Christmas Special

First of all, we would like to wish all of you Merry Christmas! 

Even though Christmas is here, let's not forget about recycling. Our group has come up with ways you can do to recycle aluminium cans for Christmas. 

All you need is:

1. Cans

2. Scissor

3. Marker

4. Pen knife

5. Strings

1st step:
Take the marker and draw whatever shapes you want to cut out on the aluminium can.

2nd step:
Use a pen knife to poke a hole and use a scissor is cut the shape

OR

Step 3: (for snowman)
Draw the eyes, mouth and the buttons on the snowman

Step 4: 

Cut out the strings and paste it on the decorations you had cut out and TADAH! You can hang it on your beautiful Christmas tree :)

Our group also cut out letterings from the aluminium cans.

To make it stand out in the dark, place lighted candles in it! You can see the end product in our video at the end of this post :)

It's a season of giving and sharing. Share the love and save our earth. Here's a video that we did for you, hope you like it!



Lastly, our group would like to wish you a merry Christmas and DON'T STOP RECYCLING!

Like a boss

Recycling can help save materials and energy, but cutting down on waste in the first place is even better. Thus, we reduce waste. When you avoid making garbage in the first place, you don't have to worry about disposing of waste or recycling it later. 

Changing your habits is the key — think about ways you can reduce your waste when you shop, work and play. There's a ton of ways for you to reduce waste, save yourself some time and money, and be good to the Earth at the same time.

Here are 5 tips on how to reduce, Asian level that is.

#1 Replace Disposables: Wherever possible, replace disposable products with reusable ones (i.e., razor, food storage, batteries, ink cartridges (buy refill ink), coffee filters, furnace or air conditioner filters, etc.).

#2 Tree-Free Home: As much as possible, create a tree-free home:

·    replace paper napkins with cloth napkins

·    replace paper towels with a special set of cloth towels/napkins (or cut up old t-shirts for great towels) - store the used ones in a small container in your kitchen and just wash and reuse

·    if you print documents, print on once-used paper

·    switch to a digital organizer for tracking your to do's and grocery lists

·    reuse envelopes, wrapping paper, the front of gift cards (as postcards) and other paper materials you receive wherever possible

·    read books, magazines, and newspapers from your local library or online (many have email newsletters)

·    create and use note pads from once-used paper

·    leave messages for family members/roommates on a reusable message board

·    make your own cards/letters from once-used products or handmade paper or buy at thrift stores

Although it make trees feel lonely, we got to do what we can to reduce waste.

#3 Plastic Bags: While shopping, if you only buy a few products skip the shopping bag. For larger purchases, bring your own.

Irony much. Don’t be like this girl, be a true blue anti-plastic-baggist

#4 Borrow From Friends: If you only need something temporarily, ask if a friend or neighbor would loan it to you.

#5 Share With Friends: Share things like books, magazines, movies, games, and newspapers between friends and neighbors. Even water. ;)

Showering with your boyfriend or girlfriend reduces the water used by twice as much. Reducing level – Asian.

Hope this have helped! Remember to continue to Reduce, Reuse and maybe Recycle.

PLASTIC. REUSABLE?

Remember what we told you about recycling?

Put that aside for today, but don’t go about forgetting it as today we will be telling you more about
RE-USING.

Let us begin this topic with something that is closely related to us,

It is something that all of us have at least interacted with at least once in our lives, 

Plastic Bottles!

Its been around since we were born, but now comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Can you spot the difference between the 2 bottles above?

Yes yes yes, you might say we are dense to ask such a question as one is clearly more better looking, more expensive looking,  has better branding and the list goes on.

Even a child could tell you that, but here's something a child will not be able to tell you
(Even if the child could spot the difference, he/she would not be able to explain it.)

Lets take a look at the bottom of both bottles,

Notice the difference between the 2 numbers?

You might be asking what the numbers represent, it has 2 meanings,

The first being what material its made off (Thus how to recycle it),

The second reason will be the bottle's reusability.

Plastic bottles that have a lower number should not be reused,
Why? you might ask. Because lower numbered plastic bottles releases cancer causing chemicals as it decomposes over time (In layman terms as the full explanation is too theoretical). The lower the number the more dangerous it is.

So, if you're in the habit of reusing your disposable plastic bottle of yours, throw that away or you might just be throwing your life away.

Don't worry as here is a guide on how to properly pick your water bottles.

#1

The best reusable bottles you can get your hands on for both your health and Earth's, are made from aluminum or steel (E.g. SIGG) or glass (E.g. VOSS). But glass is heavy and fragile while steel can be expensive (Especially for those who lose them constantly).

These bottles are essentially non-plastic and are extremely durable thus they can last for an extended period of time.

#2

The second best bottles are those made of plastic with the symbol at the bottom that reads 7. These are known as hard bottles (E.g. Nalgene) and are made from polycarbonate plastic. These bottles are rather durable and easy to wash, very much like their steel and glass counterparts.

#3

3rd on the list, soft bottles (E.g.Platypus) made from polyethlene (Symbol 2) or polyproplyene (Symbol 5). These plastics are commonly used in other packaging like yogurt tubs. Since it is a soft bottle, bottles made from such plastics are not as durable and thus will not last as long as a Nalgene.

#4

The last and the least, disposable water bottles, those sold in vending machines, convenient stores. Cheap as they can get but that's really the only advantage such a bottle provides, such bottles are hard to wash and crumple easily, allowing for bacteria to grow and shows how unreliable it is in terms of durability. Disposable bottles are generally created from polythylene terephthalate hence the name PET Bottle usually carry the symbol with a number 1 on it. 

We highly advice you not to reuse such bottles unless you are dirt poor and live in a cardboard box at some MRT station or void deck.