Living sustainably involves some degree of change but it doesn’t have to be hard, and it definitely doesn’t mean you have to give up all of your favourite things all at once. In fact, there are many eco friendly products available in Singapore that can help make your life simpler while also reducing your impact on the planet.
A sustainable lifestyle is something you can work on incrementally so do not feel bad that you cannot change your habits soon enough. What is important is for you to identify areas that you can change in the short term and then long term, and which areas you can create the biggest impact.
As someone who embarked on this lifestyle more than 16 years ago, I would recommend approaching it in these 3 ways. It is important to start with a mindset shift, so that your actions will naturally follow.
- Keeping your life simple and purchasing only what you need, because the more things you own, the more things you need to take care of.
- Buying better products that last longer, and well-designed products that are easy to clean or maintain so you create less waste
- Don’t make impulse buying decisions. Think it through to minimise waste and save money.
The recent plastic bag charge has made the need to minimise waste a more visible topic. While it is annoying to pay for bags, or inconvenient for some to carry a reusable bag with them, there is a good reason for implementing this charge. It gives a value to plastic bags rather than something that is free and easy to come by, and it makes us more mindful about our use of plastic bags.
There are perks to bringing your own food containers, cups or bags. Other than reducing waste, it can even result in savings. ION Orchard for one has been rewarding its ION Rewards Members with Green Points. As part of their Dining’s A Breeze campaign, members can earn 5 Green Points (worth $2 in e-vouchers) for every transaction with a minimum $20 spend, when using their own reusable containers, cups or bags to participating F&B outlets. This is limited to the first 1000 members each month, till 30 July.
These dining establishments include Le Matin Patisserie, Sunday Folks, Kee Wah Bakery, Guzman Y Gomez Mexican Kitchen, Lee Wee & Brothers, Paris Baguette, Niku Kappo By Watami and Venchi. To find out more about the campaign, please see here.
With this in mind, here is a list of some great eco friendly products in Singapore to kickstart your sustainable lifestyle!
