Author: Jocelyn Goh

Pollution from Beauty Products : Microbeads

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You have sure seen a lot about the negative impacts of plastic use, including microplastics, whereby the non-biodegradable nature of plastic and improper disposal raises environmental concerns. Land pollution, water pollution, you name it! BUT, what about this thing called microbeads? Make a guess on what it is.

About microbeads

A subset of microplastics, microbeads are tiny plastic particles <5mm in diameter, spherical or irregularly shaped and multicoloured (Miraj, 2019). Since its introduction in 1972, they have been used in more than 100 personal care products manufactured by industry giants like L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever (Dodds, 2020). Specifically, microbeads can be found in our personal care products such as hand-cleansers, soaps, toothpaste, shaving foam, bubble bath, sunscreen, shampoo, facial scrubs (UNEP, 2015). They are included to serve as an exfoliant, or even to provide a ‘feel-good factor’ for users (Miraj, 2019), with some products containing as much as 300,000 microbeads per unit (Winter, 2019).

 

While natural exfoliating materials are available such as pumice, oatmeal, apricot or walnut husks, they have mostly been replaced by microbeads made up of polyethylene plastic as it is easier and cheaper to produce (Miraj, 2019). And this is where the problem comes…

 

Every day, it is estimated that 808 trillion pieces of microbeads are washed down the drain in America and sent to water treatment plants. Here, about 99% of microbeads are extracted and deposited in the sludge, whereas the remaining 1% is bring released directly into waterways (Dodds, 2020). Unfortunately, those in the sludge are not spared from water bodies as the use of sludge as fertilisers often meant that these tiny plastics still end up in our waterways due to run-off.

 

Environmental problems of microplastics (microbeads)

Microplastic have been reported in every major sea and freshwater bodies.

Their small size makes them bioavailable to thousands of species across nearly all trophic levels, and thus there is a huge potential for microplastics to be ingested by aquatic animals and bioaccumulated via the food chain. Similarly, harmful chemicals or additives added to the plastic, as well as hydrophobic pollutants collected on the surface of these microplastic could also be bioaccumulated and biomagnified (Miraj, 2019) across the food chain, and eventually, reaching humans.

Visualisation of the bioaccumulation & biomagnification of plastics in the food chain

 

The way forward?

  • National & global scale: Phase out microbeads
  • Local scale: avoid products with microbeads, search for alternative exfoliants that are made with natural ingredients

 

References:

Dodds, D. (2020, September 13). How makeup pollution endanger the ocean.  Wave Tribe. https://www.wavetribe.com/blogs/eco/how-makeup-pollution-endangers-the-ocean

Miraj, S. S., Parveen, N. & Zedan, H. S. (2019): Plastic microbeads: small yet mighty concerning, International Journal of Environmental Health Research, DOI: 10.1080/09603123.2019.1689233

UNEP. 2015. Plastic in cosmetics. ISBN: 978-92-807-3466-9.p. 33

Winter, L. (2019, June 8). We looked at the effect of plastic on our oceans – and what we discovered will shock you. Glamour. https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/plastic-beauty-products-environment-ocean-impact

 

Greening Fashion : Eco-friendly accessories

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Having read all about pollution that results from fashion, are we deterring you from making your next purchase? I hope we didn’t! There are still ways for you to look like you just came off the runway through prudent and conscious shopping. One way is through thrifting (which will be shared in our next post), and the other is the use of accessories — eco-friendly accessories — to glam up your overall outfit and look.

 

Fashion accessories are deemed to be wardrobe essentials, with tons of guides out there showcasing how the most basic outfits can be transformed with the help of accessories. Yet, accessories contribute have negative impacts on the environment as well. For instance, jewellery – made up of silver-plated or gold-plated cheap metals – often have a short lifespan as they are easily tarnished or damaged. With that, they are disposed of and often end up in the landfill (Tegen Jewellery, 2019), thereby contributing to land pollution. Others made of plastic further exacerbate pollution on land, and at sea. The environment is also not spared with jewellery made from authentic gold as numerous harm are brought to the environment in the process of gold mining – ranging from the erosion of land, leakage of harmful chemicals into water bodies, to the alteration of an entire ecosystem (Kirschner, 2017).

 

That said, does this mean we should avoid buying and using accessories? Well, not really. You can still look glam and be environmentally-friendly at the same time through the use of eco-friendly accessories!

 

 

There is a wide array of eco-friendly accessories in the market such as those made with alternative natural materials like shells, seeds, fibres, nuts and dried fruits (Ray, 2019). In particular, SVNR’s handcrafted earrings are made from reused, upcycled and natural materials like seashells.

 

Another form of eco-friendly accessories are those made from recycled jewellery such as recycled gold jewellery as this will not only give unwanted gold a new lease of life, thereby reducing waste, it also lowers the demand for newly mined gold, reducing environmental impacts associated with gold mining. Recycled gold jewellery can be found in some retailers such as Ana Luisa who prides itself in using 100% recycled gold for its gold jewellery. Likewise, Singapore-grown Scéona is committed to using only lab-grown diamonds and 18k recycled golds in its products.

 

Besides these, you can also consider reusing unwanted jewellery by going vintage (Kirschner, 2017). A vintage item never goes out of style. What’s better than staying in trend and also being 101% environmental-friendly?!

 

 

More than just jewellery, eco-friendly bags are also widely available. For instance, Above Studio uses natural materials such as rattan to highlight the value of nature, our environment and the traditional craftsmanship of Thai villagers.

 

Eco-friendly eyewear is also available. Eoe Eyewear is one such producer with a collection of sustainable eyewear made from thermoplastic derived from wood pulp – a material that is completely recyclable and biodegradable.

Indeed, eco-friendly accessories are widely available, you just gotta do a tiny little bit of research to find out where you can get them. The examples above are surely non-exhaustive. But one takeaway from today’s post will be: you can definitely stay glam-ed and environmental-friendly at the same time!

 

References:

Kirschner, C. (2017, June 5). Is There Such a Thing as Eco-Friendly Jewelry? https://www.treehugger.com/is-there-such-a-thing-as-eco-friendly-jewelry-4863152

Tegen Jewellery. (2019, June 23). Absolutely Not-Fabulous – Why Fast-Fashion Jewellery Is Harming The Planet. https://www.tegenjewellery.com/absolutely-not-fabulous-why-fast-fashion-jewellery-is-harming-the-planet/

Ray, S. (2019, April). New trend in Jewelry industry and Sustainable materials to develop lifestyle products. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332672275_New_trend_in_Jewelry_industry_and_Sustainable_materials_to_develop_lifestyle_products

Pollution from Fashion : Shoes

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Happy with your newly bought shoes? Why did you purchase it? Because of its brand, design, aesthetic, or comfort? Regardless, it is imperative to know that whatever you are wearing right now, is likely manufactured with harmful chemicals that are released into the environment. This is especially so with sneakers – the go-to fashion piece for all university students.

Different chemicals are involved in the production of different parts of a sneaker. For instance, dyes on logos are made with heavy metals whereas spongy insole is made with polyurethane (Schwab, n.d.). However, they share a commonality – that is, the harmful chemicals involved.

These toxic chemicals, more than just creating health problems for production workers, also pose as an environmental hazard. Used sneakers are often disposed of in harmful ways, such as incineration or dumping them in landfills (Hesperian Health Guides, 2020). Such disposal methods expose the environment to these toxic chemicals embedded in the sneakers!

At landfills, as the sneakers decompose – which takes 30 to 40 years (AIO, 2019), harmful chemicals are emitted. For example, as the soles degrade, chemicals present in the rubber or plastic are slowly released into the environment. Similarly, when incinerated, chemicals are emitted into the atmosphere. The emission of harmful chemicals contributes to air pollution!

The whole pollution thang is pretty complicated given the variety of materials and chemicals involved. BUT, a key takeaway? Many unfavourable chemicals are utilised in the production of shoes and hence, we NEED to observe proper disposal of these ‘chemical-carrying walking aid’.


Nike Grind post-consumer rubber material

Rather than dumping your unwanted shoes in the nearest garbage can, have your used shoes recycled! Some shoe companies have programmes to reuse and recycle old shoes. For instance, Nike. Under its Reuse-A-Shoe program, it recycles athletic sneakers (of any brand) at the end of their life and giving them a new life through Nike Grind. Some of the products that are made with Nike Grind includes football fields, playgrounds, furniture such as carpet padding and gym floor tiles, as well as new Nike apparel and footwear.

 

References:

AIO. (2019, November 13). Sustainable fashion & sneakers: Here’s why you should approve! https://www.aiobot.com/sustainable-fashion-sneakers/

Hesperian Health Guides. (2020, March 7). Pollution from shoe factories.  https://en.hesperian.org/hhg/Workers%27_Guide_to_Health_and_Safety:Pollution_from_shoe_factories

Schwab, C., Bowman, M., Stringham, S. & Fagan, J. M. (n.d.) Sneakers Running our Environment into the Ground. https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/38349/PDF/1

 

Pollution from Fashion : Clothes

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With the recent rise of fast fashion, clothes are increasingly accessible and more affordable than ever – making the task of dolling up so much easier with myriad collections tailored to all ages. But, to all fashionistas out there, are you aware of the environmental impacts associated with your hobby? It is okay if you’re not as pollution impacts from clothes are less obvious and straightforward. Read on to find out more!

The advent of fast fashion has led to an increase in clothing purchases, fed by the doubling of clothing production since the 2000s. On average, people bought 60% more clothes in 2014 than they did in 2000 (McFall-Johnsen, 2020). Sounds relatable? You are probably one of them too given the ease of purchase with the proliferation of technology and e-commerce platforms. However, while people bought more clothes in present-day, clothes are only kept for half as long – probably to keep up with the changing trends?

Yet, the production and consumption of clothes are highly polluting and harmful to the environment.

Production

Fashion is a water-intensive industry, constituting the second-largest consumer of water worldwide. This can be attributed to the use of cotton in clothing. While clothing is made up of various materials, often a blend of fabrics,- cotton is found in 40% of all clothing (Boggon, 2019).

Yet, cotton is a highly water-intensive plant. This has resulted in negative environmental impacts as water bodies risk being depleted when used to irrigate cotton cultivation. A notable example of such a case is the depletion of the Aral Sea resulting from the diversion of two rivers that fed the Aral Sea to irrigate cotton plantations in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan (Boggon, 2019). See the state of Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and in 2008 (right):

Source: (Boggon, 2019)

Consumption

Post-production, clothes are purchased and consumed by us. Bagging our newly purchased clothes, the excitement to try them on is real. However, with every wear of our clothes, we put it to wash in preparation for the next display of it.

Yet, the act of washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year! That is equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles (McFall-Johnsen, 2020). You may wonder, how so?! Synthetic fibres such as polyester and nylon are present in 72% of all clothes (Boggon, 2019). And polyester is a form of plastic that does not break down in the ocean. It, therefore, contributes to marine pollution with the introduction of microplastics. This is supported by a 2017 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which estimated that 35% of all microplastics in the ocean came from the laundering of synthetic textiles like polyester (McFall-Johnsen, 2020).

Post-consumption

Even at the end of their lifecycle, clothing continues to pollute the environment due to the improper disposal of unwanted clothing. Land pollution is the most common as up to 85% of textiles from unwanted clothing go into landfills each year. That’s enough to fill the Sydney harbour annually (McFall-Johnsen, 2020).

As such, having known the ‘dark’ side towards clothing production and consumption, will you be more mindful of your consumption from now on?

 

References:

Boggon, C. (2019, March 18). How polluting is the fashion industry?  https://www.ekoenergy.org/how-polluting-is-the-fashion-industry/

McFall-Johnsen, M. (2020, January 31). These facts show how unsustainable the fashion industry is.  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/fashion-industry-carbon-unsustainable-environment-pollution/

 

 

[Mitigation] Pollution from Food Consumption: Local Produce

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Having seen the amount of pollution caused by our food consumption, you may be wondering what you can do to reduce pollution! While it may be difficult for us to address the root cause of food pollution that mostly occur during the production process, we can, as consumers, help to mitigate the pollution issue by consuming local produce.

 

Consuming local produce reduces our ‘food miles’ as goods are not transported miles from elsewhere (Athompson, 2017). By cutting our food miles, the environmental impact of our food consumption is reduced as local produce do not create large carbon footprints that are often generated by long-distance transport of food imports. Indeed, the consumption of local food can help to reduce our carbon footprint by up to 7% (The footprint blog, n.d.)! Cutting carbon footprint will also help with alleviating air pollution as greenhouse gas emissions are lessened.

AND… More than just reducing carbon footprint and alleviating pollution, consuming local produce have other benefits too!

  • Without the need to transport across space, local produce tends to be fresher (Athompson, 2017) than imported products as they are often put on sale right after harvests – ensuring the freshness of the product purchased!
  • Local products are often more nutritious (Athompson, 2017) than mass-produced products as local producers tend to do away with pesticides, keeping their products organic and chemical-free. Not only is this beneficial to the health of consumers, but it is also beneficial to the environment as harmful toxins like pesticides are kept away from the environment.
  • Away from the individual level, supporting local produce also helps with supporting local farmers as our consumption will generate demand and keep local businesses alive (Athompson, 2017).

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s support local produce now!

To identify local produce in Singapore, consumers can look out for the ‘SG Fresh Produce (SGFP) Logo’ on food packaging and marketing collaterals:

Local produce such as locally farmed eggs, vegetables and fish can be found in (SFA, 2020):

  • Local supermarkets;
  • SG farmers’ market located at various community spaces; and
  • Online via Lazada Redmart

Let’s support local!

References:

Athompson. (2017, September 7). The environmental benefits of buying locally.  http://www.gogreen.org/blog/the-environmental-benefits-of-buying-locally#:~:text=Local%20food%20doesn’t%20create,facilities%2C%20packing%20facilities%20or%20refrigeration.&text=Local%20businesses%20are%20able%20to%20operate%20in%20their%20local%20communities.

The footprint blog. (n.d.) https://www.terrapass.com/eat-your-way-to-a-smaller-carbon-footprint

Singapore Food Agency. (2020, July 27). Our Singapore food story: Supporting local produce. https://www.sfa.gov.sg/food-farming/sgfoodstory/supporting-local-produce

Pollution from Food Consumption : Seafood

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Familiar with these marine creatures shown above? I believe you are! More than just marine animals, these creatures often end up as delicacies on our dining plates.

Our love for seafood

Much loved by most people, Hirschmann (2020) founds that Singaporeans consumes around 21 kilograms of seafood per person per year in 2019. A trend that has been relatively constant over the past decade.

In global terms, the average per capita seafood consumption is at 19 kilograms in 2017 according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a trend which has been rising since 1961 as seen in figure 1 below.

Figure 1

BUT, have you ever wonder the environmental impacts our love for seafood may have caused?

Love for seafood turns harmful

Yes, the consumption of seafood has an impact on our environment. Most notably, plastic pollution – a pressing and prevalent issue that arise from our heavy consumption of seafood.

The bulk of plastic pollution occurs during the catch process. A study by Lebreton et al. (2018) found that the 1.6 million km2 Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) between California and Hawaii consists of:

Plastic size type Volume (metric tons) Examples
Megaplastics 42,000 Fishing nets
Macroplastics 20,000 Crates, eel trap cones, bottles
Mesoplastics 10,000 Bottle caps, oyster spacers
Microplastics 6,400 Fragments of rigid plastic objects, ropes and fishing nets

Of the massive amount of plastics found, a huge bulk of it (emphasized in bold) comes from the seafood catch process. Of noteworthy are the fishing nets (in megaplastic form) as that alone makes up 46% of the total plastic found in the GPGP.

Indeed, as articulated by Torrella (2018), “nearly half of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the result of our eating [of] fish, the same fish we pledge to protect by ditching plastic straws.”

Plastic pollution in the marine environment is pressing. Marine animals can be injured as they find themselves being entangled in plastic objects – especially fishing nets or strings, or when they mistakenly ingest plastic wastes as food. These plastics, when ingested by marine animals, may end up in the food chain through bioaccumulation and biomagnification and ultimately, reaching onto our dining plates.

Moreover, it is estimated that there might be more plastic wastes than fishes in the world’s oceans, rivers and lakes by 2050 if plastic pollution is not rectified or mitigated (Awuchi & Awuchi, 2019). Together with Greenpeace International (2018) findings that over 400,000 aquatic mammals perish annually as a result of plastic pollution in our water bodies, this puts the sustainability of the seafood industry at substantial risk.

As such, there is an urgent need for the catch process to be more sustainable. Proper disposal of catch equipment should be undertaken to minimise and prevent the exacerbation of the plastic pollution issue in our waters. On the everyday level, consumers should consider turning to pseudo-seafood choices such as plant-based shrimp, crab cakes or tuna made from tomatoes (Torrella, 2018) to reduce our demand for live catch seafood and hence, alleviating the associated plastic pollution contributed by the catch process, as well as ocean depletion to maintain the sustainability of our marine ecosystem.

 

References:

Awuchi, C., & Awuchi, C. (2019). Impacts of Plastic Pollution on the Sustainability of Seafood Value Chain and Human Health. International Journal of Advanced Academic Research, 5(11), 46-138. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337312788_Impacts_of_Plastic_Pollution_on_the_Sustainability_of_Seafood_Value_Chain_and_Human_Health

Greenpeace International. (2018). “Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans”. Greenpeace

International. Retrieved September 18, 2020.

Hirschmann, R. (2020, July 14). Singapore: Seafood consumption per capita 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1038132/per-capita-seafood-consumption-singapore/

Lebreton, L., Slat, B., Ferrari, F., Sainte-Rose, B., Aitken, J., Marthouse, R., . . . Reisser, J. (2018). Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. Scientific Reports, 8(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22939-w

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2019, September 13). Seafood Production. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://ourworldindata.org/seafood-production

Torrella, K. (2018, December 26). How the Seafood Industry is Polluting the Ocean and Killing Off Marine Life. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-the-seafood-industry-is-polluting-the-ocean

Pollution from Food Consumption : Fast-food

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Do these brands and logos look familiar to you? I bet they are! These brands are commonly referred to as fast-food chains which serve mass-produced food with great emphasis on their speed of service.

Once created as a commercial strategy to appeal to busy commuters and workers, where the speed of service was prioritised, fast-food has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry with revenues of over $570 billion each year globally (Sena, n.d.).

Indeed, fast-food has unknowingly become apart of our lives. In Singapore, the introduction of fast-food chain A&W Family Restaurant in 1968 has paved the way for other fast-food restaurants to venture into the Singapore market from the 1970s, including Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald’s and more (Omar, 2019). At present, the fast-food industry in Singapore is worth over a billion with SingStat figures showing that it generated a total of $1.1 billion in operating receipts in 2016 (Lim & Neo, 2019).

More than the favourable economic impacts (as articulated above, due to the high demand for fast-food both globally and in Singapore), it is worth noting that the fast-food industry has a relatively huge impact on the environment as well.

Before consumption, the production of meat and dairy farming alone contributes to environmental issues such as atmospheric pollution.

First, deforestation may occur to clear forested lands to make way for animal farming. The process of deforestation contributes to an increased amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere through the dual-process of removing carbon sinks and emissions from land clearance through burning.

Next, the farming process further exacerbates the pollution situation through the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). From McGrath (2019), agricultural emissions, particularly those from meat and dairy, contribute 70% of the total allowable GHG emissions. Here, the production of meat and dairy to cater to the ever-expanding fast-food industry clearly have polluting effects on the environment.

But, pollution does not end at the production phase.

Upon consumption, plastic waste from the packaging and storing of fast-food is generated. These plastic wastes contribute to a variety of pollution forms – from land pollution via litters, to aquatic pollution via the transportation of litters, and to atmospheric pollution when plastics are being incinerated or left to degrade in the environment. To obtain more detailed information on the effects of plastics from food packaging, read here.

All in all, this blog post seeks to raise awareness on the pollution effects of our consumption of fast-food. While fast-food is a highly desirable food option given its delightful taste, the convenience of purchase and affordable prices, it is important for us, as consumers, to be aware of the environmental impacts our consumption so as to make a more conscious and informed decision.

Stay tuned for our next post!

 

References:

Lim, J., & Neo, R. (2019, June 08). The Big Read in short: S’poreans’ love for fast food. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-read-short-sporeans-love-fast-food

McGrath, M. (2019, January 29). Fast food giants under fire on climate and water usage. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47029485

Omar, M. (2019, May). Fast-food chains. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1037_2008-12-03.html

Sena, M. (n.d.). Fast Food Industry Analysis 2020 – Cost & Trends. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://www.franchisehelp.com/industry-reports/fast-food-industry-analysis-2020-cost-trends/

Pollution from Food Packaging : Diving deeper into Plastics

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Plastics, a material that is widely used by all of us. Look around you right now, I am sure you will definitely be able to spot something ‘plasticky’ in your surroundings!

Plastics are just everywhere thanks to their strength, resistance, durability, and ease to manufacture. An added bonus? They are lightweight and cost-friendly to produce too! With such characteristics, it is no surprise that plastics are the go-to for producers and consumers alike.

In the food industry, plastics have no doubt been widely used to store or package food products. Enter the supermarket and you will be surrounded by a variety of food carefully cocooned in plastic to keep it fresh, bacteria-free and protecting it from damage. The usefulness of plastic, therefore, explains the rapid growth of plastic food packaging – which is expected to become a $370 billion market in 2020.

Well, plastics are amazing but our daily use of plastics, especially single-use plastics that are often associated with food packaging, is posing a very real threat to our environment! So much so that the United Nations has declared the situation of marine pollution by plastic “a planetary crisis”.

Indeed, as seen from Ocean Conservancy’s 2018 beach cleanup, 9 out its top 10 most retrieved item are related to food and drink packaging. If this does not serve as a sign and evidence to this ‘plastic crisis’ that we are in and garner a change in lifestyle behaviours, we will soon be snorkelling with plastics rather than the vibrant marine life.

Read on to find out more about the negative impacts these transparent material are inflicting on our environment…

The Woes of Plastic Packaging

Before plastics are used, the process of producing these very pollutants is itself polluting the environment. One of the factor inputs of plastics is fossil fuels – oil and natural gas. During the process of fossil fuel extraction,  toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, and etc. are emitted. These toxic emissions contribute to atmospheric pollution.

After production and use, the (im)proper disposal of plastics contribute to water and land pollution.

When buried and disposed at landfills, the non-biodegradable nature of plastics renders its persistence in our environment. More than land pollution by its physical form (ie: by just existing), water pollution can occur when chemicals from these plastics leach into the groundwater and soil, contaminating aquifers and the water bodies along its path.

Even when plastics are ‘properly’ disposed of through incineration, the burning of plastic releases harmful substances such as heavy metals, toxic chemicals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) into the atmosphere, contributing to air pollution.

If improperly disposed of, such as plastic litters, these plastics first pollute the land, then the aquatic environment as they get washed into water bodies. In particular, our ocean is increasingly being polluted by plastics. Out of all the trash that can be found floating around the gyres in our blue waters, plastic is believed to constitute 90% of it. The actual amount of plastic in surface waters is not very well known, but estimates range from 10,000s to 100,000s tonnes. Plastic waters rather than blue waters?

Clearly, the convenience of plastic packaging in our foods have come at a price to our environment. To find out more about plastic pollution as a whole, check out this paper by:

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2018, September). Plastic Pollution. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution

At last, we hope that this blog post has made you more aware of the woes of plastic and that the next time you head to the supermarket, you will skip the extra plastic bag to put your apples in, and bring your own grocery bag. Or you could even visit a zero-waste grocery store to avoid all the pesky plastics and go plastic-free!

Some zero-waste grocery stores in Singapore to start your plastic-free journey include:

The Source Bulk Foods

Scoop Wholefoods

Eco.le

Unpackt

The Social Space

The Zero Ways

 

References:

Foodprint. (2020, March 30). The Environmental Impact of Food Packaging. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://foodprint.org/issues/the-environmental-impact-of-food-packaging/

Fortuna, A. (2019, May 5). How Does Plastic Cause Air Pollution?: RePurpose Global Blog. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://repurpose.global/letstalktrash/how-does-plastic-cause-air-pollution/

Parker, L. (2019, September 03). Plastic food packaging was most common beach trash in 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/09/plastic-food-packaging-top-trash-global-beach-cleanup-2018/

Types of Plastic Food Packaging and Safety: A Close-Up Look. (2019, May 07). Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/types-plastic-food-packaging-safety-close-look/

 

 

Extent of Pollution from Consumerism

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Having had a brief idea of what pollution from consumption entails, today we will share about the extent of pollution caused by consumerism.

“Most of the environmental issues we see today can be linked to consumption,” said Gary Gardner, director of research for Worldwatch.

According to National Geographic, there were approximately 1.7 billion people in the world in the consumer class* in 2004. More than a decade on, the number of people has sure increased tremendously given the massive economic growth enjoyed by the rapidly developing economies – especially China and India.

*Consumer class refers to the group of people whose diet consists of highly processed food, with a desire for more and bigger houses and cars, as well as a lifestyle that is highly devoted to the accumulation of non-essential goods (Mayell, 2004).

With an expanding consumer class, we see a rise in the consumption of luxury goods. While the increased consumption of luxuries helps to improve one’s standard of living, it also adds to the amount of pollution in our environment.

Atmospheric pollution
In terms of production, the expansion of the consumer class leads to a higher demand for consumption goods – both necessities and luxuries. A higher demand meant that more resource input is needed to increase production. With a large amount of energy (often) derived from fossil fuels being used in the production process, it contributes to atmospheric pollution in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, specifically carbon dioxide (CO2).

Indeed, a recent report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2020) stated that the global average atmospheric CO2 levels today are much higher than at any point in time over the past 800,000 years.

As seen from the graph above, CO2 levels reached a high at 409.8 parts per million (ppm) in 2019. This was the result of the widespread use of fossil fuels for energy where the combustion of these carbon-rich resources emits CO2. With their ‘heat-trapping’ effect, CO2 contributes to atmospheric pollution through its role in enhancing the greenhouse effect.

Aquatic pollution
Post-production, the improper disposal of production waste such as wastewater could lead to aquatic pollution. For instance, in the production of clothes within the fashion industry, many chemicals are used in the manufacturing process – from fibre production, dyeing, bleaching and wet processing. The discharge of this chemical-heavy wastewater (especially those without compliance to discharge regulations) into waterways introduces harmful chemicals to the affected water bodies, causing irreparable damage. Even when wastewater is discharged in compliance with the discharge regulation, chemicals are still present in the wastewater, even in trace levels.

As depicted in the study by Paraschiv, Tudor & Petrariu (2015) on water pollution from the textile industry among the G20 countries, the textile industry contributes between 3% and 33% of water pollution.

Such data reflects how our consumption of necessities such as clothes can contribute to a form of pollution in the environment.

During consumption, the widespread use of plastics as packaging contributes to aquatic pollution too! Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations (Parker, 2019). In addition to the harmful effects of plastics in its physical form – such as the risk of ingestion by aquatic animals, plastics in their chemical form – with their added additives to make them stronger, more durable, and flexible – can also contribute to pollution through the introduction of toxic chemicals adsorbed on the plastics into the water environment.

More on the use of plastics in various industries will be shared in time to come!

In the coming weeks, we will share more about how consumption under each theme – food, fashion, beauty products, cleaning agents, e-wastes – contributes to pollution, as well as some mitigation we can undertake as consumers to prevent more pollutants from venturing into our beloved environment.

Stay tuned for our next update!

References:

Lindsey, R. (2020, August 14). Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: NOAA Climate.gov. Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide

Mayell, H. (2004, January 12). As Consumerism Spreads, Earth Suffers, Study Says. Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2004/01/consumerism-earth-suffers/

Nabeerasool, A. (2019, November 14). How is fast fashion polluting our water? Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/how-is-fast-fashion-polluting-our-water/77704/

Paraschiv, D., Tudor, C., & Petrariu, R. (2015). The Textile Industry and Sustainable Development: A Holt–Winters Forecasting Investigation for the Eastern European Area. Sustainability, 7(2), 1280-1291. doi:10.3390/su7021280

Parker, L. (2019, June 07). The world’s plastic pollution crisis explained. Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/plastic-pollution/

Consumerism: What, and how

Jocelyn Goh Leave a Comment

Ever heard of ‘consumerism’? What are your thoughts about it?

 

Let’s see if we are on the same page regarding what is consumerism! From Pattberg and Zelli (2015), consumerism broadly concerns consumption. However, consumerism is also often used to specifically refer to a culture of excessive consumption of goods without regard to the negative impacts on people and towards the planet.

 

Sounds scary? Well, many of us seem to be quite guilty of it given our pursuit of luxury goods, the latest gadgets and more!

 

But… How did this happen? Have societies worldwide been like this since time immoral? Definitely not! Let me tell you how as we travel back in time.

 

  • Before the 1600s, the modern concept of consumerism is not to be found, at best, limited due to the focus on ‘cottage industry‘, and hence, the lack of capital for purchase.
  • In the 1700s, consumerism took flight with the Industrial Revolution.  Originating from England, the Industrial Revolution soon spread other countries in Europe, as well as North America.

Diagram: how Industrial Revolution can lead to increased consumption and further consumerism – an economic cycle [Source: Jocelyn]

  • From then onwards, consumerism continued to grow and developed across the world into the 20th and the 21st century. It has become so intertwined with our lives that one cannot imagine how life was like in the past without the presence of a wide range of goods and services to consume.

For an animated view of the history and development of consumerism, check out this video:

References:

History of Consumerism. (n.d.). Retrieved September 03, 2020, from https://www.historycrunch.com/history-of-consumerism.html

P. H. Pattberg and Zelli, F. (2015). Consumerism. In Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Governance and Politics (pp. 9-15). Elgar Publishing.