Chopsticks

We used them so much in Asia and never put too much thought in it. Although I frown upon recycling them and reusing them again and again.

However, the good news is, there are some artists out there who are damn creative...do you know that recycled chopsticks can be used to make into a soap holder? A folding basket? Yes, you can...be amazed by these products at Uncommongoods

Paper Marche

I have this shredder in my room that I used to shred my confidential documents or reused papers and was wondering what to do with them.

Suddenly, I remember that I saw a bangle made from paper marche and it got me thinking.

I shall keep all the shredded paper and make some gifts out of them and distribute them for next X'mas...wish me luck

Tully

I had the chance to had coffee at Tully over 2 consecutive day.

Day 1 : Feeling kinda of cool because guess what? Their paper cups are 100% compostable...so they say...even their cup sleeve. Test the cashier on how long does it take for the cup to compose....after err err ahh ahh for a while, she said "a few days, won't be overnight" right..so i counter question "i know a few days, what i want to know is how many days?"...she gave me a blank look..oh whatever

Day 2 : Went in to grab a cup of chai tea latte...ask the cashier (not the same one as yesterday), "how do you dispose your paper cups if customers consume them in the cafe?"...no answer, so i gave her a hint "you throw them in with the garbage?" gal's face lit up and say "yes", probably thinking I give her a way out...but I rebuked and say "if you put that your cup is 100% compostable, why aren't you composting your cups and cup sleeves?" she stick her tongue out..as in guilty not angry at me.

Anyway I wash mine and brought it home, will try a miniature compost after CNY.

And here's a picture to show you what a load of crap it is...the green message that is.

Sping Cleaning

With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, I bet most of you are doing your annual spring cleaning.

If you have any unwanted items listed below and you want to donate or recycle it, contact these organizations. It's all for a good cause too.

- Old prescription glasses (Lion's Club but it is not available in all countries). Donated to those who need it but can't afford.
- Computers (National Cristina Foundation). Donated to schools.
- Inkjets/Cellphones, you can even get paid for this (Earth Tone Solutions). Money used to to help cure childhood cancer.
- CDs/DVDs (CD Recycling).
- Shoes (ShoeBank, Soles4Souls, Shoe4Africa). For kids who live in barefoot days.
- Old dresses/suits (Dress for success). For disadvantaged women.
- Prom dresses/Wedding dresses (Making Memories). For Breast Cancer Foundation
- Sports Equipment (SportsGift). For underprivileged children.
- Surplus building materials (Habitat ReStores). To sell and be resell.
- Everything else (Throwplace.com where you can donate your stuff online and others can pick it up and vice versa)

Alternatively, you may sell them on :

- Amazon.com
- eBay
- craigslist.org

Closer to home or available to locals :

- Nokia phones (Nokia)
- Motorola products (Motorola)
- Dell Computers (Dell)
- HP Hardware (HP Planet Partners)
- HP Supplies, include cartridges (HP Planet Partners)
- Canon cartridges (Canon)
- Brother cartridges (Brother). Win free gifts too!
- Donation Bins (Salvation Army). To be sold at their Vintage Store.
- Sell your good condition unwanted items (Cash Converters)
- Discard or acquire an item (SgFreecycle)
- Donate electronics (Passiton). For the less privilege families.
- Swopping items (You Swop)

Happy Spring Cleaning!

Green Tip for today

Today, I will advise how many homeowners can make full use of grey water in their households?

Greywater, also known as sullage, which is non-industrial wastewater generated from domestic processes such as dish washing, laundry and bathing. Greywater comprises 50-80% of residential wastewater (Source : Wikipedia)

As per normal, such water will go down the drains into the sewage and head for the ocean or whatsoever. That's right, that's normal thinking. But most detergents/laundry powder we used are not biodegrable, meaning they cannot be broken down and therefore exist forever in our ecosystem. But biodegration is another topic altogether.

So back to grey water. What you can do to reuse the grey water.

1) Collect grey water from washing machines in pails and use them to flush the toilet after use. Normal flush is 6 litres of water per flush and 4 litres per half flush. However in our homes, not many toilet had been set up with half flush.

2) Use the same grey water from washing machines to clean your toilet floor, porch and your corridor, etc and clean it a 2nd round with tap water rather than 2 rounds of tap water.

3) Collect grey water from washing your hands and divert them to your cistern in the toilet for flushing (this takes a bit of engineering) or you can buy this model from Sinkpositive.

4) Or the water from washing your hands, if you just rinse or run your hands under the water without detergent, the grey water collected can be use to water your plants and your garden.

These are easy solutions you can try at home and do not take up much of your time but yet cost efficient and reusing your resource.

So give it a try today!

Guilty as charge

Wow, it takes a foreign blog entry to remind me that indeed there are green architecture in our sunny island.

We still have a longgggggg wayyyyyyyyy to go before we can call ourselves a pro-green city.

But as I said it in my first entry, baby steps...one step at a time and we will get there.

At the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, the School of Art, Design and Media utilizes green roofing in a modern way. The green roof stretches across the five-story building, blending into its surrounding landscape, while providing several environmental advantages. It is as visually pleasing as it is functional. Green roofs are reported to absorb up to 70 percent of rain runoff, thereby preventing pollution of waterways. In addition, green roofs absorb carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to reduce carbon emissions, and also provide natural insulation for the building, reducing energy costs. This innovative design combines modern architecture with green concepts, yielding a truly amazing setting for an art school.

CBTL

As I was preparing to write this entry, I kinda think it is inappropriate to use CBTL (can be translated to vulgar language) but heck lah, it is better than using their full name.

So CBTL is a coffee chain, not me cursing in a vulgar way. I patronize this place real often...I shudder to think of how much money I have spent on their lattes and coffee.

As the story goes, why are they worth this entry? The reason is I got piss with them. Cos when I was buying a cup of latte from them yesterday (sorry, in their wax paper cup rather than my own mug) I asked them a crucial question "Do you give discounts to customers who bring their own cup/mug?". The cashier looked at me, albeit a guilty face, "No, sorry, we don't". I said "Not even if they buy the mug from your own brand?" No was the answer in case you want to know.

What the heck? Now I know why nobody wants to bring their own cup/mug since it makes no difference. And a shoutout to the coffee chains, if a 50 cents discount so unaffordable to your business? And just a suggestion, even if you don't give a discount, you can upsize the customers based on their mug size. Duh.

I am already thinking of boycotting them after I finish using all the points I have in my stored value card. But first, I need to wean myself off their Moroccan Mint Lattes.

For those who think I am petty, let me just tell you one thing (in case, you are wondering why this entry is in this blog). The paper cups used by coffee chains or any other coffee place are not recycleable. Why is that so? The waxed used to ensure that the paper cup is waterproof also make it unrecycleable. There you have it.

Green Tip for today

Know of any bakeries or restaurants that has been throwing aways their unsold foodstuff? Especially bread? Yes...I am sure you know of some..they have been in the news alot recently.

Anyway, as our parents probably used to tell us, "you better finish your food ah, there are people out there with nothing to eat you know?" So as we grow up, we forget those teachings as we stumble through life and make the same mistakes we make when we are young.

But guess what? It is really true that there are people out there with nothing to eat. Families starving as the economy grows worse.

Therefore I am happy to let all of you know that there is a non-profit organization call Food from the Heart that are collecting all those unsold bread and bringing them to homes for the aged and other needy organizations. Best of all, they are right here in our sunny island...and if you have the time, don't only just spread the word, spread your love too by volunteering.

Doing my part

My office is currently located on the 58th floor of a building that is in the Central region of our sunny island.

I love my office, I enjoy good views of the whole island from different angles, enjoy bright daylight everyday from morning till late evening but yet no direct sunlight. Wonderful isn't it?

Thus, I never turn on the lightings in my office unless I work beyond 7pm and the sky has turned dark or it is raining outside and the day is gloomy.

So what have you done today for Mother Earth?

Green Tip for today

Unplug your electrical appliances will help save you valuable $$$$.

Why's that so?

Electrical appliances continue to draw electricity even when they are OFF...yes, you heard right, when it is OFF. The OFF is the new standby mode. Let me explain further, electrical appliances slurp up energy even when switched off in order to support features such as timers, clocks, memory and remote "on" and "off" switches.

Now you see, why unplugging your electrical appliances from their switch is important?

It is not easy to do that but educating yourself and your family members will make a great difference!

Green Tip for today

Make carrying eco-friendly shopping bags part of your daily life!

They are cheap, stronger, light, reusable and most important, does not cause harm to the environment.

I have been using my bag on and off (something which I have to start doing it permanently rather than occasionally) since I got it as a Christmas present in 2007. I got it because the giver knew I am very pro-recycling (I collected used plastic bottles from the office and bring them back to recycle)

The eco-friendly bags are everywhere these days and the one I am using can be bought from Takashimaya. They belong to this company call Envirosax and the one I have is Monochromatic 3.

And to really practice what I preach, I bought 5 of these bags and gave them out to 5 different colleagues as a Christimas gift last December.

So walk the talk today.

Flashback

As I couldn't import my old blog from msn spaces, I am going to take some time to extract, copy and paste some of my old blog entries here.

This is something I wrote in April 07, it is interesting to know that almost 2 years gone and my interest to 'save' the world still stands.

Well for those of you who have watched Heroes on TV (Ok, maybe not everyone if you don't have cable at home)...you would know this slogan "Save the cheerleader, save the world"...why? Nobody knows...But frankly my theory is everyone can be a hero...this is how :

Save the world by :

- Using less plastic bags (Singapore is just implementing this, I say this is long long overdue...when I was studying in Australia, there already have this practice, additional plastic bags cost you 5 cents and we grown used to bringing our own haversack to the supermarket and make do without the plastic bags). Burning it will produce toxic fumes into the environment.

- Stop using so much hair sprays...for those who don't know, they produces chemical that harm our ozone layer...if you still don't think the world is getting warmer...go ahead

- Use less energy....airconditioner, refrigerator, television, water heater...at times like that, I wish the government will install solar power for all flats so that we can make use of the sun...natural and free. And this solar power can generate power for many uses at home, on the roads, in buildings and many more. Yes the utilities company may not earn that much from the citizens if that's the case but hey, this is our future we are talking about here.

- Stop polluting the air......maybe drive lesser? Or drives hybrid cars? Again I find our Singapore not doing much in this, yes COEs were introduce.....but that does not stop people from buying cars, it only allow some government agencies to make more money....how would I suggest we change that? For those who have been to San Francisco will know the weather there is cool and windy...rarely does the temperature becomes warm....but last July where I was there during summer...the daytime temperature was considered high for San Francisco (If I remember correctly, it was around 20 odd degree celsius, still very cool by Singapore standards indeed) and in order to keep the temperature down, the government allow for everyone to take public transport for free for 3 days....this encourages people to park their cars at home and take the buses and trams (I didn't take the train so I don't know whether it was free). This is really a quick win and quick fix.

- Use less paper so that trees don't get chop down so much resulting in deforestation, land slides and everyone knows trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air too...

- Use less water, use half flush if you are given that option. Again our government doesn't help in this...every flush in our toilets will waste about 3 litres water per flush and we all know we don't need full flush when we do small business.....what is worse it some houseowners will install urinals which uses less than 1 litre water and yet the government will charge them for having another sanitary unit at home...what the ??????.....this houseowner is merely doing his part....there are also some who install half flush and full flush function for their toilet bowls and I don't understand why they need to spend additional money doing that when the government should have done that for all new flats they built and even do that for those old flats that got upgraded....some parts of the world is already having droughts and the situation is expected to worsen so do something about it now.

- Recycle. Yes we can sell our newspaper/paper to the karung guni man who in turn will sell it to those who recycle paper. One down. Cans from beer, soft drinks...collected by those elderly who sold them to aluminium recyclers...another down....but what about glass and plastic bottles??? These need to be dump properly and glass can perhaps be melted down and reused...where are those BIG recycling boxes for people to dump these? I know there are some in the petrol stations but not everyone passes by a petrol station. Couldn't the government put these on the void deck of every block? Not that difficult since they are able to install a waste bin every 20 steps you take.

There is a lot more that we can do but not everything are within our means...anyway all that said and done, I am thinking is there a need to give a pay raise to the government officials when they still have not done their duty to the lives of the citizens and to Mother Earth.

Be a hero and leave a livable world to our future generations!

Baby Step

Yoyoyo, I am proud to announce my new blog...all about greening your living!

I hope to share tips on how to make this world more livable, more sustainable and how each one of you can play a part in nurturing Mother Earth!

It could all be very new to you but let's start taking baby steps and eventually all these will be a part of your daily life.

Looking forward to sharing...