Joshua Boey Yu Hin's Lifestyle Journal

Week 16 Blog Recently, I have been buying a lot of food home as my parents have been very busy at work and have not been cooking dinner. Additionally, many restaurants and hawker stalls utilize styrofoam boxes for takeaway, which is very unsustainable for the environment. These styrofoam boxes are very unhealthy for the environment as they take a long time to degrade and the foam can leach harmful chemicals into the water sources like lakes and ponds should they be stored inappropriately, leading to contamination of bodies that may be essential to us such as reservoirs.  To reduce my harmful impact on the environment, I decided to use a metal container instead. As this container can be re-used, I am not only able to save on the $0.20 or $0.30 takeaway charge but I am able to make a eco-friendly decision to protect the environment around me, be it land, air or water. I feel that it's important that we all do our part for the environment by making responsible choices which would ulti

Week 15 Blog It was the Chinese New Year holiday this week and amidst all the visiting and reunions with my extended family members, I looked into some unique ways I could be more sustainable this week and this brought me to an article by CNA. Some of the suggestions mentioned were rather interesting, one of which was gifting e- hongbaos . I suggested the idea to my parents who were keen on the idea and gave my sister, cousins and myself e- hongbaos using a QR code.  I feel that this is both eco-friendly and convenient as it saves the paper used to make the red packets while offering convenience with no need to deposit the money in the bank. During Chinese New Year, many Chinese families around the world would distribute a lot of hongbaos to their relatives and when these distributions cumulate, a lot of trees will be cut down, contributing to deforestation and indirectly, the enhanced greenhouse effect.  Of course, we should not just be looking to make sustainable choices during spec

Week 14 Blog This week during ConSus tutorial, we went to the compost bins in TP.  I found this a rather innovative concept as this is not commonly seen around Singapore. It was then explained that food waste would be introduced into these bins everyday where they would decompose and eventually become fertilizer. Although the compost was no longer functional and we could not see any snails, I could still see how this is a very sustainable as the unwanted food from the school food courts is not thrown away but is recycled and "returned" to the environment through the nutrients it offers. This small setup describes the framework of a circular economy we learnt in class where resources can be refurbished and recycled for as long as possible.  Personally, I feel that I can contribute to a circular economy through various means too. When shopping for clothes, I can choose to buy apparel made from recycled material or support sustainable businesses like Patagonia where I am able to

Week 13 Blog This week, I took a field trip to the NEWater Visitor Centre. During this visit, I learnt more on how Singapore obtains water for its citizens and industry needs, one of which is the NEWater technology. Through the process of micro-filtration, reverse osmosis and UV disinfection, Singapore is able to convert waste water into clean, drinkable water for its citizens as well as high quality water for industrial uses.  Reflecting on this experience, I feel that it is important for Singapore to stay innovative for our needs. Relating to the aspect of NEWater technology, we cannot rely on other countries for a basic, essential need to survive and must use everything we have to stay self-sufficient to keep society healthy. Furthermore, with a lack of land and space, we need to constantly research solutions to serve our needs while being adaptable to the changing land use.  With regard to energy, we can definitely be more sustainable too. As most of our energy is obtained from pip

Week 12 Blog One of my new year resolutions is to use less paper. I noticed that in 2022, I used a lot of post-it notes and white A4 paper for studying be it making mind maps or making reminders.  Paper is not sustainable at all as it involves cutting down trees. Trees are essential in the process of photosynthesis, which is a process in which green plants convert carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas in our atmosphere into oxygen, a gas needed for the survival of many living organisms on the planet. Furthermore, using a lot of paper accelerates the rate of deforestation, which in turn increases the rate at which global warming and climate change is occurring.  Given the negative effects of my actions, I decided to make positive strides towards sustainability and conserving trees. I now use rough paper. This allows me to fully utilize the paper I have while being able to do my tasks just as efficiently. Additionally, I downloaded the "Notion" app on my phone so I am able to get re

Week 11 Blog As this week was rather relaxing for me with most of my holiday assignments complete, I took the chance to meet with my secondary school friends and recharge for the new term ahead. My friends and I went out to a thrift store near City Hall MRT and decided to see if we were lucky enough to find any trendy pre-loved clothes.  We looked around the store and I managed to pick up 2 pieces of clothing, spending a total of $63.  I feel that thrifting is an eco-friendly way to refresh my wardrobe as buying new clothes is unsustainable. Firstly, the fabric used to make the clothes involves the  consumption of water (a precious resource of the planet), microplastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions due to factory waste, soil degradation, rainforest destruction and eventually landfill waste when clothes are disposed. Next, there are also negative social impacts where factories in less-developed countries (LDCs) such as China may exploit vulnerable women and children to work und