Today's topic is how you can save the Earth and save money at the same time. Before I dive into today's video, do give a like and subscribe to my channel for more content!
As the 11.11 sales come, many people will be adding items to their carts and checking out. The online shopping sites have also come out full force with all their ads. But before we go all out on this shopping spree, let's stop and think if we really do need the stuff that we are buying.
The world has experienced climate change scale never seen before and it is really up to us to make the change even on a small scale, we can still do our part. I have made small changes to my lifestyle and will continue to do so, although my family is not so much on sustainability, I try to let them know and see if there are ways they can make small changes as well. I will be sharing with you 3 tips on how you can save the Earth and save money!
Invest in reusable and make sure you use them!
I cultivated this habit since young by making sure I always have a reusable bottle of water with me. This means that I will not need to buy a plastic bottle with water when I am out. I know this sounds really simple but I have seen many people who buys a plastic bottle of water from 7-11 or the supermarket every time they go out. The bottle that you buy contributes to the plastic waste and you can save money just by bringing your own.
Similarly, when I pack food to work or pack food home from the hawker centers or food court, I really try to bring my own lunch boxes unless I do not have them with me to ensure I am not having an extra plastic container and plastic bag being used just to transport my food back home. This can also save the 20 cents that is usually charged for the takeaway container. Covid-19 has caused a plastic waste crisis as more people stay home and order food in. If you do order food delivery, it is inevitable that there will be plastic boxes or bags used.
Don't over order/cook and reduce your food waste
Food waste accounts for about 10 per cent of the total waste generated in Singapore, but only 18 per cent of the food waste is recycled. The rest of it is disposed of at the waste-to-energy (WTE) plants for incineration. Food that goes to a landfill generates methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide and this contributes to climate change.
By making a tweak to your cooking or order habits, you can save both the money and your money. Making sure that you get your proportions right when you cook, if you have a certain number of pax, do not over cook but if you do, you can portion the food beforehand and top the food if it is not enough otherwise, you can keep the segregated portion for your next meal. An interesting article I came across was that in Hong Kong, 40% of food waste are due to Cantonese soup where the leftover ingredients in the soup are thrown away daily. The article suggest family having a proper meal plan to reduce food waste for example cooking winter melon soup where most of the ingredients can be eaten and the meat used in soup can also be eaten.
My mum cooks soup and we always finish everything inside because her soup base is usually goji berries and anchovies, the meat that she uses, we also finish it up.
When eating out, when we are ordering, we are hungry so we over estimate on how much we can eat and when the food come and portions are huge, we end up not being able to finish the food. This is something that I have been trying to make changes as well, every time we visit a place, we definitely want to try all their food but there is only so much we can eat. We can order in sequence for one where if there are appetizers, mains and desserts, we can order the appetizers and mains first and if we are still able to eat, we can proceed to order desserts. It is really easy to over order but we need to keep in mind that food waste is really something we can control on our end.
Bike/walk otherwise take public transport whenever possible
I am sure everyone knows that cars produce emissions by now, by using public transport it helps you to save money and also reduces carbon emissions. If most of us can use public transport and not a car to each individual, we can reduce the number of cars and lessen the carbon emissions.
Of course, there are people who rely on their car for a living and they need it to use it. But overall, if you are alone, choosing to take the public transport can save the Earth much more.
Conclusion
Overall, if you can implement small changes in your lifestyle, bringing your own container or recycled bag to buy things, it will help and in the long term you will get used to it. For us, reducing our waste is one of the easiest things we can do, if we can save the Earth and save money as well, why not get started? Hope you guys enjoy my videos today and if you enjoy the contents I am producing, please like and subscribe to my videos, it will help me lots! Thank you.
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