Hey there!
“Bubble tea without pearls is just flavoured water.” (Respondent, 2020)
Today, let’s dive deeper into the last segment of my survey on environmental action! At the top of this segment, I shared 2 main environmental impacts of tapioca pearls that I’ve previously blogged about – the huge water footprint of the starch extraction process and the resulting pollution on the environment.
Thereafter, I asked the respondents to share how they felt about this new information and most expressed shock (66%), with 13% expressing indifference. When asked if they had any further thoughts or doubts regarding the environmental impacts of tapioca pearls, I got an interesting response that gives some food for thought: Is tapioca starch the most water-consuming food? Perhaps we should target those that have the highest water usage first?
When challenged to cut down their tapioca pearl consumption, here’s what the respondents said:
Yes, I’ll definitely try. (55%)
Main Reason: Save the Earth!
Most of the respondents who gave similar responses believe that it is the responsibility of the consumer to cut down on their own tapioca pearl consumption, and they were willing to take action because they wanted to do anything they could to save our Earth. Other reasons were that the respondents either disliked pearls, recognised that pearls were not a necessity or were already consuming low amounts of tapioca pearls.
Maybe, I still have reservations and need more time. (36%)
Main Reason: Love for pearls makes it difficult to cut down on pearl consumption.
Many respondents expressed their love for the topping and shared their struggles in changing the habits of their pearl consumption. The second most popular reason was scepticism on the severity of the environmental impacts associated with tapioca pearls or the impacts of individual action (with some expressing that they were already consuming low amounts of pearls and hence, cutting down even further would not have much impact). Lastly, a few wanted to take time to find out more about the issue before making an informed decision.
No, I’m going to continue my current consumption. (9%)
The reasons given by the respondents are similar to what was shared above – their love for pearls, already low consumption of pearls and scepticism toward individual action.
Let’s analyse these responses in greater detail – I split the responses into two categories on whether or not the respondent had an interest in environmental issues (I used a proxy for this that I shared in my previous post!) and tabulated the percentages of their responses (Yes, Maybe, No) in each. Here’s what I got!
Look at the 36% difference in the proportion of respondents who were willing to cut down on their pearl consumption! Indeed, having an interest in environmental issues makes one much more likely to take action upon gained awareness of environmental problems. Yet, this group of people with a heart for environmental issues remains a small proportion of the entire Singapore population. 🙁
One last finding from my survey revealed that respondents were curious if DIY pearls are better for the environment. To satisfy the curiosity of these respondents, I’ll be trying my hand at making some of my own! Stay tuned to find out if I succeed (or fail) and I’ll be sharing some valuable insights that I’ve gained from the process of making my own pearls!
Hello Yee Qi!
Through your survey, concern for the environment indeed plays a big part in consumer’s decision in reducing pearl consumption! I noticed for the respondents who do not have a strong interest in environmental issues, more than half of them may not/ will not want to change their consumption of pearls. How do you think we can encourage them to reduce their pearl consumption?
On a side note, I tried making my own pearls during the Circuit Breaker period! It was slightly challenging as the mixture hardens very quickly, and you’ll need to work real fast. I thought it was a good substitute for commercial pearls at first. However, to think about it again, we are still using tapioca starch to make the pearls, and that requires a lot of water. So I guess the best way would probably be to cut down on our pearl consumption then!
– Jo
Hello Jo!
The answer to your question on how we could encourage people to do more for the environment remains the key to a much greater extent of environmental action which in turns, brings about HUGE benefits to our planet! If we could really get those who don’t have a strong interest in environmental issues to tke environmental action, so much more could be done for our Earth! It’s important to recognise that even among those who had a strong interest in environmental issues, many acknowledged that such a change in lifestyle isn’t easy and takes conscious effort and lots of willpower. Most of the respondents who may not or will not want to change their consumption of pearls acknowledge the environmental impacts of tapioca pearl consumption and wish to cut their consumption, yet it seems that it’s just way too difficult for them to kick the habit!
Perhaps it could be an underlying ignorance of the severity of the environmental issue, or a lack of confidence toward individual, environmental action. I think this is similar for some of our BES coursemates who have chosen to become vegan, but struggle with whether or not their individual action would make any impact at all. Indeed, collective action definitely results in much more obvious impacts for the Earth, and we could start with raising awareness! Once people know about such issues, we then slowly encourage them to take environmental action. By encourage, this means to recognise their good intentions and focus on the good of any effort they’ve put in instead of focusing on what they aren’t doing or how much more they could do. I think this change in perspective also makes the environmental message easier to get across, and easier for others to swallow since we wouldn’t be forcing it down their throats. As such, we’ll need to call upon those who are passionate about the environment to advocate for such issues and encourage others to take action and cut their pearl consumption!
I totally agree that actually, DIY tapioca pearls still use tapioca starch and hence, the environmental impacts of pearls associated with starch production isn’t negated at all. This means that DIY pearls are likely to be as bad for the environment as factory-produced pearls! Hence, unless the starch production’s environmental impacts could be mitigated or more environmentally-friendly ways of producing pearls are established, I’m afraid that the simplest way to mitigate such impacts would be to not consume pearls in the first place! 🙁
Srsly Yee Qi,
This is what I call taking feedback like a champ.
Beauty.
jc