Waste Collection and Evaluation 2

Start Date of Trash Collection: 28 January 2017

End Date of Trash Collection: 10 February 2017

(Photo taken at 9.00pm on 10 Feburary after 2 weeks of trash collection)

Total Trash Collected after 2 weeks

Average amount of trash collected in a day

After another 2 weeks of trash collection, I am happy to see that I was able to significantly reduce the amount of waste that I produce after adopting new habits such as recycling plastic bottles that I get and by switching to environmentally-friendly alternatives such as by using a handkerchief instead of tissue paper. During this 2 weeks of trash collection, I became more aware of the things that I was purchasing or buying as well as a simple act of buying a takeaway meal can result in the production of a lot of waste. Initially, when I adopted some positive habits such as carrying a tumbler water bottle around to use when I buy drinks, I felt quite uncomfortable using it as I had to ask store owners to use my bottle to fill up drinks which I felt awkward doing. However after the 2 weeks, I had gotten use to using the tumbler water bottler and knowing that I have reduced the waste I produce by using this alternative made me happy.

Even though this journey to a zero waste lifestyle that I have embarked on was for an assignment, I was able to learn a lot about waste management as I have never actually taken note of the amount of waste that I produce in a day which this project has helped me to find out. Furthermore, the project allowed me to research on and find out about the harm different types of waste can bring to the environment and the environmentally-friendly substitute products that I can adopt into my life to reduce the waste I produce. Lastly, even though my assignment has ended, I will continue to make an effort in reducing my trash production by keeping positive recycling habits and by switching to environmentally-friendly products and alternatives as I believe that we are responsible for the waste that we produce.

Alternatives to tissue paper products and 'Tissue Issue' Social Movement

Tissue paper and paper towels are one of the type of trash that I generated the most during my 2 weeks of trash collection. On average, the earth produces 254 million tons of trash that results from discarded paper towels every year. Furthermore, 51, 000 trees are cut down and used every day to meet the number of paper towels that are needed. This shows that paper towels contribute to a significant amount of waste that the world produce and hence, we should make an effort to reduce the production of this waste as the manufacturing of paper towels requires a lot of timber that are cut down from wildlife habitats which causes animals to lose their homes. The production of paper towels and tissue paper contribute to air and water pollution during the manufacturing and transportation process, making it very harmful towards the environment. Lastly, when paper towels and tissue paper are thrown away after use, they take up a lot of landfill space. Hence I have researched about a few alternatives that I can implement in my life to reduce the production of tissue paper waste (The Paperless Project, n.d.)

The first alternatives that I will use will be reusable towels. Paper towels and tissue paper are non-recyclable and hence, it is very wasteful to use them as a single paper towel will be discarded immediately after use which results in the waste of resources that are poured into manufacturing the tissue paper. In comparison, reusable towels can be used at homes as a substitute for drying hands and washing up over and over again. Hence, no waste is produced making it environmentally friendly (trash is for tossers, 2013).

The second alternative to tissue paper products will be handkerchiefs. Tissue paper often come in small packets which makes it very easy to carry around to use and to dispose of afterwards. Thus, the handkerchief will be a good replacement as it is reusable, easy to carry around and it can be used for many purposes such as wiping off sweat or cleaning your mouth. Some people might find it unhygienic to use the handkerchief over and over again for repeated use. The solution to this will be to fold the handkerchief nicely and use the different sides. I do carry a handkerchief around with me sometimes but I am more used to using tissue paper. Hence I will make an effort to carry a handkerchief around with me more often and use it to reduce the amount of tissue paper waste I produce (Czinski, 2009).

It might be difficult to stop using tissue paper products immediately so a recommendation I have will be to use 100% recycled tissue paper products instead of normal tissue paper products if you are uncomfortable switching over to other alternatives immediately. The recycle tissue paper not only provides a second use for recycle paper materials but also maximize the life of paper fiber as paper fibers in the tissue paper can only be recycled a few times. Hence 100% recycled tissue paper products will also be a good alternative to normal tissue paper product as it is more environmentally-friendly (Czinski, 2009).

A social movement that I would like to start will be the ‘Tissue Issue’ Social Movement. In this social movement, I will set up a website that will explain the harmful effects of tissue paper products on the environment and the possible alternatives that someone can easily adopt into his or her life. I will also add in a pledge section where people who visit my website can pledge to reduce their waste produced from tissue paper so that I can evaluate the effectiveness of my social movement by observing the number of people who pledge to reduce their tissue paper waste. Furthermore, I would also talk to my friends and family members about my social movement through the word-of-mouth so that they can understand the harmful effects of tissue paper and adopt more environmentally-friendly alternatives and spread the social movement to others. 

(Handkerchiefs alternatives I will use from now on)

References

Czinski, R. (2009). Soft Tissue Paper is Hard on the Environment. Simple Ecology. Retrieved

from http://www.simpleecology.com/eco/soft-tissue-paper

The Paperless Project. (n.d.). How to Reduce Your Paper Towel Use. Retrieved from

http://www.thepaperlessproject.com/how-to-reduce-your-paper-towel-use/

trash is for tossers. (2013). Zero Waste Alternatives: The Ultimate List. Retrieved from

http://www.trashisfortossers.com/2013/08/zero-waste-alternatives-ultimate-list.html

Alternatives for food packaging

From my 2 weeks of trash collection, I found that food packaging was one of my top 3 waste that I produced. In addition, a study done has showed that in Singapore, food packaging accounts for up to 11% of the 766, 800 tonnes of plastic waste produced. Furthermore, food packaging makes up 14% of 588, 500 tonnes of paper and cardboard waste. In total, Singapore has produced 3.02 million tonnes of food packaging waste in 2015 which raises concern as a lot of waste is being produced from food packaging alone (Choo, 2016). But how is food packaging harmful to the environment?

Firstly, food packaging are usually made from plastic which is non-biodegradable. Hence, when these food packaging are thrown away, they will remain on the earth for a long period of time and leech harmful chemicals into the soil which would pollute the land and even groundwater storage. Secondly, when plastic food packaging are thrown away, they might be washed off into oceans and water bodies. Marine animals might then mistake the food packaging as food and ingest them causing the marine animals to become poisoned, fall ill and even die. Lastly, 4% of the world’s oil production has been used to manufacture plastic while another 4% is used to produce energy needed to make the plastic. Hence when these plastic food packaging are thrown away, the resources poured into the manufacturing of these food packaging will also be wasted (Knoblauch, 2009).

So what are some alternatives that we can use instead of the common plastic food packaging?

Firstly, we have glass jars which is an environmentally-friendly product that has many similar properties to plastic containers. The different sizes of glass jars that are available can be used to store different types of food in places such as the fridge and cupboard making it very convenient and easy to use. Furthermore, some glass can create an airtight environment to store certain types of food better. Glass jars are better than plastic containers as plastic containers are made up of many different chemicals. Hence, when plastic containers are used for an extended period of time, the plastic starts to wear and tear which might result in the leaching of harmful chemicals into food causing health issues. Plastic containers are often non-recyclable as well unlike glass jars which means that once thrown away, they will stay on the earth for a long period of time and pollute the soil and oceans (Badore, 2015; Sustainable baby steps, n.d.a.; Sustainable baby steps, n.d.c.). Hence, I plan to start using glass jars and containers instead of plastic containers to store some of the food I have in my house as it is more environmentally friendly. Furthermore, I will use the plastic containers that have been replaced by glass jars and containers to store other things in my house such as stationary to make full use of the plastic container instead of throwing it away.

Secondly, when buying takeaway food, a lot of plastic will be given such as the plastic container to store food and plastic utensils. All these plastic food packaging that are given when buying takeaway are very harmful to the environment as they will be disposed of immediately after use and contribute to the plastic waste produced in Singapore. Hence, an alternative that we can use will be stainless steel containers. Stainless steel containers are lightweight and reusable which makes it easy for everyone to carry around making it a good alternative to use when buying takeaway to eliminate the plastic waste generated. Stainless steel containers can also be used to store food at home in cupboards of fridges making it a multi-use product. Hence, I will make the effort to bring a stainless steel container as a lunchbox when buying takeaway in the future to reduce the amount of plastic waste I produce (Sustainable baby steps, n.d.a.; Sustainable baby steps, n.d.b.).

Lastly, compostable food packaging and utensils can substitute plastic food packaging. Products such as bamboo lunchboxes which are compostable food boxes are ideal for storing various kinds of food and the lunchbox can undergo composting after use. These lunchboxes are made from renewable resources which makes it a better alternative compared to oil-based plastic lunchboxes as the process of making these lunchboxes are not harmful to the environment. Compostable bags are also available in the market for use to wrap food and package food items. These food bags can then be recycled to collect kitchen waste after use and can be added to the compost bin to become compost. These products can be easily purchased online from companies such as Eco Lunchbox which is a company that aims to reduce the usage of plastic as it is harmful for the earth. I intend to buy these food bags for use as well to be used as an alternative for plastic wrap as I make sandwiches quite often and use plastic wrap to package the sandwiches. Hence by using the food bags that are compostable, I will be able to reduce the waste from using plastic wraps (Eco Lunchbox, n.d.; Pullen, n.d.).

Left Image taken from Eco Lunchbox; Right Image taken from greenhome

(Left: Lunchbox I can use when buying takeaways; Right: Compostable food bag alternative to wrap food instead of plastic wrap)

References

Badore, M. (2015, March). 11 easy ways to reduce your plastic waste today. Treehugger.

Retrieved from http://www.treehugger.com/green-home/11-easy-ways-reduce-your-plastic-waste-today.html

Choo, F. (2016, August 26). NEA to study impact of takeaway packages. The Straits Times.

Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/nea-to-study-impact-of-takeaway-packages

Eco Lunchbox. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ecolunchboxes.com/

Knoblauch, J. A. (2009, July 2). The environmental toll of plastics. Environmental Health News.

Retrieved from http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/dangers-of-plastic

Pullen, K. (n.d.). Compostable Food Packaging. Lovetoknow. Retrieved from

http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Compostable_Food_Packaging

Sustainable baby steps. (n.d.a). 35+ Alternatives to Plastic Items in Your Home. Retrieved from

http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/alternatives-to-plastic.html

Sustainable baby steps. (n.d.b). Sustainable and Healthy Kids’ Lunchbox Ideas. Retrieved from

http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/lunchbox-ideas.html

Sustainable baby steps. (n.d.c). The Dangers of and 3 Alternatives to Plastic Food Storage

Containers. Retrieved from http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/plastic-food-storage-containers.html

Alternatives to plastic

After collecting my trash for 2 weeks and identifying the types of waste I produce, I found out that one of the top 3 types of waste I produce is plastic. As such, I will share some alternatives that I would like to implement in my life to reduce producing this kind of trash.

Firstly, an alternative I found for the use of plastic bags would be reusable shopping bags or canvas bags (Sustainable baby steps, n.d.). Plastic bags are something that is very common in our daily lives as they bring many conveniences from their many uses. However, plastic bags contain many harmful chemicals and collectively, we discard over 1 trillion plastic bags every year. These plastic bags that are thrown away are mostly non-biodegradable or they take a very long time of up to 1000 years to decompose and during this period after the plastic bags are discarded, the harmful chemicals present in the plastic bags would be released into the ground and soil which would affect the environment and the living things in it (Wellness Mama, 2016). Hence, I will make an effort to keep a portable reusable shopping bag I have from my home with me. This way, I would be able to use them to carry the things I buy home instead of using a plastic bag and since the bag is reusable, it would reduce the plastic bag waste I produce.

Secondly, plastic bags are also commonly used as trash bags for homes. However, as said above, plastic bags are very harmful for the environment. Hence, an alternative to these plastic bags would be the biodegradable kitchen trash bag. The biodegradable kitchen trashbags are compostable which means that when dissolved, they would benefit the soil which would help plants to grow better and it is a better alternative to plastic bags as they do not stay on earth for a long time (Organics, n.d.). Places such as Amazon sells these bio-degradable trash bags and hence, I would like to adopt the habit of using these biodegradable trash bag instead to reduce the amount of plastic waste I produce as the biodegradable trash bags will not remain on the earth as long as plastic and are hence better as they will not contribute to the waste present (Amazon, n.d.).

Lastly, another type of plastic waste that I produce is plastic bottles and cups. I tend to buy a lot of drinks that come in plastic bottles and cups from stores even though it is not reflected as much in my 2 weeks of trash collection. Plastic bottles are harmful to the environment as they use up a lot of petroleum which is a fossil fuel thus using up a finite resource rapidly. Bottled drinks are also transported from one place to another which requires fuel and thus, they create a lot of pollution during transportation. The plastic bottles are also non-biodegradable and hence, when thrown away, they remain on the earth for a long time and release harmful chemicals into the soil (Lee, 2014). Thus, I would switch to the alternative of using a tumbler bottle as it is able to store both hot and cold drinks making it very useful and it is also reusable. I would also start to recycle the plastic bottles I do buy to reduce the amount of plastic waste I produce by keeping a box where I will place my plastic bottles in every week before bringing it to a recycling bin (Ellsbury, 2012).

 

(Left: Reusable bag that I found at home that I plan to use; Right: Tumbler bottle that I can use instead of plastic bottles)

References

Amazon. (n.d.). Biodegradable bags. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/biodegradable-

bags/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Abiodegradable%20bags

Ellsbury, H. (2012). 5 ways you can help reduce plastic bottle waste. Retrieved from

https://www.banthebottle.net/articles/5-ways-you-can-help-reduce-plastic-bottle-waste/

Lee, K. (2014). The Negative Effects of Using Plastic Drinking Bottles. Retrieved from

http://www.livestrong.com/article/183101-the-negative-effects-of-using-plastic-drinking-bottles/

Organics. (n.d.). 7 Biodegradable Earth-friendly Products that you didn’t know existed.

Retrieved from http://organics.org/7-biodegradable-earth-friendly-products-that-you-didnt-know-existed/

Sustainable baby steps. (n.d.). 35+ Alternatives to plastic items in your home. Retrieved from

http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/alternatives-to-plastic.html

Wellness Mama. (2016). Natural and Eco-friendly alternatives to plastic bags. Retrieved from

https://wellnessmama.com/105581/alternatives-plastic-bags/ 

Reflection on field trip to Tuas Incineration Plant

     1) What are your 2 key takeaways from the trip?

One of my key takeaways is that it is very important to reduce, reuse and recycle to reduce the amount of waste we produce. This is because it is expensive to build waste incineration plants which costs up to $1 billion to help reduce the total waste present. My next key takeaway is that it is difficult to have proper waste management as there are a lot of problems that result from the incineration process such as the need to filter what can be burned and the ways to reduce pollution caused by the incineration process. 

2) Where were some thought/emotions you had during talk and the sight/smell tour?

During the talk, I found it quite shocking that in such a small country like Singapore, we produce a lot of waste every day. During the tour, I found the waste to give off a pungent smell and found out that a lot of work was needed for waste management.

3) Singapore has the largest Waste Incineration Plant in the world. Is this something that we have to be proud of? If yes, provide reasons. If no, provide reasons. You can have a yes and no answer but you have to support it with reasons.

Yes. I think that having the largest waste incineration plant is something to be proud of as the waste incineration plant helps to reduce the total amount of waste that goes to landfills. This also helps to reduces pollution caused by the waste when moved to landfills. The incineration plant is also very efficient as it operates 365 days a year and burns up to 1,700 tonnes of refuse which shows that Singapore is concerned about proper waste management. However, having the largest waste incineration plant is also not something we should be proud of as it shows that a small country like Singapore produces a huge amount of waste in a day that has detrimental effects on the environment. The incineration plants are also very expensive and hence a lot of resources are used on waste management instead of other areas such as education which might affect economic growth.

Waste Evaluation

Waste collected after 2 weeks (Photo was taken on 9 November 2016 at 9am)

Waste generated on average a day

Waste collection started on 26 October 2016 and ended on 8 November 2016

After collecting my trash for 2 weeks to monitor the amount of trash I produce, I realized that most of the trash that I have produced and collected was plastic-based. I have also realized that a simple act of buying breakfast for the next day would produce a lot of waste as there was food packaging for my breakfast which was placed in a plastic bag. After evaluating my waste, I realized that the top 3 items that I produce are plastic bags, food wrappers and tissue papers.

Plastic bags are very harmful to the environment as they are non-biodegradable and take a very long period of time to breakdown. This means that when discarded, plastic bags will stay in the area where they are thrown for a long time. As such, plastic bags have a high chance to be blown away by wind to environmental ecosystems such as oceans and forests where plastic bags might be mistaken as food by animals and cause the animals to die from the toxicity of plastic bags. When burned, plastic bags also emit toxic gases that are harmful to human health (Greener ideal, 2012; Wagner, n.d.).

Tissue papers are something that almost everyone uses in everyday life as it brings many conveniences to the user for simple things like drying their hands or blowing their noses. However, just like plastic bags, tissue papers have severe environmental impacts on the environment. Tissue papers are biodegradable and hence have little environmental impact when thrown away (Sanitary Care Products Asia Inc, 2013). However, it is during the manufacturing of tissue papers where tissue paper harms the environment. During the production of tissue paper, trees are chopped down to make tissue paper as it is a raw material for manufacturing tissue paper. However, this process of logging can lead to deforestation which causes problems such as global warming. Tissue paper also require a large amount of resources such as water and electricity to produce. As such, a lot of pollution is emitted when fossil fuels are burned to produce electricity (Poppenheimer, 2013).

Lastly, food packaging is another harmful waste that I tend to produce. Food packaging can be made of various materials such as the commonly used plastic, paper or even polystyrene and hence are difficult to handle as plastic and polystyrene are not biodegradable and hence poses a threat to marine life if they get washed into oceans and waterways. As food packaging such as plastic and polystyrene are non-biodegradable, they will take up spaces in landfills and will pose a problem to land-scarce countries such as Singapore as an alternative solution will be needed to handle waste (Grossman 2014).

References

Greener ideal. (2012). How do Plastic Bags Affect Our Environment. Retrieved from 

https://greenerideal.com/lifestyle/0613-how-do-plastic-bags-affect-our-environment/

Grossman, E. (2014, October). When it comes to food packaging, what we don’t know

could hurt us. ensia. Retrieved from http://ensia.com/features/when-it-comes-to-food-packaging-what-we-dont-know-could-hurt-us/

Poppenheimer, L. (2013). Paper Facial Tissue – History and Environmental Impact.

Green Groundswell. Retrieved from http://greengroundswell.com/paper-facial-tissue-history-and-environmental-impact/2013/12/05/

Sanitary Care Products Asia Inc. (2012). Is tissue paper biodegradable?. Retrieved

from http://www.scpa.com.ph/is-tissue-paper-biodegradable/

Wagner, J. (n.d.). The Effects of Plastic Bags on Environment. HealthGuidance.

Retrieved from http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/14901/1/The-Effects-of-Plastic-Bags-on-Environment.html