Saving the environment isn’t just about salvaging cans. These eco-preneurs are doing their bit for our planet in unexpected ways – from making funky hats to recycling hotel wedding dinners.
Saving the environment isn’t just about salvaging cans. These eco-preneurs are doing their bit for our planet in unexpected ways – from making funky hats to recycling hotel wedding dinners.
SHE CREATES STYLISH, SUSTAINABLE HATS.
CHEE SAU FEN, 42, founder of Heads of State Millinery (www.headsofstatemillinery.com).
We’re in love with milliner Sau Fen’s beautiful creations: classy cocktail hats upcycled from vintage neckties; boaters made from hand-loomed abaca fabric. But her biggest “hat-trick” has to be working with – and not against – the environment. While some designers fuss over finding the right fabrics or shades, Sau Fen designs her hats around what’s readily available in nature.
For instance, she uses fibres from abaca palm trees which are native to the Philippines, and can be harvested without major disruptions to local flora and fauna. She has also developed a hat-making technique around the fabric’s natural flexibility.She hand-moulds and hand-stitches forms into place, thereby eliminating the use of heat, moulds, glues and stiffening chemical sprays and wires used in conventional hat making.
This idea of working with what you’ve got also directs her approach when partnering with communities in the region. She works with craftswomen in South-east Asia, not all of whom have easy access to electricity or equipment like sewing machines. Because of this, it is important that everything – from the drying of the fibres to the weaving of the threads – can be done by hand or with rudimentary tools like the loom.
DID YOU KNOW? The eco-feltupcycled from one plastic water bottle can be turned into a felt hat, says Sau Fen.
SHE’S CUTTING PLASTIC WASTE, ONE STRAW AT A TIME.
MELISSA LAM, 24, founder of Bamboo Straws Worldwide (http://bamboostraws.bigcartel.com).
Have a drink with Melissa and she’s likely to pass around a bunch of her bamboo straws and tell whoever’s listening – friends, strangers, bemused waiters – about their benefits: They’re reusable, made from one of the fastest-growing crops on earth, and cut out the need for plastic varieties. A pictures sub-editor with Reuters, she started her side business, Bamboo Straws Worldwide, in February 2015 after mulling ways to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.
Her straws are handmade by artisans using bamboo sourced from small groves in Asia, and are ultra-convenient – simply rinse them under a tap after use (Melissa also soaks hers in a jar of hot water with a spoonful of vinegar, once a month). Melissa has been adding other eco-products to her range too. We’re intrigued by her upcoming bamboo bubble tea straws (bring them along when you place your next Gong Cha order) and find her “strawkeepers” pretty ingenious – these are travelfriendly pouches for straws made of recycled sari and Punjabi suit fabrics. She says of her bamboo products: “I like the idea of incorporating nature into everyday life. It sounds a little bit hippy, but I love it!”
DID YOU KNOW? 519,911 straws and stirrers were recovered from the oceans in 2014, making them the fifth most common maritime debris.
SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 2015 REPORT, BY OCEAN CONSERVANCY.
SHE MAKES CRUELTYFREE MAKEUP BRUSHES.
TAY YU HUI, 25, owner of online beauty brand, 13rushes (www.13rushes.com).
Did you know that one squirrel dies for every two to three face brushes made? Brushes made of fur also perpetuate the creation of fur farms, which produce toxic amounts of animal waste that pollute rivers and streams. For instance, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) estimates that mink farms in the US produce up to one million pounds of faeces annually! These startling facts prompted Yu Hui to start 13rushes, a line of crueltyfree makeup brushes made of synthetic bristles.
Every brush is carefully thought out – from the recyclable aluminium ferrules to the labels created by silkscreen printing – a process that results in minimal defects compared with other methods, and therefore less waste. Yu Hui also purchases carbon off sets to reduce her carbon footprint when importing and exporting the brushes. She earns a five-figure sum in a good month and exports her brushes to more than 25 countries. Her goal? To create a fully biodegradable brush in the next few years. “I’ve been taking baby steps. Since 2015, our bristles have been part synthetic and part plant-based,” she says.
DID YOU KNOW? The production of 1kg of mink fur results in an emission factor of more than 100kg of carbon dioxide.
SOURCE: CE DELFT 2011 REPORT, “THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MINK FUR PRODUCTION”.
SHE RECYCLES FOOD TO FEED THE NEEDY.
NICHOL NG, 38, co-founder of The Food Bank Singapore (www.foodbank.sg).
Ever wondered what happens to leftover food at a hotel wedding dinner? Chances are, it’s thrown away. As the co-founder of Singapore’s only food bank, The Food Bank Singapore (FBSG), Nichol is keenly aware of the obscene levels of food waste in our nation. FBSG once received a shipping container full of salmon slices – a restaurant had rejected the lot just because the slices were 1mm too thick. “Singapore has stringent standards and high quality requirements for food that indirectly contribute to huge amounts of waste,” she observes.
Since 2012, FBSG has been collecting and redistributing non-perishable food to the needy. They get around 60 tonnes of food every month and redistribute it to 168 charity organisations – that adds up to 142,857 meals a month. Her latest initiative, Project Food Rescue, goes further by salvaging perishables like fruit, veggies, meat, dairy products and cooked food (think leftovers from hotels or restaurants). Her team repackages these before sending them to beneficiaries.
Nichol works with a food hygienist to monitor the bacteria count in leftover food, and allows donors to sign a liability release form. Recipients of the food packs also won’t know the source, further protecting the donors’ reputations. So far, Novotel, Hilton, Flor Patisserie, Nene Chicken and Redmart are on board.
In April this year, the FBSG also launched a brick-and-mortar shop, The Food Pantry, at 100 Sims Avenue, selling food products with just under two months of shelf life for $1 an item. The charities can’t accept these products because of their short shelf life or some imperfections – but they’re still perfectly fine for consumption.
DID YOU KNOW? Singapore generated 788,600 tonnes of food waste in 2014.
SOURCE: NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY 2015 FACTSHEET ON FOOD WASTAGE MANAGEMENT.
