to the supermarket. It also involved checking what I did have at home, what was reaching the end of its shelf life, and working my plans around these. This way, I knew exactly what and how many groceries I needed to buy, which I found was rather advantageous on many fronts.
I ended up spending less at the supermarket than if I had impulse-shopped. I didn’t wind up cooking and consuming more than necessary, and the fridge didn’t get stockpiled with groceries or leftovers that potentially might get disposed of.
Plus, with my meals planned ahead of time, I saved both time and effort on multiple supermarket jaunts, and painful deliberation about what I should have for dinner that night. That mindfulness also translated to better meal decisions, like making healthier and more balanced choices, rather than caving to last-minute, often unhealthy cravings in moments of hunger.
Image credit: Eatbook
Granted, this last practice that I found myself enjoying at the end of my zero-waste challenge is considerably tedious, but one that I’ll strive to keep up in the days to come. It’s also potentially not for everyone, because this requires more than a little effort – I decided to DIY, rather than buy packaged food such as bread, smoothies, and ready meals.
Making my own food allowed me to control and know exactly what I was consuming, and make use of ingredients I have in my kitchen. From a more macro perspective, I was also helping to cut down on things like carbon footprint from the transportation and packaging of packaged food.
There’s also something to be said about how therapeutic the process is – a break from the ho-hum of life. Then there’s the sense of satisfaction that comes with having freshly baked bread, or the flexibility of switching up what goes into my smoothie every morning, all of which are reasons enough for me to make this switch.
ICYMI, we are running out of space for our waste – Semakau Landfill, where our non-incinerable waste and incineration ash goes, is already more than half full, and is expected to reach capacity by 2035.
The Say YES to Waste Less (SYTWL) campaign, first launched by the NEA in 2019, encourages all of us to make mindful choices in our daily lives which are better for the environment.
This year, they’re teaching us more fun and practical ways to achieve a zero-waste lifestyle with the Waste Less? Say YES! reality series that you can catch weekly on Clean & Green Singapore’s YouTube channel. Every episode sees the teams face off in real-life situations, where they will take on fun challenges, share smart shopping hacks and explore fresh ways to reduce waste.
Starring hosts 933 FM’s DJ Chen Ning and 987 FM DJ Avery Aloysius, with fellow DJ Germaine Tan and Glenn Yong appearing in the finale, this Running Man-inspired series is proof that making sustainable choices is possible for the average Singaporean.
If there’s anything my 2-week challenge has proven, it’s that zero-waste is not unachievable; it takes making little changes in your lifestyle that will become habitual with time. It’s a little idealistic to promise that I will be able to be entirely zero-waste for good, but I do think that a waste-less mentality is definitely a mindset and lifestyle change that can be inculcated over time.
This post was brought to you by the National Environment Agency.
Cover image adapted from: Eatbook
Book your flights and get ready to jam.
These Christmas exclusive events have magical snowfall shows.
Play Merry-Poly too.
Technically, this is the second time Singapore has qualified for the Asian Cup.
This is your call to get up earlier for work.
As if we need another reason to visit the mall.