Burning joss sticks and food offerings laying around

Familiar with this sight? 🤔
I’m sure you are if you have been in SG for more than a year. It’s a common practice in Singapore, where the Chinese community will burn joss sticks and hell notes as offerings during the 7th month of the lunar calendar. 

According to Lung & Kao (2003), burning incense causes high concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 to be released into the atmosphere. This not only affects the atmosphere but our health as well. 

For most, this form of worship might not have any significant effects. However for some, it can cause asthma, eye irritations, and skin and nasal allergies (B. Khezri et al., 2015; Lung & Kao 2003) when breathed in. This is not to be taken lightly as it could be severe for some people in sensitive groups such as people with asthma or pregnant women. A personal example from me is that my brother has asthma and during this period of time, it would be advisable to shut all the windows to prevent the pollutants from coming into the house. 

As this is a form of religious worship, it would be hard or even impossible to change this habit of burning incense and paper money. A riot could even happen if this was to be banned by the government. Maybe a solution to this would be to make incense and paper money out of environmentally friendly materials that when burnt has no or little impact on the environment and our human health. 

And a gentle reminder, since we are in the hungry ghost month, remember to go home early and not roam around ya 😀 (Anyways you should be at home due to covid!) Also, luckily or not, it is mandatory for us to wear a mask during this period which will help to protect our lungs from the air pollutants.

Your environmental buddy,
Jeanice

References:

Khezri, Y. Chan, Y., D. Tiong, L. Y., & D. Webster, R. (2015, July 16). Annual air pollution caused by the Hungry Ghost Festival. Retrieved from https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2015/em/c5em00312a.

Leong, Esther. (2017).  During the Hungry Ghost Festival, some HDB estates set up a communal spot where people come together to burn paper money and leave offerings for all spirits. [Online image]
Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/understanding-hungry-ghost-spiritual-spaces-singapore

Lung, S. C., & Kao, M. (2003). Worshippers’ exposure to particulate matter in two temples in taiwan. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 53(2), 130-135. doi:10.1080/10473289.2003.10466140